As a new ceasefire proposal sits on the table and the United States urges Hamas to accept it, pressure from the Israeli public against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains intense.
Protesters and relatives of hostages have blocked the main highway in Tel Aviv, chanting, “It’s either the hostages or Rafah.”
Protesters are urging the Israeli government to strike a deal with Hamas to release the hostages, fearing that an offensive in Rafah would permanently dash any hopes of bringing them back alive.
In Jerusalem, other groups of protesters have displayed photos of female hostages outside Netanyahu’s residence.
A Hamas official said on Wednesday that the Islamist group would respond “within a very short period” to a plan proposed by mediators to halt the fighting for 40 days and to exchange dozens of hostages for many more Palestinian prisoners.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP late Wednesday that the movement’s position on the truce proposal was “negative” for the time being, but that discussions were still underway.
Netanyahu has vowed to send Israeli ground forces into Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, despite major concerns over the fate of some 1.5 million civilians sheltering there.
“We will enter Rafah, and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there with or without a deal,” Netanyahu said this week.
In recent days, right-wing members of Netanyahu’s government, including Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have cautioned against reaching a hostage agreement that would require significant concessions from Israel.
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