Israelis hold 'The Last Chance' rally to push Netanyahu on prisoner swap

Thousands of Israelis including the families of hostages have protested in Tel Aviv and Haifa cities, calling for a hostage-prisoner swap deal, according to Israeli Channel 12, as a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was under way in the Qatari capital Doha.

In Tel Aviv, several thousand protesters marched and held signs on Thursday, while in Haifa, a couple hundred gathered to call for their release.

Protesters carried banners at the "The Last Chance" march, signalling that they believed it to be the final opportunity for a prisoner exchange.

Talks were under way in Doha, officials said, with Israel's spy chief joining his US and Egyptian counterparts and Qatar's prime minister for the closed-door meeting.

The negotiations, an effort to end Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and bring 115 Israeli and foreign hostages home, were put together as Iran appeared poised to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

No statements have been released by Qatar, the US or Egypt regarding the progress in talks. But sources told Reuters and Anadolu news agencies that mediators concluded "constructive" day of discussions on Thursday.

Qatar said talks will resume on Friday while Hamas resistance group said negotiation must achieve full withdrawal of invading Israeli troops from besieged Gaza.

The talks, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, bring together high-level representatives, including the heads of US and Egyptian intelligence, and Israeli officials led by Mossad Chief David Barnea.

Hamas said on Wednesday, that it will join the ceasefire and hostage swap talks if it gets a clear commitment from Israel on the implementation of US President Joe Biden-backed proposal.

Biden said in May that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.

But Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist allies have been for months dillydallying or trying to scuttle the Biden-backed deal.

Israel continues to bomb innocent Palestinians in Gaza and has assassinated high-profile figures on Lebanon and Iran, prompting mediators, countries and analysts to voice frustration at Tel Aviv's non-seriousness in pursuing talks to end the war.

Hamas is insisting on ending the war in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes as part of any hostage-prisoner exchange deal.

Netanyahu's bid to kill deal

Based on recent statements from Netanyahu's office, however, four main issues need to be resolved to finalise an agreement.

Netanyahu’s office has emphasised the need for a mechanism to prevent armed Palestinians from crossing the Nitsarim Crossing from central Gaza to the north.

Israeli negotiators have told reporters in recent weeks that the condition to establish a mechanism for inspecting Palestinians complicates reaching a deal.

Netanyahu's second condition is for Israel to maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor (Salah al-Din axis) and the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has been under Israeli siege since May.

The third concerns knowing the number of Israeli prisoners still alive in Gaza, who would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons, while Hamas claims there are around 115 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, with more than 70 killed in Israeli air strikes.

The proposed agreement would involve the release of a limited number of "alive or dead" Israelis, but Netanyahu insists on the release of mostly living captives and wants Israel to receive a list of names in advance.

The fourth condition is for Israel to retain the right to reject the release of specific Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants freed and to deport released prisoners outside of Palestine — a condition Hamas rejects.

40,000 dead, a conservative estimate

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its genocidal war on Gaza since October 7 last year.

Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded over 92,400, according to local health authorities.

But these are conservative estimates.

The UN says the death toll in the Gaza "is an approximation," and the number may be "an undercount."

Some 45 American physicians, surgeons and nurses, who have volunteered in Gaza since last October say the likely death toll from Israel's genocidal war is "already greater than 92,000".

According to a study published in the journal Lancet, the accumulative effects of Israel's war on Gaza could mean the true death toll could reach more than 186,000 people.

The Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health has also said that the true figures are likely higher than those published, without giving specifics.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.