July 13 (UPI) — Families of hostages held in Gaza were joined by thousands of protesters in a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem trying to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal.
The four-day march, which set out from Tel Aviv, was expected to reach Jerusalem by Saturday evening. Organizers planned to assemble in front of the prime minister’s house, coinciding with other mass demonstrations throughout the country.
A large demonstration also was expected Saturday evening outside of the Israeli Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks was quoted by the Times of Israel saying, “we’re seeing more and more reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to sabotage the deal [to release the hostages]. He adds demands that could cost Matan his life, he adds demands that could cost the lives of other hostages.”
Amid the March, IDF officials said they targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and Khan Younis Brigade leader Rafe Salama in an airstrike on southern Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the strike also killed over 70 Palestinians and left hundreds injured.
The report gave hostage family members concern about how the attack would affect hostage negotiations.
“We’re all for settling the score with the Hamas murders, but not at the cost of our loved ones’s lives and our chances to get them home,” Zangauker said, adding Netanyahu was jeopardizing hostage negotiations by targeting a Hamas leader.
Opposition party leader Yair Lapid, who joined hostage families in the march, condemned Netanyahu for the strike.
“We are marching to Jerusalem to make it clear that even if they killed Mohammed Deif, it doesn’t mean they can kill the hostage deal. We need a deal now,” Lapid said.
Hamas, meanwhile, denied that Deif and Salama were killed in the attack and said Israel’s reports “are false and aimed at covering up its crimes.”
Netanyahu later in a press conference on Saturday said there was “no certainty” Deif was killed in the strike, but defended the attack and rebuffed claims that he was hardening his demands in negotiations.
I don’t add demands, and I don’t take any demands away, but I also don’t let Hamas add demands,” he said.
“If we stand firm in our insistence on these principles, we will get a deal that releases our hostages and allows us to continue the war until victory.”
Negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States are tense even after Hamas dropped its previous demand for a permanent cease-fire before a deal is even signed.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has added demands such as an enforcement mechanism that would guarantee Hamas would not return to northern Gaza and for Israel to maintain control along the Gaza-Egypt border.
While both sides have agreed to a general framework, Hamas still expects a permanent cease-fire to be the ultimate goal, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel must be able to continue the war “until all the objectives of the war are achieved.”
One hundred and sixteen Israeli hostages remain imprisoned by Hamas of the 250 kidnapped in the Oct. 7 attacks. The IDF confirmed 42 of the remaining hostages are dead.