"Protests will continue until Israeli prisoners are released" - families of prisoners

More than a million people have taken part in a general strike and protests in Israel, demanding a prisoner swap agreement in exchange for the government’s plans to occupy the Gaza Strip.

According to the Joint Platform of Israeli Prisoners’ Families, demonstrations, marches and rallies were held across the country, with more than a million people taking part.

The statement said that the end of the events in Tel Aviv’s “prisoners’ square” did not mean the end of the movement. The protests and rallies would continue until the release of Israelis held by the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Earlier in the day, strategic facilities and major companies suspended operations due to the general strike, and hundreds of private institutions and organizations joined the action.

Channel 12 reported that tens of thousands of people participated in a rally in central Tel Aviv. Protesters have again demanded a prisoner exchange agreement, “even at the cost of a ceasefire.”

The opposition and the families of the prisoners accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging negotiations with Hamas in order to maintain power and refuse to dissolve the coalition.

Hamas, for its part, has repeatedly stated its readiness “to release Israeli prisoners in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.”

Israeli authorities estimate that about 50 Israelis remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive. Human rights organizations report that more than 10,800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons in dire conditions, hundreds of whom have died.