A group of Israelis blocked the highway for about half an hour in the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv today, demanding a cease-fire agreement in Gaza

A group of Israelis blocked the highway for about half an hour during the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv today and again demanded an agreement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian movement Hamas on the release of hostages who have been held by Palestinian militants for seven months. The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns should discuss the ceasefire agreement in Israel today, The Times of Israel (ToI) website reported. On Tuesday, an Israeli delegation went to Cairo for talks on a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

This morning’s demonstration was also attended by relatives of the people kidnapped by Hamas during the attack on Israel last October 7, when it also killed 1,200 people. Of the approximately 250 abductees, Hamas released approximately half, the vast majority of them at the end of November, when the only truce so far in this war was negotiated and Israel released approximately 250 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and juveniles, in exchange.

Protests for the ceasefire agreement have been taking place in Israel since last year, and almost every day this year. Today, demonstrators brought a huge banner to the highway in Tel Aviv with the inscription “Save those who can still be saved”. According to Israeli media, several dozen hostages have apparently already died in captivity.

The conclusion of a cease-fire agreement brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar is failing mainly because Hamas insists on guarantees of a permanent cease-fire and demands the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli government reiterates that its goal is the destruction of Hamas, which many consider impossible.

The Israeli army has already killed at least 13,000 Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip since last October. According to the Hamas-controlled authorities there, at least 34,700 Palestinians, mostly civilians, died during its offensive and massive bombing.

From Monday to Tuesday, Israel launched a ground operation in the Rafah area, an area where over a million people from other parts of the Gaza Strip have fled since October before fighting. Not even a day before, on Monday morning, the Israeli army began calling on civilians in the eastern part of Rafah to evacuate to the coast to the Mawasi area, which is already overcrowded and completely built with refugee tents, or to the nearby town of Khan Younis, which is but completely destroyed by earlier Israeli bombing.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army also seized the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side and closed it temporarily for humanitarian aid. At the same time, this crossing from Egypt was the main entry point for food supplies and other aid to Gaza, while several dozen wounded people crossed it daily in the opposite direction. The Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to the Gaza Strip has also been closed since Sunday, due to a Hamas attack on it over the weekend, during which four Israeli soldiers died.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, among others, called for the opening of the crossings on Tuesday. Reuters reported today that the Kerem Shalom crossing is already opening and that Israel is currently inspecting aid trucks at it.