Israelis rally in Tel Aviv demanding a Gaza war deal and hostage release as Netanyahu prepares to meet US President Trump
Israelis rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal to end the Gaza war and secure the release of hostages, ahead of his scheduled White House meeting with US President Donald Trump.
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Protesters flooded Hostage Square, holding a banner that read: “All Hostages, Bring Them Home Now.”
The demonstration came amid fresh Israeli strikes that killed at least 92 people in Gaza, 45 of them in Gaza City, according to the territory’s Hamas-run civil defence agency.
“The only thing that can stop the slide into the abyss is a full, comprehensive agreement that ends the war and brings all the hostages and the soldiers home,” said Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri remains captive in Gaza.
Addressing Trump directly, she added: “Use your influence with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Prolonging this war only puts Omri and the other hostages in even greater danger.”
Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. On Friday, he told the UN General Assembly that Israel would “finish the job” against Hamas.
Trump, however, expressed optimism that a ceasefire deal was close, telling reporters: “It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza… it’s going to be a deal that will end the war.”
At the rally, Ronen Ohel, whose brother Alon is among those held, pressed Netanyahu to act decisively: “No letters, no declarations, no delays.
There is an opportunity now, there is a moment when you can choose to be a leader.”
Yet dissent emerged within Netanyahu’s coalition. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned him against compromise.
“Mr Prime Minister, you do not have a mandate to end the war without the complete defeat of Hamas,” he wrote on X.
The political standoff underscores Netanyahu’s reliance on far-right allies opposed to halting the war launched after Hamas’s October 2023 attack.
That assault left 1,219 dead in Israel and saw 251 people taken hostage; 47 remain in captivity, 25 of whom the Israeli army believes are dead.
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Israel’s offensive in Gaza has since killed at least 65,926 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry figures deemed credible by the United Nations.
