![People, carrying flags, stage a protest, demanding the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza,on April 19, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel [Nir Keidar - Anadolu Agency ]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AA-20250419-37683802-37683782-PROTEST_IN_TEL_AVIV_TO_DEMAND_THE_RETURN_OF_ISRAELI_HOSTAGES-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The father of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of abandoning the hostages in favor of prolonging the war for his political interests, Anadolu reports.
“We listened to Netanyahu’s words from the Hostages Square [in Tel Aviv], and we are deeply disappointed,” Hagai Angrest, father of soldier Matan, told Maariv daily.
“Across the world, everyone is saying that a ceasefire and the return of the hostages should be the top priority. Yet we see a prime minister who is abandoning the soldiers and sending more into battle.
“We were told this war would not end without them. But now it seems Netanyahu is choosing his political survival over the lives of those in captivity,” he said. “The entire country supports bringing the hostages back.”
On Saturday night, Netanyahu claimed in a televised speech that there is “no choice” but to continue the war on Gaza, asserting that a ceasefire deal with Hamas would “undermine the gains of the war.”
He alleged that Hamas rejected a proposal that included the release of half the living Israeli captives and many of the dead, in exchange for ending the war, a condition Netanyahu labeled “unacceptable.”
READ: Groups of Parliaments in Support of Palestine calls for Israel to implement Gaza ceasefire
On Thursday, Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil Al-Hayya stressed that his group is willing to engage in comprehensive negotiations that would secure the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for a full ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction efforts, and the lifting of the siege.
A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister said on Saturday that retrieving all the Israeli captives in one deal is “impossible.”
Israeli estimates suggest that 59 captives remain in Gaza, with 24 believed to be alive. In contrast, over 9,500 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel under harsh conditions, including reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to both Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations.
More than 51,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
READ: Thousands of Israelis rally in Tel Aviv to demand return of hostages