The families of seven Gaza hostages have called for their return in London as ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel continue.
Speaking at the Israeli embassy on Thursday, the family members said that the conflict would end “on both sides” if the hostages were released.
It comes following reports that Hamas’s delegation left Cairo on Thursday morning with no breakthrough in negotiations.
Talks remain ongoing between all parties to reach a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan begins around March 10.
Asked what it would take for the hostages to come home, Yehuda Cohen, whose 19-year-old son Nimrod is still in captivity, said the families are “not making the terms”.
He said: “We have a direct need, want, for our loved ones to come back. What it takes is a matter for officials – to do the negotiations.”
Mr Cohen added: “If 134 hostages will be returned from Gaza, back to Israel, all this suffering on both sides will end.”
The family members were also asked what they would say to the families of thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are waiting for them to be returned home in a prisoner exchange with Israel.
Gily Ramon, whose sister Yarden Roman-Gat was freed in November, said there was “no connection” between the hostages and the Palestinian prisoners.
“What is the connection between prisoners, many of them tried (for) acts of terrorism and murder and my sister who worked with Palestinians in East Jerusalem and treated them, and was completely innocent and taken from her home,” he said.
“Why are you asking us this question? They have nothing to do with each other, the fact that Hamas is preferring to deal with prisoners instead of protecting their own civilians…
“It is a matter of Hamas, we deal with it because it is their own demands.”
The conflict was sparked by Hamas’s deadly raid into Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and saw militants seize about 250 hostages.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes have left more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
The Government has resisted calls to back an immediate ceasefire and previously abstained on UN resolutions demanding one.
This week, Downing Street said it wants to see a “sustained humanitarian pause” agreed as quickly as possible to allow the safe release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and a significant increase in aid to Gaza.