Tens of thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, demanding that the Israeli government conclude a deal with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to return their children detained in the Gaza Strip.

A spokeswoman for the families of the prisoners said, in a speech during the demonstration, “We hear the unnecessary sounds of war and see a waste of time.”

Another speaker also called on Benjamin Netanyahu's government to return our sons alive as it returned others. Meanwhile, the father of one of the prisoners held up an hourglass during the demonstration to warn the government that time was running out.

Israelis demonstrate almost daily to demand the government release prisoners.

The Israeli army says that Hamas has been holding 239 Israelis in Gaza, both military and civilian, since last October 7, when the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stormed Israeli settlements and military sites around the Gaza Strip.

For its part, Hamas says it wants to exchange Israeli prisoners for prisoners in Israeli prisons, a ceasefire in Gaza, and the introduction of humanitarian aid to the population.

According to Palestinian sources, Israel detains more than 7,000 Palestinians in its prisons, including women, children, and the sick.