The streets of Israel are burning with anger against Netanyahu due to the rejection of the exchange deal
Confrontations broke out between Israeli police on Monday and protesters who closed a main street in Tel Aviv to demand a deal with Hamas to release detainees in the Gaza Strip.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, thousands went out to demonstrate throughout the country against the backdrop of Hamas’ announcement of its agreement to a ceasefire.
The protesters closed the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv towards the south, and chanted slogans such as “All of them now” (meaning the release of all detainees), and “We’ll not abandon them”.
Later, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said, “The demonstrators blocked the road leading to Ayalon Street in Tel Aviv, and began confronting the police, after they blocked Begin Road (where the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense is located) with the families of the kidnapped people; This is against the backdrop of Hamas’ announcement of its acceptance of the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire”.
It quoted a female cousin detained in Gaza as saying, “Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we are excited to hear that there is an agreement on a ceasefire”.
It also quoted the brother of another detainee as saying, “This is the time to rewrite history by having the State of Israel rescue its kidnapped soldiers and citizens from Hamas captivity”.
In a related context, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that confrontations broke out between the police and protesters in the city of Haifa, who demonstrated to demand an end to the war and an immediate deal to exchange prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed on Monday evening that the truce and prisoner exchange proposal approved by Hamas was far from meeting his country’s requirements.
The Israeli Prime Minister office added, in a statement issued after a war council meeting, that Israel “will, however, send a delegation to Cairo to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement on acceptable terms” regarding the exchange of prisoners and a ceasefire, without clarifying these conditions.
Earlier on Monday evening, Hamas said that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, informed Qatar and Egypt of the movement’s approval of the two mediating countries’ proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
These developments regarding the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal come hours after the Israeli army announced on Monday morning the start of a military operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, claiming that it was limited in scope, and warning 100,000 Palestinians to forcibly evacuate the east of the city and head to the area, southwest of the sector.
