JERUSALEM — Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protested Saturday outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing frustration over his government’s seeming lack of progress in getting the more than 100 captives released as the war in Gaza drags on.
A group representing families of the hostages said they had “begged for 105 days” and now demanded the government show leadership and take bold steps to free the hostages. A member of Israel’s War Cabinet has called a cease-fire the only way to secure their release, a comment that implied criticism of Israel’s current strategy.
The protest outside the prime minister’s home and the remark by former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot were among several signs of growing strife in Israel over the direction of the war, which is in its fourth month.
Critics have accused him of preventing a Cabinet-level debate about a post-war scenario for Gaza. They say Netanyahu is stalling to prevent conflict within his coalition.
The offensive, one of the most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has pulverized much of the territory and displaced more than 80% of its population of 2.3 million people. An Israeli blockade that allows only a trickle of aid into Gaza has led to widespread hunger and outbreaks of disease, United Nations officials have said.
Netanyahu has insisted that the only way to secure the hostages’ return is by crushing Hamas through military means. But relatives of the remaining captives have escalated their campaign for a deal to free their loved ones.
More than 100 hostages, mostly women and children, were released during a brief November cease-fire in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and minors imprisoned by Israel. Israel has said that more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, but only about 100 are believed to be alive.
The hostages “will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting,” Eisenkot said during a television interview late Thursday.
On Friday, the father of a 28-year-old man held by Hamas since Oct. 7 began what he called a hunger strike outside Netanyahu’s home in the coastal town of Caesarea.
Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan was among those kidnapped from a music festival in southern Israel, pledged to eat only a quarter of a pita a day – the amount of food some hostages reportedly receive some days — until the prime minister agreed to meet with him. Dozens of people who joined Shtivi were still there Saturday.
As part of its search for the hostages, Israel’s military dropped leaflets on the territory’s southernmost town of Rafah appealing for information. The leaflets, with photos of dozens of hostages, carried a message suggesting benefits for anyone who spoke up.
