Torah Scrolls Laid in 'Hostages Square' to mark those still held by Hamas

Hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv’s 'Hostage Square' on Friday where 145 Torah scrolls had been laid out to represent each Israeli held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Footage shows Orthodox Jews holding the scrolls while relatives and friends of the hostages listened to a speech by Former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau. Israeli musician Ishay Ribo was also seen performing at the rally.

"Bring them home now, this is the message. The message we wanted to say to all of the world. It's been too many days, a lot of time they had suffered," a demonstrator said during the event.

“We all want to live in peace, as well as the people in Gaza,” added a second demonstrator. “All of us want our citizens back in their houses and everything back to normal.”

Fighting resumed between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday after a temporary truce and hostage-prisoner swap between the sides ended earlier, with no breakthrough to extend the deal.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced that it had 'resumed combat' against Hamas in Gaza on Friday, claiming the group had broken the truce first by firing rockets towards Israeli territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also alleged that Hamas had refused to release more hostages.

The Palestinian group rejected the accusation, claiming Israel had 'refused all offers' to extend the truce. It stated that it had 'offered to exchange prisoners and the elderly, as well as to hand over the bodies of those killed by the Israeli bombardment'.

The initial four-day ceasefire and prisoner-hostage swap deal was extended twice, lasting until Thursday. It saw the release of 86 Israeli hostages and 24 foreigners according to Israel, while around 240 Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 according to Israeli officials.

Israel declared war on the group and a 'complete siege' of Gaza, with a large-scale campaign of air strikes which Palestinian officials reported had killed over 1,500 people in the first week - and many thousands more since.

A ground incursion began at the end of the third, with Israeli leaders vowing to 'wipe out' Hamas. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed that Hamas locations and infrastructure were targeted in the response. However, United Nations experts warned against 'collective punishment' for the people of Gaza, before predicting a 'humanitarian crisis' and then claimed that 'hell is settling in' for the region.

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