Pressure is increasing on the Netanyahu administration to reach an agreement to release prisoners held in Gaza.

Israeli protesters interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at a ceremony commemorating the victims of the October 7 attack as Gaza ceasefire talks resumed in Doha, Qatar.

As Netanyahu stood motionless at the podium during Sunday’s ceremony, viewers in the crowd shouted and interrupted him for more than a minute, according to a live broadcast of the speech. Some people caused chaos by shouting “Shame on you”, forcing Netanyahu to stop his speech shortly after he started.

One of the protesters repeatedly shouted, “My father was killed.”

According to the Times of Israel reportHowever, the memorial service did not include speeches by grieving family members for fear they would criticize the Israeli government. However, after protests, family members were allowed to speak at the ceremony.

An estimated 1,139 people died and more than 200 were taken prisoner in the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7 last year. Nearly 100 captives remained in Gaza.

Public and diplomatic pressure is mounting on the Netanyahu administration to do more to reach an agreement to secure the release of captives currently held in Gaza.

Israel’s intelligence chief, David Barnea, is scheduled to travel to Doha on Sunday for talks aimed at restarting talks to reach an agreement to release hostages in Gaza.

Families of the remaining captives and several Western leaders have called on the Israeli government to reach an agreement following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this month.

Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Doha, said Sinwar’s death provided a new opportunity for ceasefire talks but in reality both sides were “going after the parties”.

Javaid said, “Hamas says removing the leadership will not eliminate what they are fighting for; “In their own words, they say this is ‘illegal occupation,'” he said.

Meanwhile, critics in Israel accused Netanyahu of blocking mediation for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement to release 97 captives still held by armed groups in Gaza. The Israeli army says 34 of them died.

Netanyahu rejected ceasefire proposals, including those from the US administration in May, and approved the killing of Hamas leader Islami Haniye, who participated in negotiations in Tehran. Hamas wants an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of continuous Israeli bombardment. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu’s far-right administration turned to a military solution by opening a new front after launching a ground attack against the armed group Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

In a separate speech Sunday to mark the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza on Oct. 7, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said military intervention alone would not achieve the country’s war objectives. to the house of the prisoners.

“Not all goals can be achieved by military operations alone… We will have to make painful concessions to fulfill our moral duty to return our hostages home,” Gallant said.