Politics Demonstrations for hostage deal in several Israeli cities

Thousands of people demonstrated in several Israeli cities this evening for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an agreement to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas. In Tel Aviv, an approximately half-minute audio recording of an Israeli soldier was played, which was recently found in the Gaza Strip and was the first sign of life for the family. In the recording, he asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an exchange of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails for the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The demonstration in Tel Aviv was held under the slogan: "We will not abandon them - we will not give up". On posters, many demonstrators demanded "Bring them back home", while another poster read: "Get them out of hell." 101 of the hostages abducted in the Hamas terror attack on October 7 are still in the Gaza Strip. It is not known how many of them are still alive.

Michal Lobanov, the widow of one of the hostages killed two weeks ago, spoke of the shock after the publication of a military video about the living conditions in the tunnel near Rafah in which the bodies of the six hostages killed were found. "It was possible to save them through an agreement," she emphasized. She did not want pity, but demanded "that you do everything you can to ensure that the end is different for other women, for the hostages."

SDA