September 25, 2025 | 12:22 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hundreds of Israeli citizens demonstrated at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's departure to New York, as reported by Anadolu. They demanded the immediate return of captives, even at the expense of the war in Gaza.
"Before Netanyahu’s trip to the U.S. to deliver his speech at the UN General Assembly, protesters gathered this evening at Ben Gurion Airport," as reported by the Israeli news site, Walla.
According to the media, the demonstrators expressed their rejection of Netanyahu's policies of continuing the war in Gaza and called for the return of the hostages.
A video uploaded by Israeli activists showed hundreds of demonstrators inside the airport, waving Israeli flags and holding photos of the captives. Some carried banners that read: "Stop the war and save the abductees."
One demonstrator appeared in a performance wearing a Netanyahu mask and orange prison clothes while dragging a suitcase.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 48 Israeli captives in Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive.
Meanwhile, about 11,100 Palestinian civilians are detained in Israeli prisons, suffering from torture, hunger, and medical neglect, which have caused the deaths of many people, according to reports from human rights organizations and Palestinian and Israeli media.
Hamas has repeatedly stated its readiness to reach a partial or comprehensive prisoner exchange agreement. However, Netanyahu continues what critics call a stubborn attitude and his attacks in Gaza to keep his right-wing ruling coalition intact.
Netanyahu is scheduled to depart on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 3 AM local time for his visit to the U.S., where he will deliver a speech before the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday and meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
This will be the fourth meeting between Netanyahu and Trump since Trump returned to the White House.
Trump's Promise
On Wednesday evening, the U.S. media outlet Politico, citing six sources familiar with the matter, said Trump met with Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to the sources, the U.S. delegation present at Trump's meeting with the Arab leaders presented a document outlining the government's plan to end the Gaza war.
This includes a promise that Israel will not annex the West Bank, following threats by Israeli ministers to annex the occupied territory in response to international recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The Arab leaders were frustrated with Trump's rejection of Palestinian state recognition and his continued support for Netanyahu's attacks on Hamas, which escalated outside Gaza earlier this month when Israel attempted to kill Hamas officials. At the same time, they were in Qatar for peace talks.
Leading up to the meeting on Tuesday, they aimed to convince Trump that any Israeli attack on the West Bank is likely to cause the collapse of the Abraham Accords, said two people familiar with the conversation.
Israeli forces have killed more than 65,400 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombings have made the enclave uninhabitable and caused hunger and the spread of diseases.
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