Hundreds of Israelis protested for another Saturday night in Tel Aviv, expressing their anger at the government, which they say is unable to strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip to free the 97 remaining hostages. in the hands of Palestinian militants for over a year.

With pictures of hostages and flags in hand, they demanded “deal now”, “stop the war”, and assured “we will not abandon you”, as they have every week since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023 in a square they have renamed “Hostage Square” , in the center of Israel’s financial capital.

“Countless opportunities were given to end this crisis, and all of them were torpedoed by the government,” Zahiro Sahar Mor told AFP.

“The cycle of violence is getting worse week by week, and we don’t see any end in sight,” added the 52-year-old bank employee, whose uncle, Abraham Munter, died in captivity.

Protesters have called for a negotiated ceasefire with Hamas, as Israel says it has now achieved most of its military objectives, including the killing in combat of Palestinian Islamist leader Yahya Sinwar, who succeeded Ismail Haniya, who also killed in an Israeli operation in Tehran.

Israeli government, US officials and analysts have called Yahya Shinuar, the alleged mastermind of Hamas’s unprecedented incursion into southern Israel, the biggest obstacle to indirect negotiations to agree a cease-fire.

But Ifat Calderon, cousin of French-Israeli hostage Ofer Calderon, accused the Israeli prime minister of “sabotaging” any attempt to agree a truce.

“Every time there’s a discussion about a hostage deal, he sabotages it. He blamed Sinouar, now that Sinouar no longer exists, every time he invents another reason,” the penindara, a form of the anti-government protest movement, told AFP.

“It is a bloody war, it must stop, enough is enough. We have so many soldiers dead, so many ordinary civilians,” she added, referring to civilian casualties — both Israeli and Palestinian.

Hamas’ raid on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war, killed 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, which includes hostages killed in captivity or were already dead when they were taken to Gaza. Of the 251 people abducted, 97 remain hostages in the Gaza Strip, but 34 of the latter have been declared dead by the Israeli army.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas and launched devastating, wide-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip that have killed at least 43,314 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas’ health ministry. The war has caused colossal material damage and humanitarian disaster.

Some protesters also expressed support for the tens of thousands of military personnel, including many reservists, who are exhausted after more than a year of war.

Others expressed hope that there would be stronger involvement from the US, Israel’s historic ally, as presidential elections are held the day after Tuesday.

“I hope that whoever wins will be mature enough to take the kids in the Middle East by the ear and lead them to the negotiating table,” Zahiro Sahar Mor said.

He said he was “disappointed, desperate and angry” that the hostages still remain in the Gaza Strip, but added that he “remains hopeful for those who are still alive.”

The mediating countries — Qatar, Egypt and the United States — last week resumed contacts, the indirect negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Islamist movement, deadlocked since the summer.

On the table was a proposal for a brief ceasefire that would allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave and in exchange for a limited hostage exchange with Palestinians held in Israeli detention centers. The first—and only so far—ceasefire, in November 2023, lasting a week, had allowed the release of 105 hostages.

But Hamas refuses to even discuss any proposal “that does not include a permanent end to the offensive, nor the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, nor the return of the displaced.”

Mr. Netanyahu, head of a governing coalition described as the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is accused by his critics of blocking the talks to stay in power, which he categorically denies.

For Shimon Spak Safran, a 77-year-old protester who lives in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, the Netanyahu government “doesn’t give a damn” about the hostages. Several plans were shelved “not only because of Hamas. I don’t expect anything from the government,” he insisted.