Israelis rally for Gaza deal ahead of Netanyahu-Trump meeting

TEL AVIV, Israel: Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding a deal to end the Gaza war as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet US President Donald Trump.

Protesters unfurled a large banner reading: “All Hostages, Bring Them Home Now,” as they gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

“The only thing that can stop the slide into the abyss is a full, comprehensive agreement that ends the war and brings all the hostages and the soldiers home,” said Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of Omri Miran, who remains captive in Gaza.

Directly addressing Trump, she urged: “Use your influence with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“Prolonging this war only puts Omri and the other hostages in even greater danger,” she said.

Netanyahu and Trump are scheduled to meet at the White House on Monday.

On Friday, Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that Israel would “finish the job” against Hamas, even as Trump expressed optimism about a ceasefire.

“It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza, I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back, it’s going to be a deal that will end the war,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

At the rally in Tel Aviv, Ronen Ohel, whose brother Alon Ohel is among the hostages, pressed Netanyahu to agree a deal.

“No letters, no declarations, no delays. There is an opportunity now, there is a moment when you can choose to be a leader,” he said.

But Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned Netanyahu against agreeing to a deal.

“Mr Prime Minister, you do not have a mandate to end the war without the complete defeat of Hamas,” he posted on X.

Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on support from far-right allies like Ben Gvir who oppose ending the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

During the attack, militants took 251 people hostage, 47 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

The attack itself resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s attack on Gaza has killed at least 65,926 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza, figures the United Nations deems reliable.