Israeli protestors march in Jerusalem to demand swap deal with Hamas

Israeli protesters staged a march towards Prime Minister Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem Thursday evening to demand a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, Israeli Channel 12 reported.

The protest came hours after families of Israeli captives in Gaza threatened Netanyahu to stage mass rallies if he failed to reach a cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

In a statement on X, the Association of Families of Israeli Prisoners Detained in Gaza said millions of people will demonstrate if the Israeli government does not accept the deal.

"We won't allow government ministers to undermine the agreement again, and sabotage another deal," the statement said. "We will not abandon the 120 hostages for the second time," it added.

Early Thursday, Netanyahu agreed to send a negotiating team to engage in cease-fire and hostage swap talks with Hamas.

On Wednesday, Israel said that it had received Hamas' response to the Gaza cease-fire proposal via Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

While neither party disclosed the content of Hamas' response, Israeli media reported on Thursday that the response could serve as a basis for resuming negotiations.

Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. have been trying for months to secure a truce and the release of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza, but to no avail.

Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel, however, argues it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting and wants to end the governance capabilities of the resistance group.

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 the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie 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 it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.