Hundreds of Israeli Students Protest Demanding Hostage Deal

Tel Aviv, MINA – Hundreds of Israeli students and pupils demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Wednesday demanding an agreement for the exchange of hostages with Palestinians.

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, hundreds of students participated in the protest in Tel Aviv, calling for an agreement to ensure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The protest, which was joined by families of the hostages, was part of a national initiative involving 200 schools that planned to hold demonstrations in several regions of Israel.

Israeli officials have reported progress in indirect negotiations aimed at achieving a Gaza ceasefire and a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.

The Palestinian resistance group stated on Tuesday that talks held in Qatar to reach such an agreement were “positive and serious.”

“Achieving a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange agreement is possible if the occupation (Israel) stops imposing new conditions,” Hamas added in a brief statement.

Israel, which according to prisoner groups holds over 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons, estimates that there are around 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas reported that 33 hostages had been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Mediation efforts led by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar to reach a ceasefire have so far failed, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to halt the war in Gaza.

Israel has continued its genocidal war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 45,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)