Families of victims interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on Sunday during a memorial for those who were killed or abducted by Hamas in southern Israel last year.
As soon as he started his speech, audience members in the crowd shouted at him for more than a minute and Netanyahu stood motionless at the podium, the live broadcast of the speech showed. People shouted, “Shame on you!” and created a commotion which forced Netanyahu to halt his speech shortly after it began, according to Al-Jazeera.
One protester repeatedly shouted, “My father was killed”.
Once the protesters were removed from the event, Netanyahu continued with his speech, as per The Times Of Israel report. Initially, bereaved families speaking on the attack wasn’t a feature of the event as there were concerns that it could be a platform for some to criticise the government. However, amid all the protests, the family members were allowed to speak at the ceremony.
According to the New York Post, many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failures that led to the October 7 attacks and hold him responsible for not rescuing the rest of the hostages taken by the militant group to Gaza.
Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi announced on Sunday that Egypt has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza aimed at facilitating the exchange of four Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, as per an ANI report.
This proposal, which includes an additional 10 days of negotiations following the release of the hostages, was presented to Israel's national security cabinet last week by Israeli Security Agency Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Netanyahu opted not to put the proposal to a vote, citing concerns over the initial ceasefire, and sent Bar back to Egypt to negotiate better terms.
Meanwhile, Hamas has expressed willingness to accept the Egyptian proposal if it aligns with its earlier demands from July 2 for a hostage deal as per ANI. Hamas also sought assurances that Israel would adhere to the Egyptian proposal as part of a comprehensive deal.