Tel Aviv, 5 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Thousands of people in Israel have turned out on Saturday in a renewed demand for a hostage deal and show of anger at the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu.

"I will never forget the hand that saved my life," said Almog Meir Jan, who was freed from Hamas captivity by the Israeli military last June, during a rally in Tel Aviv.

"The hand extended to the hostages and their families is the deal that must be signed," he added, according to the Times of Israel daily newspaper. "The deal to save their lives, to save all our lives."

People also demonstrated at rallies in Jerusalem and Haifa. There were clashes with the police after the rally in Tel Aviv and six people were arrested, media reported.

They gained particular urgency as the Palestinian Islamist militia Hamas released another hostage video on Saturday, showing a young female soldier who was kidnapped from Israel and taken into the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

While Israel sees the videos as psychological warfare by Islamists, relatives of the hostages tend to see them as crucial signs that their loved ones are still alive. The soldier was deployed as a scout on the border when she was kidnapped on the Gaza border.

Demonstrators and supporters of the hostages accuse Netanyahu of undermining a ceasefire with Hamas and the release of the hostages with ever new demands. He denies this.

The indirect negotiations in Qatar regarding a ceasefire and the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian prisoners are reportedly progressing only slowly.

Photo: EPA