In Israel, families of hostages are upset and want the government to give them information about their loved ones and make a deal for their release.
I want them to promise that everyone will come back home. All the people who were kept against their will. “We need written promises and answers,” said Shai Wenkert, whose son Omer is being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
Wenkert talked to the news on Monday, before he and other family members met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war team in Tel Aviv.
Only a few families have met with Netanyahu. This has made many other relatives of hostages angry because they feel the government isn’t doing enough to help free them.
However, for some people, the meeting made them even more frustrated. Udi Goren left the meeting early because he felt there was no new information about his cousin who was taken captive. He wanted to know more about a possible deal to release the hostages, but the war cabinet didn’t provide any details.
About 239 people are being held captive in Gaza after they were taken during an attack by Hamas on Israel. This attack was the biggest one on Israel since it was formed in 1948 and it resulted in the death of about 1,200 people.
On October 20, two Americans named Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan were released because of serious reasons after Qatar and Hamas talked and made a deal.
two Israeli women, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz, were also released
Lifshitz said it was a really terrible experience. She was taken from her home, put on a motorbike and driven to a network of tunnels.
Israel declared a war on Hamas and stopped goods from getting into Gaza after the October 7 attacks. This caused a very bad situation for the people living in Gaza. Approximately 12,700 Palestinians have passed away since the war started, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, which gets its information from health authorities in the Gaza Strip run by Hamas.
Many people in Israel still strongly support the war against Hamas, but more and more people are criticizing Netanyahu and his government. They think they should have known about the October 7 attack and done more to free the hostages.
Ben-Gvir is a politician in Israel who wants to make the country bigger by taking over land that belongs to Palestinians. He also wants to make a new law that would give the death penalty to people who commit terrorist acts.
However, a lot of families with hostages believe that Ben-Gvir is putting their loved ones in more danger. They think that Hamas may not want to release the hostages if they think Israel will kill Palestinian prisoners.
During the meeting in the parliament, people showed pictures of their family and spoke out their anger and disappointment. “Bring our loved ones back. ” shouted Gil Dickmann, whose cousin is trapped in Gaza.
Don’t talk about hurting Arabs. “This is what you need to do. ” yelled Hen Avigdori, whose wife and daughter were taken on October 7th.
Almog Cohen, who works with Ben-Gvir in the Jewish Power party, responded to family members. “You are not the only one who feels pain. ” “We also put more than 50 friends in the ground,” Cohen said.
Ben-Gvir is working to make a new law and it is being reviewed by the government. It still needs to go through a few more steps before it can become a law and there’s still a possibility that it could be taken back.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Telegram that his group is almost at a peace deal with Israel. The United States, Israel, and Qatar have been helping with the negotiations.
The message came after Hamas had given an answer to the mediators in Qatar. “Haniyeh said that the group gave their answer to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and they are close to agreeing to a truce. ”
Haniyeh didn’t give more information about the possible agreement.
There is still no agreement, and many issues still need to be solved. However, the people involved in the negotiations are feeling hopeful.
Netanyahu has said two things he wants to achieve in the war – to free all the hostages and to defeat Hamas. Israel has said no to requests from other countries to stop fighting until their hostages are returned.