E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Restive protesters demand Gaza deal, look to Trump after video shows hostage alive
[IsraelTimes] Demonstrators in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem call on incoming US president to ‘end war’ and bring captives home, accusing Biden of dropping ball; at least five arrested.

Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday night to call for a deal to free hostages held in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 for over 450 days, hours after Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
 released a propaganda video showing captive soldier Liri Albag alive.

The rallies took place as an Israeli delegation was in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
 for negotiations aimed at bridging longstanding differences after months of fruitless efforts to reach a deal with the Hamas terror group to free hostages held in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack.

At least five people were arrested in Tel Aviv as anti-government protests focused on pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration to reach a hostage deal turned restless, ending weeks of relative calm between demonstrators and police.

Albag, a surveillance soldier, was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base along with six others. She is one of 96 hostages believed to still be in captivity in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

The Hamas propaganda video was not dated, although Albag stated in it that she has been held for over 450 days, indicating that it was filmed recently. Saturday marked the 456th day of the crisis.

Relatives of hostages urged the public to take to the streets en masse at the weekly Saturday night demonstrations following the release of the video, which Albag’s family has asked Israeli news outlets not to air.

"The sign of life from Liri is harsh and undeniable proof of urgency in bringing all the hostages home," the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. "Every day in Hamas’s hell in Gaza poses an immediate risk of death to the living hostages and endangers the ability to recover the fallen for proper burial."

In Tel Aviv, speakers addressing a crowd of some 1,500 anti-government protesters gathered near military headquarters called on US President-elect Donald Trump
...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried....
 to end the war in Gaza and secure a deal.

Trump has repeatedly threatened harsh action if the hostages remain in captivity once he takes office on January 20, but talks on a deal have remained stuck due to various issues, including Hamas’s demand that any agreement include an end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Protesters later hoisted burning torches and lit bonfire on the road, clashing with police who attempted to clear the roadway.

Mounted police were seen charging into crowds and footage showed cops shoving away protesters trying to stop them from carrying people off the road. A policeman also snatched a megaphone from the hands of one protester and tossed it into the ashes of a bonfire the demonstrators had lit.

Police said five people were detained for disturbing public order after "officers were caught in festivities including shoving and attempts to stop them" from deploying.

There had been no arrests at the weekly protests since the beginning of December, when Hamas released a video of hostage Matan Zangauker.

In Jerusalem, four protesters were detained by police outside Netanyahu’s residence, the Walla news site reported.

In Jerusalem, hundreds of demonstrators demanding a hostage deal marched to Netanyahu’s home, carrying a banner that read: "They are all humanitarian," referring to the hostages.

Negotiations for a release deal have focused on an initial stage that would see "humanitarian" cases freed first, but families have demanded that all hostages be let go at once.

Saturday’s protests and the release of Hamas’s latest propaganda clip coincided with ongoing hostage negotiations in Doha, where Qatari mediators met with a mid-level Israeli negotiating team and Hamas representatives for parallel discussions aimed at overcoming ongoing differences between the warring parties.

Talks had stalled for roughly a week and a half after the prime minister called back Israel’s negotiating team from Qatar for internal deliberations on December 25. Since then, optimism about the potential for a deal before Trump’s inauguration waned.

After the talks wrapped up on Friday, a senior Israeli official told Axios that Israel and Hamas remain at an impasse over almost all issues and that the negotiations were advancing very slowly as a result. Nevertheless, the official said it would become clear within a week whether or not a deal could be reached.
Posted by: trailing wife 2025-01-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=733818