Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Israel last night, calling on the government to conclude a truce in the Gaza Strip to speed up the release of held by the radical Palestinian group "Hamas" hostages, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
"Deal now!" chanted the protesters, some of whom clashed with police. Local media reports that there have been arrests.
Protest organizers once again tried to pressure the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal with "Hamas" for a ceasefire.
Palestinian Islamist fighters took around 250 hostages in their deadly surprise attack on Israeli territory on October 7 last year, when they killed around 1,200 people, according to Israel. It is believed that around 120 Israelis are still being held captive by "Hamas" at the moment, DPA notes.
The October 7 attack led to an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian casualties have already exceeded 38,000, according to statistics released by the Hamas health ministry.