Families of Israeli hostages protest at Tel Aviv airport, demand hostage swap deal

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza demonstrated on Sunday at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, demanding a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza.

The protest came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fly to Washington early Monday for talks with U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden.

Dozens of families of the hostages, as well as their supporters gathered at the airport and demanded a hostage swap deal, the state-run public broadcaster KAAN reported.

Large police forces were present at the site of the protest, the broadcaster noted.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed Tel Aviv's negotiating team to travel to Qatar on Thursday to continue talks for a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap with Hamas.

Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. have been trying for months to secure a cease-fire and the release of 120 remaining hostages in Gaza.

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 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 39,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,700 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.