TEL AVIV – On Monday, families of Israeli
captives
in Gaza stormed a parliamentary finance committee meeting in the Knesset,
demanding immediate action to release the captives, Khaberni reported.
اضافة اعلان
“Family
members of the detainees stormed the
Knesset Finance Committee session and
waved banners that read, ‘You will not sit here while they are there,’ calling
on Knesset members to act for the immediate release of their relatives,” stated
the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
Escalations
have been occurring in various areas of Israel as Israeli citizens are becoming
increasingly impatient with the Knesset and the Netanyahu-led government.
Numerous incidents since
October 7, 2023, have indicated that the Israeli
population does not want the war and only cares about the safe return of the
captives.
The
committee chairman, Moshe Gafni, responded to the families, saying, “My
position and the position of all members, and I said it with the prime
minister, is that the release of prisoners is the most important doctrine in
Judaism.”
However,
their statements did not satisfy the families, who demanded that he go to Prime
Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and pressure him to prioritize the issue of
captives.
“I
will speak to the prime minister and say that this is the position of the
ultra-Orthodox party,” Gafni added.
Additionally,
on Sunday, the families of the captives set up tents near Netanyahu’s home in
West Jerusalem to demand that the government reach a deal to release the
captives from the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile,
Haaretz reported that the families of 15 captives met with Netanyahu in West
Jerusalem, adding that “each family was allowed to send two representatives to
the meeting.”
Israeli patience is wearing thin in
Gaza
On
Sunday, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers left the Strip and hung
protest banners on military vehicles.
“An
unusual event occurred in the Israeli Defense Forces: reserve soldiers who were
discharged today after three months of activity in the Gaza Strip hung protest
banners on military vehicles during their departure from the delivery base, and
it was written on them: ‘We were also released without making a decision’,”
Itay Blumental, the military correspondent for the Israeli channel, KAN, posted
on X.
Additionally,
the IOF issued a statement announcing that “fighters from the combat group
affiliated with the Kfir Brigade left the Gaza Strip last night for several
days of recovery and readiness raising and were replaced by other forces in
Khan Yunis so that the brigade would continue to carry out operational
activities according to the situation assessment.”
Netanyahu’s hidden agenda
Various
news sources and war analysts indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza as a strategy to avoid facing legal
consequences and prevent the collapse of his ruling coalition.
"This
war has no purpose and no future, but prolonging it is [Netanyahu's] way of
postponing engagement with the question of responsibility," the
Hebrew-language newspaper Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying, Anadolu
Agency reported.
The
anonymous official said that Netanyahu "knows there is a reasonable chance
that the goals [of the war] will not be reached and is simply stalling for
time."
He
also said the Israeli captives held in Gaza do not represent importance to
Netanyahu, and it is difficult to believe that the prime minister will agree on
a deal to free them in exchange for ending the war and releasing Palestinian
detainees.
In
a statement received by Anadolu Agency on Sunday evening, Netanyahu indicated
that he rejects the “surrender conditions” set by Hamas outright.
“In
exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands an end to the war, the
withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all killers and rapists
belonging to the elite forces, and keeping Hamas in power,” he said.
“If
we agree to that, our fighters will fall in vain, we will not be able to
guarantee the safety of our citizens, and we will not be able to return the
citizens who were safely evacuated to their homes,” Netanyahu added. “I am not
prepared to accept such a serious violation of Israel’s security, and
therefore, we will not agree to that.”
Hamas
exchanged 105 captives, including 81 Israelis, 23 Thais, and one Filipino,
during a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted for 7 days and ended in early
December 2023, in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners from
Israeli prisons, consisting of 71 female prisoners and 169 children.
Israel
estimates that there are about “136 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip,” according to identical media reports and statements by Israeli
officials.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
