Israelis were set to rally across the country on Saturday evening to demand a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, as Hamas delivered its response to a US-backed proposal that Israel has agreed to in principle.

The terror group was seeking changes to the latest American offer, making it unlikely that an agreement between the sides would be imminent.

Earlier in the day, the Kibbutz Movement led a tractor convoy to Tel Aviv to mark the holiday of Shavuot — a festival closely tied to agricultural communities — while calling for the return of the 58 hostages still in the Strip. The convoy ended at Hostages Square outside the Tel Aviv Museum. The movement was deeply impacted by the October 7 attack, in which many kibbutz residents were killed and abducted.

The main rally will follow at 8 p.m. at Hostages Square, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, where relatives of captives and others will address the crowd. Speakers will include Yaniv Yaakov, the brother of Yair Yakaov who was killed on October 7 and whose body is still held by Hamas; Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran; Rivka Bohbot, wife of hostage Elkana Bohbot; Sharon Alony Cunio, a survivor of Hamas captivity and wife of hostage David Cunio; Alon Nimrodi, father of hostage Tamir Nimrodi; Yehuda Cohen, father of hostage Nimrod Cohen; Shimon Buskila, father of Yarden Buskila who was murdered at the Nova music festival; and Lior Simcha, secretary general of the Kibbutz Movement.

Similar demonstrations are scheduled in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Herzliya, and other cities around the country.

The protests come amid renewed diplomatic efforts to secure a hostage release agreement, and days after rallies around the country marked 600 days of captivity for the hostages.

Hamas sources told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the group’s response to US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s ceasefire-hostage release deal proposal was generally positive, though with conditions, including a more staggered release schedule.

According to a copy of Witkoff’s latest proposal, the authenticity of which was confirmed to The Times of Israel by two sources familiar with the negotiations, Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages during a 60-day ceasefire.

A source directly involved in the negotiations told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response included a demand that makes it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the 60-day truce.

The source said there were other changes Hamas made to the Witkoff proposal, adding that this would require a more drawn-out negotiation process.

The updated proposal submitted by Hamas envisions the release of the 10 hostages being more spread out throughout the truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh days, as the US offer envisioned.

The source said this change was aimed at preventing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from abandoning talks on a permanent ceasefire after the hostages are released, or refusing to engage in them altogether, as he did during the previous ceasefire in January.

Netanyahu told hostages’ families this week that he principally approves of Witkoff’s proposal.

The hostages in Gaza include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF, and 20 hostages who are believed to be alive. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.