Before more ceasefire negotiations, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated late into the night, demanding an agreement to release the hostages.
Singing “life is holy, war is not,” demonstrators in Tel Aviv accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to drag out the fighting in Gaza.
It happened on Saturday while a group from Hamas met with negotiators in Egypt.
Although the organization stated that nothing new had happened, they did add that “a new round will begin” on Sunday.
The long-running ceasefire negotiations, which have been mediated by Qatar and Egypt, have begun in Cairo with the goal of stopping Israel’s onslaught in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.
It seems that the primary issue of contention is whether the agreement would be temporary or long-term.
It is believed that the language under discussion calls for the release of some Palestinian inmates detained in Israeli jails as well as a 40-day ceasefire during which hostages would be freed.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, has an adviser who stated that the organization is considering the most recent plan “with full seriousness.”
However, he reiterated his insistence that any agreement must clearly call for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and for the war to stop in its entirety.
Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli stated that the battle will go on “until Hamas is eliminated” in a BBC interview. “We don’t have the option to agree to a deal that includes ending the war or giving up a full-scale operation in Rafah,” he stated.
Furthermore, on Saturday, a government official from Israel who wished to remain nameless stated to local media that Israel would “under no circumstances agree to end the war as part of an agreement to free our abductees”.
They continued: “The IDF will enter Rafah and destroy the remaining Hamas battalions there – whether there is a temporary pause to free our captives or not.”
Pressure to move on with the long-promised offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city, where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge after fleeing fighting in the northern and central parts of the strip, has come from inside Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition.
The US, Israel’s largest military and diplomatic partner, has insisted on seeing a plan to safeguard displaced Palestinians before it will support any new attack that might result in major civilian casualties.
The latest manifestation of the mounting internal pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to achieve the release of the hostages was the rallies that took place in Israel on Saturday.
128 of the 252 people that Hamas abducted on October 7th remain missing, and at least 34 of them are thought to be dead.
One demonstrator in Tel Aviv, Natalie Eldor, told the Reuters news agency that her goal was to “support a deal now, yesterday”.
“All of the hostages, whether alive and dead, must be returned. It is our duty to return them. We have to change this administration,” she continued.
Gathering in Tel Aviv’s Kirya military camp, some demanded an end to the war, while others accused the prime minister of undermining the agreed truce.