Large crowds have amassed at the Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv and have blocked off the road to traffic as they march toward the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters in a flash protest calling for the government to take the initiative to secure the release of the hostages, after the IDF’s mistakenly killed three of them earlier today in Gaza.
“Their time is running out! Bring them home now!” the crowd is heard chanting. “There is no victory until every last hostage is released!”
Anger among the hostage families has mounted in recent days following reports that the government has been holding off on initiating a hostage deal proposal with Hamas on the grounds that it believes that only continued IDF operations in Gaza will bring the terror group to its knees and back to the table with an offer Israel could accept.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly barred Mossad chief David Barnea from traveling to Qatar for that reason earlier this week.
However, Axios reports that Netanyahu has since changed his mind and has agreed to dispatch Barnea to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe this weekend to discuss resuming negotiations toward another hostage deal.
Israelis protest for the release of hostages in Tel Aviv on December 15, 2023. (@Sha_b_p)
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this