Thousands of protesters demonstrate in Israel yesterday calling for the return of the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili and protesting against the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Gvili’s family called on US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Board of Peace member Jared Kushner to put pressure on Hamas. The pair were due to arrive in Israel yesterday, amid reports they plan to pressure Jerusalem into opening the Strip’s Rafah Crossing to Egypt, despite Hamas’s failure to retrieve Gvili’s body.
President Donald Trump “himself said this week in Davos that Hamas knows where our son is. We wonder why the pressure is being directed at the wrong place?” Gvili’s family was cited as saying by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“The pressure should not be on the Israeli government to continue fulfilling its part of the deal while Hamas deceives the entire world and refuses to return the last hostage in accordance with the agreement it signed,” Gvili’s family continued.
“We call on the prime minister of Israel to address the esteemed American envoys and say that anyone who wants to advance the reconstruction of Gaza and peace in the Middle East would do well to focus their efforts first and foremost on bringing Rani home.”
The terms of the ceasefire stipulate that its second phase, which includes the disarmament of Gaza’s terrorist groups along with the territory’s reconstruction, will commence only after all hostages, alive and dead, return to Israel.
However, Witkoff declared last week the start of Phase Two of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, followed by the unveiling of the Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland. The global body, chaired by Trump, was initially formed to oversee the terms of the truce as they are being implemented in the Gaza Strip, as well as reconstruction efforts.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Israel Defence Forces said that the Air Force struck and eliminated Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip earlier in the day.
“IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, planted an explosive device in the area and approached troops, posing an immediate threat to them,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The IAF struck back following the identification. “IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the army added.
Israeli forces hold about 54 per cent of the Gaza Strip, deployed east of the so-called Yellow Line, which runs through the Palestinian territory. Phase Two of the ceasefire agreement involves the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops on the condition that Gaza’s terrorist organisations lay down their arms.
Additional reporting by the Jewish News Syndicate
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