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VIDEO: As final details of deal are being hammered out, Israelis speak out for and against truce with Hamas

January 17, 2025 ,
Photo: YouTube Screenshot

While some celebrate the release of hostages, others warn of concessions made to the Palestinian terrorist group

The streets of Israel were the scene of large demonstrations on Thursday around the ceasefire agreement reached between the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the terrorist group Hamas. While Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv in support of the pact, which includes the gradual release of hostages kidnapped in Gaza, other activist groups in Jerusalem vehemently oppose it, arguing that the conditions endanger national security.

The agreement, announced on Wednesday but still awaiting approval by Netanyahu's cabinet, provides for a 42-day ceasefire during which Hamas will release 33 hostages in a first phase. Israel, for its part, will release Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Photo: YouTube Screenshot

In Jerusalem, protesters organized by the Gvura Forum, which brings together families of fallen soldiers in battle, set up in front of the prime minister's office on Wednesday evening with banners against the agreement and slogans such as "Bibi, wake up! Jewish blood is not cheap!" On Thursday, hundreds returned to the site and They marched to Parliament, carrying symbolic coffins draped with Israeli flags, representing the lives they say will be lost as a result of the pact.

Protesters blocked main entrances to Jerusalem while in Tel Aviv a group of young people ultra-orthodox jews destroyed posters advocating approval of the pact.

On the other hand, The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons, which represents the majority of the families of the hostages, welcomed the agreement, although they stressed that their fight will not end until the 98 hostages are returned. “This is an important step that brings us closer to the moment when we will see all our loved ones back,” a spokesperson for the group told the newspaper. The Times of Israel.

In a joint statement, the forum urged the government to commit to the full implementation of the agreement and to ensure that the release of the hostages is not interrupted.

"I want to see the agreement continue until the last hostage is back home, in his bed, dead or alive," Ornit Barak, 59, told AFP during the protest in Tel Aviv. “We are very concerned that at some point, for some reason, the agreement will stop and we will return to war.”, Anadio.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al Thani announced that Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to establish a ceasefire in Gaza after more than 15 months of war. Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the announcement, saying it was the “right step” to allow hostages held in the Palestinian territory to return.

During the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, after which the war broke out, Palestinian terrorists captured 251 people. The Israeli army said 94 of them are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who died.

“For us, this is just the beginning, we want them all here. It is not over, it is not enough if only some of them return,” he told the AFP Arnon Cohen, a resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, said: “Two people from the community are still being held in Palestinian territory. We want them here, with all the other hostages, dead and alive.”

In the first phase, 33 hostages are to be released, starting with women and children, in exchange for XNUMX Palestinians held by Israel. A second phase, which requires further negotiation, is to follow the first.

(With information from AFP)
Source: INFOBAE and Aurora

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