Netanyahu denies ignoring demands from hostages' families, says meeting scheduled

Relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas threaten to increase their protests if there is no meeting today

MADRID, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected the accusations made by relatives of those kidnapped by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) who are still held in Gaza about his alleged refusal to meet with them and has specified that a meeting is already scheduled for this week.

"Yesterday, a meeting was scheduled for Wednesday between the war cabinet and the relatives of the hostages," said Netanyahu's office, which indicated that "in response to the families' requests, the possibility of bringing forward the meeting is being examined." .

The relatives of the hostages have warned this Monday that they could increase their protests against the Government if a meeting with the war cabinet is not accepted, before stressing that they demanded this meeting two days ago, after the end of the truce on Friday. agreed on November 24 by Israel and Hamas.

"All we ask is for the war cabinet to meet with us today. We deserve it. This is ignoring us and humiliating us," denounced Yael Adar, mother of one of those kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist group, as reported by the 'The Times of Israel' newspaper.

"If they do not meet with us before 8:00 p.m. (local time) today, we will have to look at what to do to increase our protests," he said, before adding that the families would start a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. in Tel Aviv.

In this sense, he has emphasized that the families of the hostages who remain in Gaza need guarantees that their release continues to be one of the Government's priorities, after the restart of an offensive that has included ground operations in the south of Gaza since Sunday. the fringe.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday the start of a ground military offensive against the south of the Strip, after weeks of operations focused on the north of the enclave. Israeli aircraft have been bombing targets throughout the territory since October 7 and Hamas has claimed that several hostages have died as a result of Israeli operations.

The Israeli Army launched an offensive against the Palestinian enclave after the attacks carried out on October 7 by Hamas, which left some 1,200 dead and nearly 240 kidnapped. The Gazan authorities, controlled by the Islamist group, have put the death toll at nearly 15,500 Palestinians, to which more than 250 have been added at the hands of the Israeli Army and attacks by settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.