Relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas camp outside Netanyahu’s house to demand his release

Dozens of relatives of Israeli hostages held by the Islamic movement Hamas camped out on Friday evening in front of the house of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuto demand that an agreement be reached immediately so that his loved ones return safely to the country, after more than 100 days of kidnapping.

The camp is a direct consequence of the decision of the father of a 28-year-old man, detained by Hamas since October, who On Friday he began what he called a hunger strike outside Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan was kidnapped during a music festival in southern Israel, pledged to eat only a quarter of a pita bread a day – to draw attention to how little food some hostages would receive on some days – until the prime minister agrees to meet him.

Dozens of people joined Shtivi on Friday night and were still there Saturday morning.

“The days of grace where you dragged your feet are over.”the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement issued during the camp and carried by the Europa Press news agency.

“We have been begging for 105 days. “Now is the time to ask: the executions of hostages must be stopped, leadership must be shown and a courageous decision is needed to carry forward a plan that we know is on the table,” the statement adds.

Families particularly require the celebration of a international conference between Israel and three of its main allies and mediators – the United States, Qatar and Egypt – with Hamas “to reach an agreement on how to bring the hostages home.”

The camp joins the statements of Gadi Eisenkot, who said this on Thursday a ceasefire is the only way to guarantee the release of the hostagess, a comment that is a criticism of the current official strategy.

Eisenkot, a former army chief and one of five members of Israel’s war cabinet, questioned Netanyahu’s insistence that only the army’s overwhelming air and ground campaign will bring the hostages back to the country.

The soldier, whose son died in December while fighting in Gaza, said as much during a television interview Claims that prisoners will be free without an agreement and ceasefire “spreads illusions”.

The hostages “will only return alive if there is an agreement, linked to a significant pause in fighting,” he said, adding that rescue operations are unlikely because the prisoners appear to be scattered across the territory, many of them in underground tunnels. .

The protest in front of the prime minister’s house and Eisenkot’s statements are just some of them Signs of growing disagreements in Israel over the direction the war is taking, which is in its fourth month. Netanyahu has said he seeks “total victory” against Hamas, but has not explained how he will achieve it.

Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of postponing any discussion of post-war scenarios for Gaza to avoid possible conflicts that could disintegrate his far-right ruling coalition.

The unprecedented attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7 resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the kidnapping of approximately 240 people, including twenty Argentine citizens.

More than 100 hostages, mostly women and children, returned to the country during November’s brief ceasefire in an exchange with Palestinian women and children imprisoned in Israel. Israeli authorities say there are still more than 130 hostages in Gaza, but only 100 are believed to be alive.