Israeli media coverage and discussions have been dominated by the issue of returning Israeli detainees held by Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip. Families and relatives of these detainees insist on the necessity of an immediate, comprehensive deal by the Israeli government to secure their return. Analysts and experts believe that Israel has been moving from one tragedy to another since October 7th.
Israeli media channels have reported that protestors are demanding a deal for the detainees' return, chanting "A deal now, not tomorrow, not in a second—Their lives are in danger."
Danny Elgart—brother of one of the detainees—commented, "We receive one coffin after another, one body after the other, bad news for everyone." Meanwhile, Robi Haim—father of a detainee—called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to engage in talks with the families and explain any deal on the table for negotiation, urging action without waiting for proposals from the United States or Yahya Sinwar.
Lior Peri, father of a detainee, expressed his belief that negotiations are the only beneficial way to release all the detained and warned that his son would return in a body bag if the government does not comply with their demands.
On another note, Israeli media channels hosted analysts and experts who discussed the repercussions of the conflict on the Gaza Strip, especially the detainees' issue. Channel 12 quoted Uri Slonim—former counselor for prisoner and missing persons affairs—saying, "I believe that instead of proposing, we should just put all the prisoners on a bus, take them to the border, tell them, 'take them and return all of our kidnapped by tomorrow morning'."
Professor Yossi Shain, an international relations specialist at Tel Aviv and Georgetown Universities, observed that the Israeli reality is completely skewed in terms of awareness. He mentioned that Israelis are receiving dead kidnapping victims, soldiers killed while searching for bodies, and the death of ten Golani brigade commanders in a tunnel collapse this week. He added, "By the end of the week, we face the terrible tragedy of kidnapped victims killed by mistake among other incidents," affirming that Israel has been moving "from one tragedy to another since October 7th." This refers to the "torrent of Al-Aqsa" battle, where the Palestinian resistance launched a comprehensive attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, including land, sea, and air attacks and resistance fighters infiltrating several settlements around Gaza.
