Thousands of protesters in Israel have taken to the streets demanding an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to free captives held in the besieged enclave, as the military intensifies attacks on Gaza City to force tens of thousands of starving Palestinians to flee again.
Israeli police made dozens of arrests and used water canons on protesters who gathered Sunday for the nationwide demonstration – one of the fiercest since the uproar over six captives found dead in Gaza last September.
Israeli schools, businesses and public transport have been shut down, with demonstrations planned in major cities as part of a national day of action by two groups representing a number of the families of captives and bereaved families.
Protesters, who fear further fighting could endanger the 50 captives believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive, chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages.”
“Military pressure doesn’t bring hostages back – it only kills them,” former captive Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv’s so-called “Hostage Square”. “The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games.”
Sunday’s rallies came just days after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to advance on Gaza City, nearly two years into a genocidal war that has devastated the enclave, left much of its population on the brink of famine, and led to Israel being increasingly internationally isolated.
At Tel Aviv’s so-called “Hostage Square”, activists unfurled a huge Israeli flag covered with the faces of captives still held in Gaza. Protesters also blocked major roads, including the highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where tyres were set alight and traffic came to a standstill, according to local reports.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of those held, declared a nationwide strike. “We will shut down the country today with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war,” the group said, pledging to escalate their campaign with a protest tent near the Gaza border.
“If we don’t bring them back now – we will lose them forever,” the group warned.
Demonstrator Ofir Penso, 50, echoed this sentiment in his remarks to the AFP news agency: “This is probably the last minute we have to save the hostages.”
“Israelis are not all alike. There is a substantial part… that opposes the official policy,” he added amid the crowd of protesters, some of them carrying flags emblazoned with “681”, the number of days hostages have been held in Gaza.
Numerous businesses and municipalities went on strike as a show of solidarity. The two major theatres in Tel Aviv also halted their performances. In Jerusalem, businesses closed as demonstrators joined marches. “It’s time to end the war. It’s time to release all of the hostages. And it’s time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East,” said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide speaking to AFP.
The aunt of Israeli-German hostage Alon Ohel pleaded for his rescue in the demonstration in Tel Aviv, describing his dire condition: “He is bound in chains, severely wounded, and likely to lose his sight. He is suffering from severe head injuries and shrapnel throughout his body, and he is alone. He is hungry, hot and gasping for breath. His life is in imminent danger – save him!”
Several former Hamas captives, released during a ceasefire in the spring, held a banner reading: “Bring them home now!”
Israeli Hollywood actress Gal Gadot, 40, also visited “Hostage Square” to meet with relatives of the captives. A video shared by the Hostage Families Forum showed Gadot comforting the wife of a hostage.
During a rally at the square, the sister of an agricultural student from Nepal who was taken captive by Hamas spoke publicly for the first time. Fighting back tears, she said the family has received no sign of life from him for almost two years.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that while protests were spread across the country, turnout remained relatively small.
“The number of people is pretty small … I do expect it to increase during the day,” he said, noting many shops, restaurants and universities were closed, with public transport running at half capacity. “It’s not a general strike in the sense that people envisage, but it is palpable, it’s tangible, you can feel it in the air.”
On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the unrest, Pinkas was scathing. “Most prime ministers would have resigned after October 7th … He is not just another prime minister. He cares only about his survival. He is driven by some Messianic delusions of redrawing the Middle East.”
Pinkas added that Netanyahu was deflecting public anger by blaming “the elites” and a “deep-state cabal” rather than taking responsibility.
Israeli government condemns protests
President Isaac Herzog voiced support for the captives’ return, urging international pressure on Hamas rather than heeding calls to halt the war.
But senior government figures lashed out at the protests.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denounced them as “a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas,” while Culture Minister Miki Zohar said blocking roads “is a serious mistake and a reward to the enemy”.
Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, condemned the government for “attacking the families of the hostages” while “bearing responsibility for the captivity of their children by Hamas for nearly two years”.
Police reinforced their presence across the country, warning that no “public order disturbances” would be tolerated. Demonstrations were also held near the Gaza border, including in Beeri, a kibbutz badly hit during the Hamas-led attack of October 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in the attack on southern Israel that triggered what campaigners say is Israel’s war of vengeance.
Nearly 62,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority women and children, in an Israeli offensive that has been dubbed a genocide by multiple rights groups.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
Sponsored
