Families of captives, in a special session on 25 December, expressed impatience with Israel’s Prime Minister Benchamin Netanyahu’s handling of the situation, after he called for more time to secure the return of the captives while underlining that it remained a priority.
The family members of captives voiced their frustration by chanting “now, now” repeatedly during his address.
“We are expanding the fight in the coming days and this will be a long battle,” Netanyahu said.
“We wouldn’t have succeeded up until now to release more than 100 hostages without military pressure,” Netanyahu said. “And we won’t succeed at releasing all the hostages without military pressure.”
Later, family members and protesters gathered near the defence ministry headquarters in central Tel Aviv before a war cabinet meeting, holding posters demanding “Free our hostages now – at any cost!”
Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says war will not stop and he is ready to encourage Palestinians in Gaza to leave the enclave, according to Israeli media outlets. Hamas has condemned the statement.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 241 people had been killed in the past 24 hours and 382 injured.
More than 20,915 people have been killed and 54,918 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7.
