Netanyahu government failed to return hostages, must go: Yair Lapid
March 31, 2024
Israeli opposition and Yesh Atid party leader, Yair Lapid, speaks to the press during a party meeting in Jerusalem, on 5 February, 2024 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sunday called for early elections, saying the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must go since it has failed to return the hostages held in Gaza since 7 October, Anadolu news agency reported.
“One after the other, the ministers of the government go on air this morning and attack the families of the abductees. You are out of your mind. Young women, elderly people, children were kidnapped on your watch,” Lapid said on X.
“For half a year you fail to bring them home, and then you blame their families? This government of destruction must go home. Election now.”
Earlier on Sunday, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu criticised the families of the detainees after a mass demonstration they held on Saturday in Tel Aviv urging the government to resign.
“The protest in Ayalon was violent … For Hamas, this is a gift. This has the opposite effect, and weakens the soldiers on the front,” Eliyahu told Channel 12.
March 31, 2024
Israeli opposition and Yesh Atid party leader, Yair Lapid, speaks to the press during a party meeting in Jerusalem, on 5 February, 2024 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Sunday called for early elections, saying the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must go since it has failed to return the hostages held in Gaza since 7 October, Anadolu news agency reported.
“One after the other, the ministers of the government go on air this morning and attack the families of the abductees. You are out of your mind. Young women, elderly people, children were kidnapped on your watch,” Lapid said on X.
“For half a year you fail to bring them home, and then you blame their families? This government of destruction must go home. Election now.”
Earlier on Sunday, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu criticised the families of the detainees after a mass demonstration they held on Saturday in Tel Aviv urging the government to resign.
“The protest in Ayalon was violent … For Hamas, this is a gift. This has the opposite effect, and weakens the soldiers on the front,” Eliyahu told Channel 12.
Israeli media reports that families blame Netanyahu for impeding negotiations
Said Amouri |31.03.2024 - AA
JERUSALEM
Families of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip threatened on Saturday that if a hostage swap deal with Hamas is not reached soon, "we will burn the country."
The families held a news conference in Tel Aviv's Kaplan Square and said that "there is a deal on the table that can be made," according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
They refused to stand or plead, threatening to "burn the country" if a deal was not reached, the daily said.
The families and thousands of protesters chanted: "Agree now,” according to the daily.
Earlier Saturday, the families blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for impeding negotiations.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the families said in a statement outside the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv that, "Netanyahu leaves them no choice, as he rejects proposals and takes a hardline stance, preventing an Israeli proposal in the negotiations," describing the premier's behavior as "a crime and unimaginable."
They have no choice but to work on replacing Netanyahu as soon as possible to reach an agreement with Hamas, the families said.
They urged other members of the government and its coalition partners, including ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, to help them free their loved ones, according to the newspaper.
The Israeli negotiating delegation is expected to depart for Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday to discuss the hostage swap agreement before continuing to the Qatari capital, Doha.
Qatar, Egypt and the US are trying to reach a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, as the first pause lasted only one week in late November, which resulted in limited aid entering the Gaza Strip, as well as exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children detained in Israeli jails.
Tel Aviv currently holds at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, while there are an estimated 134 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas has announced the death of 70 captives in random Israeli airstrikes.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.
More than 32,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, in addition to mass destruction, displacement and famine conditions.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala
Thousands rally across Israel demanding Netanyahu's resignation, hostage swap deal with Hamas
March 31, 2024
People protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, early elections and the return of Israeli prisoners to their homes as attacks on Gaza continued in Tel Aviv, Israel on 30 March, 2024 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu Agency]
Thousands of people on Saturday protested across Israel against the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a hostage swap deal with Palestinian group Hamas, Anadolu news agency reported.
Thousands of Israelis began to gather in Kaplan Square, in central Tel Aviv, to participate in the main demonstration demanding a hostage swap deal, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.
The newspaper said police used trucks to close the streets surrounding Kaplan Square, preventing protesters from reaching the gathering to participate.
Thousands of Israelis also demonstrated near Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea (north), demanding his resignation, the daily said.
Protesters accused Netanyahu of being “guilty” in the current situation and demanded that his government immediately finalize a deal to free hostages held in Gaza.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Rehavot (central), the Kiryat Gat intersection, Haifa (north), and other cities across the country demanding a hostage swap deal, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Protests across the country are expected to pick up pace in the coming hours, local media reported.
Qatar, Egypt, and the US are trying to reach a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, as the first pause lasted only a week in late November last year, which resulted in limited aid entering the Gaza Strip, as well as exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children detained in Israeli jails.
Tel Aviv currently holds at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, while there are an estimated 134 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas has announced the death of 70 of them in random Israeli airstrikes.
March 31, 2024
People protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, early elections and the return of Israeli prisoners to their homes as attacks on Gaza continued in Tel Aviv, Israel on 30 March, 2024 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu Agency]
Thousands of people on Saturday protested across Israel against the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a hostage swap deal with Palestinian group Hamas, Anadolu news agency reported.
Thousands of Israelis began to gather in Kaplan Square, in central Tel Aviv, to participate in the main demonstration demanding a hostage swap deal, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.
The newspaper said police used trucks to close the streets surrounding Kaplan Square, preventing protesters from reaching the gathering to participate.
Thousands of Israelis also demonstrated near Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea (north), demanding his resignation, the daily said.
Protesters accused Netanyahu of being “guilty” in the current situation and demanded that his government immediately finalize a deal to free hostages held in Gaza.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Rehavot (central), the Kiryat Gat intersection, Haifa (north), and other cities across the country demanding a hostage swap deal, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Protests across the country are expected to pick up pace in the coming hours, local media reported.
Qatar, Egypt, and the US are trying to reach a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, as the first pause lasted only a week in late November last year, which resulted in limited aid entering the Gaza Strip, as well as exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children detained in Israeli jails.
Tel Aviv currently holds at least 9,100 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, while there are an estimated 134 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Hamas has announced the death of 70 of them in random Israeli airstrikes.
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