Israeli media reported that activists are demonstrating in front of the home of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, demanding a prisoner exchange deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza.

Thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating for months in Tel Aviv, demanding an urgent deal to release those held in Gaza.

Protesters often hold up signs criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu's government, holding it responsible for failing to release the detainees so far.

Several cities in Israel are witnessing demonstrations calling for a prisoner exchange deal.

Israeli media, both official and private, reported in recent days that an agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was close to being reached, which could pave the way for a ceasefire in Gaza, without any official announcement being made.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar claimed that Tel Aviv had an opportunity to reach a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas that would lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

In an indication of the sharp political division in Tel Aviv, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reiterated his rejection of a prisoner exchange agreement and a complete ceasefire in Gaza, stressing that these are "red lines" that cannot be crossed.

At the beginning of December, Hamas announced the killing of 33 Israeli prisoners who were being held by it, most of whom were killed by the Israeli occupation army’s bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip since the start of the aggression in October 2023.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have arrested more than 12,000 Palestinians from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, while there are no statistics available for prisoners arrested from Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly confirmed its readiness to conclude a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement, and in May it actually agreed to a proposal put forward by US President Joe Biden, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed down and set new impossible conditions, including the continuation of the war and not withdrawing the army from Gaza.

The opposition and the families of the Israeli prisoners accuse Netanyahu of obstructing reaching an agreement, in order to preserve his position and government, as extremist ministers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, threaten to withdraw from the government and bring it down if a complete end to the war is accepted.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 151,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Israel continues its massacres, ignoring two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21 against Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel also defies the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate end to the war, and the International Court of Justice's orders to take measures to prevent genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.