Israeli police make dozens of arrests, use water cannons on protesters who gathered for the nationwide demonstration.
Hundreds of 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 cannons on protesters who gathered Sunday for the nationwide demonstration with organisers reporting nearly half a million people turning out to protest in Tel Aviv by nightfall – one of the largest and fiercest since the war begin nearly two years ago.
Israeli schools, businesses and public transport have been shut down, with demonstrations held 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.
Restaurants and cafes also closed, while Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that dozens of Israeli artists, celebrities, and athletes voiced support and joined the strike.
Major unions, including lawyers, doctors, and the business forum, as well as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, also confirmed their participation in the strike.
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 Gaza Strip, left much of its population on the brink of famine, and led to Israel being increasingly internationally isolated.
“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.
Israeli government condemns protests
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!”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid also participated in the strike.
Former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also joined the strike.
“We have a supreme duty to bring everyone home,” Gallant said in statements carried by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
“There is only one way to accomplish this mission: first to return the hostages and then continue to eliminate Hamas down to the last one of them.”
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 Hostages and Missing Families Forum showed Gadot comforting the wife of one captive.
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.
Presidents of Israeli universities also attended the protests to demand that the Netanyahu government reach a ceasefire and a captive swap deal in the Gaza Strip.
Last March, all heads of universities and colleges in Israel signed a letter addressed to Netanyahu. “We stated clearly that the government must complete the agreement and bring everyone back,” Daniel Chamovitz, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, said in his speech.
“This was not a political claim; it was a moral and conscientious demand,” he said.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat and consul general in New York was scathing about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the unrest. “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”, he told media from Tel Aviv
Pinkas added that Netanyahu was deflecting public anger by blaming “the elites” and a “deep-state cabal” rather than taking responsibility.
