TEHRAN- A growing sense of frustration and anger among Israelis is replacing the hope of returning captives in the wake of the regime’s failure to achieve its objectives in the Gaza war. 

Thousands of people staged rallies in cities such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (al-Quds) and Haifa at the weekend calling for a ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli captives. 

Protesters came down hard on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his inability to return the captives. 

The mother of one of the captives held in Gaza accused the premier of prolonging the war for his political interests.  

“We have a prime minister who has failed to bring my son home for over a year,” Einav Zangauker told protesters in Tel Aviv. 

She added that Netanyahu “doesn’t care about the soldiers who fall in battle. He only cares about his government.”

Yifat Calderon, the cousin of another captive, also lashed at Netanyahu for “endangering the captives’ lives” over his offer to pay Gazans $5 million for returning each captive. 

The weekend protests came as Hamas announced that one female captive was killed and another injured in an Israeli attack on northern Gaza.

The Israeli military has acknowledged the announcement, vowing to launch an investigation.  

Protests against the Israeli cabinet’s failure to release captives have become a regular occurrence since the start of the Gaza onslaught. 

Israel launched a war of genocide on Gaza following the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation. It was a surprise military attack that was carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The operation humiliated Israel and shattered the image of the regime’s invincibility. More than 1,100

people were killed in the attack that was conducted in southern Israel and about 250 others were taken captive. Hamas freed more than 100 captives following a swap deal in November last year. The Israeli army has freed 12 captives and recovered the bodies of 37 others.

Nearly 100 other captives remain in Gaza; dozens of whom are believed to have died in Israeli strikes on the enclave. 

The Israeli army has so far killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, including 17,400 children in Gaza but it has failed to make good on its promise to release all captives and eliminate Hamas.

Anti-Netanyahu protests have highlighted deep divisions inside the Israeli society. Israel has also become more isolated than ever across the globe in the face of its atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. 

The arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Netanyahu and his former war minister Yoav Gallant show global resentment against the apartheid regime.