Thousands of citizens demonstrated in Tel Aviv and in other cities of Israel with a central request to conclude a cease-fire agreement to return dozens of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas from the Gaza Strip, Haaretz newspaper reported last night in its digital edition.

A speaker at the rally in Tel Aviv, whose uncle is being held hostage, stressed that “the pressure the military is putting on Hamas will lead to more hostage deaths.”

The mother of another hostage spoke to the crowd about “the last chance to make a deal to save lives”.

Demonstrations also took place in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and Caesarea, in front of a villa of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Israeli media.

On Thursday, indirect negotiations between the warring parties are expected to resume, following the invitation of the mediating countries – Qatar, Egypt, the USA -, either in Doha or in Cairo, against the background of the new bloody bombing of a school yesterday morning, which it claimed the lives of around 100 people, as well as concerns about the whole area catching fire.

The war was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to a count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 111 are still being held hostage in Gaza, but 39 are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli military.

In retaliation, Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, which the US and EU designate as a terrorist organization.

Large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip have since claimed the lives of at least 39,790 people, according to the latest official tally, released yesterday by Hamas’ health ministry.