On Tuesday, Israeli demonstrators blocked the road leading to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem, demanding a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, and the police arrested 7 of the demonstrators.
The Hebrew “Wala” news website said that demonstrators belonging to the Change Direction protest movement closed the two entrances leading to Netanyahu’s office and placed ballot boxes on the road to demand early elections.
The demonstrators also chanted slogans demanding a prisoner exchange deal before the police intervened to forcefully evacuate the demonstrators and arrested 7 of them.
Earlier today, rabbis from the far-right Religious Zionism Party called on Netanyahu to work through all means to return the prisoners in the Gaza Strip, even if that was through an agreement.
The demand came in a letter sent by these rabbis to Netanyahu, the day after Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, warned that he did not rule out the file of Israeli prisoners in Gaza entering a dark tunnel, in reference to the complexity of their file, and Israel’s inability to know their fate in the future.
Israel estimates that there are 101 prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced that dozens of prisoners were killed in random Israeli raids.
Although the joint mediation efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the United States have continued for months, presenting one agreement proposal after another to end the war on Gaza and exchange prisoners, Netanyahu continues to set new conditions that include continuing control over the Philadelphia border axis between Gaza and Egypt, the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and preventing the return of faction fighters. Palestinian Authority to northern Gaza, while Hamas insists on a complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip and a complete cessation of the war to accept any agreement.