"Israeli Protests Escalate Amid Gaza Hostage Release Efforts"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded barbs with families of the remaining Gaza hostages, defending his efforts to secure their release while criticizing their public protest campaign, warning that it played into the hands of Hamas. The families accused Netanyahu of scolding them and not doing enough, drawing parallels to his own family's history of hostage rescue efforts. Netanyahu emphasized his continuous work to secure the hostages' release and rejected claims of alienating mediators, stating that the families' activities only hardened Hamas' demands.