Tens of thousands protest in Israel in favor of an agreement releasing the hostages.
Following the soldiers’ discovery of the remains of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which infuriated the country, tens of thousands of Israelis staged demonstrations.
Many of the demonstrators were wearing Israeli flags, and they flocked to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other towns, criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration for not doing more to broker an agreement that would ensure the release of the last prisoners that Hamas had abducted during the attacks on October 7.
The majority of Sunday’s rallies were nonviolent, but some protesters managed to get past police barriers and obstruct a busy Tel Aviv roadway.
This comes as Histadrut, a significant labor organization in Israel, demanded a hostage agreement on Monday by calling for a national walkout across the country.
The six bodies were discovered on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the southern Gazan neighborhood of Rafah, according to earlier information from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sgt Ori Danino were named as the hostages.
The IDF declared that they had been slain just before its forces arrived there on Saturday.
This set off the demonstrations on Sunday, during which large crowds demanded that the government and Mr. Netanyahu himself rescue the remaining hostages.
Late on Sunday, demonstrators in Tel Aviv crossed police lines and entered the Ayalon Highway.
To get a better view of the march, some people climbed over buses and garbage cans, while others mobbed a man donning a mask of Prime Minister Netanyahu and said, “Alive, alive, we want them alive.”
One protestor carried a banner that said, “You are the leader.” You bear the blame.
Slogans like “shame, shame” and “policemen, policemen who are you protecting” were also chanted by the crowds.
Some people lit roadside bonfires and hung yellow ribbons as a show of support for the hostages.
Lawmaker Naama Lazimi of the Labor Party told the BBC that she collapsed and was hit by a stun grenade fired by the police, causing minor injuries.
The protests, in her words, were “significant and important.” however, he said, “What happens tomorrow is the question.”
Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan is being held captive in Gaza, was one of the demonstrators.
He told the BBC, “We hope that those who make the decisions will wake up.” “There is no more time for us.”
According to him, participants in Sunday’s protests represented every segment of Israeli society and were all in favor of the captives being released.
“I’m really missing my kid. Every family is also, in a sense, a hostage, Mr. Shtivi claimed.
Another protestor in Tel Aviv, Noga Burkman, told the BBC that she “couldn’t stay at home any more”.
“People understand that now we need to break the rules and do something,” she stated, adding that “tonight is just the beginning” .
A varied mix of demonstrators assembled elsewhere in the city, with a group of teenage scouts leading slogans.
A sizable group of protesters gathered in front of the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem.
The BBC was informed by a man in his 50s that the protests were far larger than any that had come before. “It’s a totally different game today,” he stated. “A different scale to anything before.”
Yotam Peer, 24, who lost his brother, 21, to the Hamas attacks on October 7, was one of the attendees at the protests in Tel Aviv. “We couldn’t be silent any more after we heard about the six hostages,” he told the BBC. It is quite significant. We are left with no other options.”
Local media said that Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition, was there. Leading the Yesh Atid party, the former prime minister had earlier supported demands for a general strike to pressure
Mr. Netanyahu into reaching a compromise over the hostages’ release.
Union leader Arnon Bar-David declared, “We must reach a deal,” and called for a countrywide strike. Nothing is more crucial than a contract.”
He continued: “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.”
As part of weeks-long efforts to get a ceasefire agreement between Mr. Netanyahu’s administration and Hamas, the families of the hostages have been pressing for a nationwide strike.
The six hostages, whose bodies were found by the Israeli forces, were allegedly “murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture and starvation in Hamas captivity,” according to the Hostages Families Forum.
“The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages,” stated the statement.
The prime minister vowed to work toward reaching an agreement that would safeguard national security and free the last remaining hostages. However, he declared, “Those who kill hostages do not desire a compromise.”
Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Finance Minister, swiftly denounced the countrywide strike, saying it reflected “the interests of Hamas”.
However, many people have voiced their support. Mayor Ron Huldai of Tel Aviv declared that municipal employees in the city were welcome to participate in Monday’s strike “as a sign of solidarity with the abductees and their families”.
The number of captives still held in Gaza is unknown. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an offensive in southern Israel in which it abducted 251 people and murdered 1,200 others.
Israel began a military attack in Gaza as payback for Hamas. Since October 7th, over 40,530 individuals have died there, according to the health ministry of the enclave, which is governed by Hamas.
