From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Protesters gather outside PMO in Jerusalem calling for immediate hostage deal
Dozens of protesters are gathered outside of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem demanding an immediate deal to free the hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.
The protest is being held during a cabinet meeting discussing how to proceed with the deal before the Israeli delegation returns to negotiations with Hamas in Qatar.
Jon Polin, the father of of Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, is urging ministers from the street to “give the mandate” to Mossad chief David Barnea, who will take part in negotiations, to accept a deal.
“There is no other way but to bring a deal to the table,” he says.
Between chants, relatives of the hostages are calling the spouses of cabinet members, urging them to attempt to sway their partners into reaching a hostage deal.
The demonstration is taking place concurrently with a similar protest in Tel Aviv.
Protesters led by the hostage family members are now blocking traffic, sitting on the road outside the Prime Minister’s Office and counting the number of days that the hostages have been in Hamas captivity.
Police are demanding that protesters return to the sidewalks; however, they have not begun to disperse the demonstration.
