Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was briefly interrupted this Sunday, October 27, by relatives of victims of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, during his speech within the framework of memorial ceremonies in Jerusalem.
Minutes after starting to speak, several people interrupted him, including a man who repeatedly shouted “they killed my father.” He was wearing a T-shirt marked with the message: “The father was murdered, the son abandoned,” according to AFP images.
Benjamin Netanyahu remained stoic and waited until the protesters were evacuated after a few minutes to resume his speech.
Hamas’ bloody attack in southern Israel killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
Public pressure to release hostages
Of the 251 people kidnapped then, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
In retaliation, Israel launched a military offensive against Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which cost the lives of at least 42,924 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government considered reliable by the UN.
The Israeli government has faced growing public pressure to negotiate the release of the hostages since the assassination of Palestinian Islamist movement leader Yahya Sinouar on October 16.
The head of the Mossad, the Israeli David Barnea, will meet this Sunday in Qatar with his CIA counterpart, the American Bill Burns, and the Qatari prime minister to discuss the resumption of talks on a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A week of truce in November 2023 allowed the return of 105 hostages, but other negotiations have since failed.
Source: BFM TV
