Israelis block main highway in Tel Aviv demanding prisoner swap

Israeli protesters on Wednesday blocked a main highway in Tel Aviv, central Israel, demanding the government reach a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians to secure the release of captives in Gaza.

According to the Israeli state broadcaster KAN, the protesters holding photos of the captives in Gaza blocked the Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv.

KAN added that protests are taking place in other locations across Israel, demanding the release of the captives.

The Haaretz daily reported that another massive protest will be held in the evening.

The Israeli authorities estimate that around 120 Israelis are held in Gaza of which Hamas said dozens were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

The Israeli opposition accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking policies that serve his personal interests and failure to achieve the Israeli declared goals from the war on Gaza, including destroying the Hamas group and releasing the captives.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have so far failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire that allows a prisoner swap between Israelis and Palestinians.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.