Hundreds of families of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip held a march in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal with Hamas to return their relatives.

The Hebrew newspaper "Israel Hayom" said: "Before Netanyahu's speech before Congress (tonight), the families of the kidnapped organized a march from Dizengoff Square to the Kidnapped Square (near the Tel Aviv Museum of Art)."

She added: "There will be a media statement for the families of the kidnapped and a broadcast of the prime minister's speech before Congress. The families are waiting for Netanyahu's signal on the deal."

"Omer Shitoy, the brother of the prisoner "Idan", addressed the Israeli Prime Minister, saying: "Now is the right time to make a deal, release them."

Netanyahu arrived on Wednesday evening at Capitol Hill, the seat of the US Congress, where he is scheduled to deliver a speech at 18:00 (GMT).

In a related context, Israel Hayom said that Netanyahu informed the leaders of Jewish organizations in the United States on Tuesday evening that he would present a plan for the “day after” in the Gaza Strip in his speech to Congress.

Earlier on Wednesday, Channel 12 (private) reported that the visit of the Israeli negotiating delegation to Doha to hold talks on reaching a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas "has been postponed until next week."

The delegation's visit was scheduled for Thursday, but informed sources told the channel that it was postponed "pending the results of the meeting scheduled for Thursday between Netanyahu and President Biden in Washington."

An informed political source told the channel, "During their meeting, Netanyahu and Biden will discuss the broad outlines of the deal and how to move forward with it. Therefore, the Israeli delegation will head to the talks after their meeting."

On Monday, Netanyahu arrived in the United States, and is scheduled to meet with President Biden tomorrow, Thursday, and later with his Vice President, Kamala Harris.

Netanyahu will meet Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in Florida on Friday, then return to Israel on Saturday evening.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, and escalating its attacks on the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The war on Gaza resulted in more than 129,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens of children.

Israel continues the war in defiance of a request by the International Criminal Court's Prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and its Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for their responsibility for "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" in Gaza.

It also ignores the UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate end to the war, and the International Court of Justice orders to take measures to prevent genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency