Families of Israeli captives held in besieged Gaza have threatened a hunger strike until the far-right Israeli government strikes a new swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, according to media reports.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said on Friday the threat was made after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet with the families.
It said 100 families accused Netanyahu of seeking to split the group so he would not have to respond to their demands.
Yedioth Ahronoth said the families gave Netanyahu until Saturday evening to hold a meeting with them and to work on the captives’ release.
The families said the Israeli military invasion in Gaza contradicts efforts to release the captives, according to the newspaper.
The Israeli hardline government has yet to comment on the threat of a hunger strike by the families.
Protest after captives killed by military
Meanwhile, family members of captives also rallied near the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv after the announcement of the killing of three captives by the Israeli military.
Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced that Israeli soldiers “mistakenly” killed three Israeli captives during battles in Gaza.
Hagari described it as “tragic” and said the army “bears responsibility.”
During a week-long humanitarian pause in besieged Gaza last month, Hamas released 81 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals and a Philipino national, in exchange for 240 Palestinians, including 71 women and 169 children, languishing in Israeli jails.
At least 18,800 Palestinians have since been killed and 51,000 wounded in the Israeli onslaught, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The Israeli death toll in the Hamas blitz stands at 1,200, which was revised down from 1,400.
More than 130 captives are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.
