JERUSALEM — Dozens of family members of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza stormed into a Finance Committee meeting at Israel‘s parliament on Monday, yelling “you won’t sit here while they are dying there!”
On Sunday night, family members set up a protest tent in Jerusalem and vowed to stay there until the government reaches a deal to free some hostages.
The relatives of hostages have accelerated their protests in recent days, demanding the government do more to get their loved ones released.
The dispute over Gaza’s future - as the war still rages with no end in sight - pits the United States and its Arab allies against Israel and poses a major obstacle to any plans for postwar governance or reconstruction of the impoverished coastal enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians.
Before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war, the U.S. had been trying to broker a landmark agreement in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for U.S. security guarantees, aid in establishing a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom, and progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In September, Netanyahu had said Israel was on “the cusp” of such a deal, which he said would transform the Middle East.