Families of Hamas prisoners hold rally to demand information from Netanyahu about their relatives (Getty Images)
Families of Israeli prisoners in Gaza stepped up pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Tuesday by staging a protest march from Tel Aviv to the prime minister's office in Jerusalem to demand practical steps to repatriate their children.
Hundreds of people staged a sit-in in the city of Tel Aviv ahead of the 63-kilometer walk, a march planned to arrive next Saturday in front of the Israeli prime minister's office in West Jerusalem.
The families of the prisoners demanded that the Netanyahu government give them answers about the procedures they are following to return their families, and a deal to release all hostages, stressing that every day that detainees remain in Gaza puts their lives at risk.
The Hostage Forum also called on the government to disclose the demands it made as part of the deal to release all hostages held in Gaza.
The protest march comes amid conflicting information about a possible prisoner exchange deal with the Islamist group Hamas mediated by Qatar and the United States.
Hamas reported that the Israeli government was delaying a deal to release prisoners, offering Israel a truce for several days, the entry of fuel and food into Gaza, and the release of prisoners from Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of a number of Israeli prisoners, including those with foreign nationalities.
While the Israeli government says that the intensification of military pressure in Gaza is helping to bring back prisoners, a number of Israeli detainees have been killed by shelling in Gaza, raising fears for the lives of their loved ones.
Source: Agencies