Relatives of Israelis held hostage in Hamas-ruled Gaza interrupted a parliamentary meeting on Monday, demanding the government take urgent action to get them released.

The group broke into a meeting of the Knesset's finance committee, chanting "everybody and now" to urge the return of all hostages.

"You sit here while our children are dying over there," Gilad Korngold, father of hostage Tal Shoham, yelled, an AFP correspondent reported.

The families of hostages are regularly allowed into parliament to speak to lawmakers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he had rejected conditions set by Hamas for the release of hostages.

"The conditions demanded by Hamas demonstrate a simple truth: there is no substitute for victory," he said.

Netanyahu has vowed "complete victory" over Hamas after attacks by the Islamist movement's fighters on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The militants seized about 250 hostages and Israel says around 132 remain in besieged Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data.

In response, Israel has launched a relentless offensive that has killed at least 25,295 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll issued Monday by Gaza's health ministry.

 

                

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