Israelis demand Netanyahu to sign ceasefire agreement with Hamas - AP

Reportedly, on Sunday evening, September 1, grieving and angry Israelis took to the streets, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conclude a ceasefire agreement with the Hamas group to bring the hostages home. The largest protest involved tens of thousands of people.

“We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!’” said a Tel Aviv resident.

Three of the six hostages found dead, including an Israeli American, were reported to have been released in the first phase of a ceasefire proposal discussed in July, which only served to fuel feelings of anger and frustration among protesters.

The military said all six hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces arrived. Netanyahu blamed the Hamas paramilitary group for the stalled negotiations, saying that "whoever murders hostages does not want a deal."

One of the hostages was 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin (born in Berkeley, California), who lost part of his left arm to a grenade during the attack. In April, a video released by Hamas showed him alive, sparking new protests in Israel.

The Israeli army identified the others:

• Ori Danino, 25 years old;
• Eden Yerushalmi, 24 years old;
• Almog Sarusi, 27 years old;
• Alexander Lobanov, 33 years old;
• and Carmel Gat, 40.

They also said that the bodies were pulled from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, about a kilometer from the site where another hostage was rescued alive last week.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson, said Israeli forces found the bodies several dozen meters underground as “ongoing combat” was taking place, but noted that there was no firefight in the tunnel itself. He said there was no doubt that Hamas had killed them.

According to AP, Hamas has offered to release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including known militants.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would be alive if Israel had accepted the US-backed ceasefire proposal, which he said Hamas agreed to in July.

The AP added that the ceasefire talks have been going on for months, and many blame Netanyahu for failing to reach an agreement. In turn, the Israeli army has acknowledged the difficulty of rescuing the dozens of remaining hostages and said that only a deal could bring large-scale returns.