Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, with tens of thousands more demonstrating across the country in the largest protests since October 7, expressing pain and anger and demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal after the army recovered six bodies of hostages executed by the Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...terror group.
Organizers estimated that 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv and an additional 200,000 took part in protests across the country. The Crowd Solutions firm estimated that some 280,000 people participated in the Tel Aviv demonstration, in what would be the largest rally in almost 18 months. There were no official numbers from police.
The Tel Aviv protest began with a march from Dizengoff Street to the Begin Gate of the IDF headquarters, carrying six "symbolic coffins" to symbolize the six bodies that were recovered on Saturday night.
The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27, were discovered in a tunnel in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
’s southern city of Rafah.
An autopsy found that they had been shot in the head and body multiple times at close range between Thursday and Friday morning.
The news of their murders after nearly 11 months of captivity sparked an outpouring of national grief and anger, much of it directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been accused of holding up a hostage deal for political reasons.
Demonstrators chanted "Now! Now!" as they demanded Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home. Others chanted: "We want them back alive."
Protesters carried Israeli flags, yellow ribbons in honor of the hostages, and signs apologizing to the six dead hostages.
"We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ’Stop!’" said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.
Ramping up pressure on Netanyahu, Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David declared a general strike for Monday over the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Speakers at the Tel Aviv protest included relatives of hostages still in Gaza, as well as Bar-David and Lior Simcha, the secretary general of the Kibbutz Movement.
Following the Tel Aviv protest, thousands descended to the Ayalon Highway where they blocked traffic for three hours, with some setting off fireworks, lighting fires on the road, and placing rocks, fences, nails and metal objects on the road. Some chanted, "Bibi is murdering the hostages," using Netanyahu’s nickname.
Police said in a statement that they were "forced" to declare the protest on the Ayalon illegal and then "used crowd control measures to disperse the rioters."
Around 30 protesters were arrested in Tel Aviv, in addition to five in Jerusalem and others elsewhere around the country.
Police clashed with some of the thousands of protesters on the Ayalon Highway as they attempted to clear the road, including by using water cannons. At least four stun grenades were thrown by cops, lightly hurting several people including Labor MK Naama Lazimi and her adviser, and knocking them down on the road.
Police said an officer lost her consciousness during a "riot" and was hospitalized, without detailing what had happened.
A 51-year-old demonstrator was moderately injured and hospitalized after falling from a height of 2.5 meters, the Ynet news site reported.
The protests, which took place across the country, kicked off with thousands gathering to protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office near the Knesset in Jerusalem during an emergency meeting of the security cabinet.
Many of the protesters blew whistles and trumpets to disrupt the meeting, causing deafening noise. Half an hour into the rally, the crowd observed a minute of silence to honor the hostages. After the minute passed, the crowd erupted again into loud whistles and shouts.
"This was the last minute of silence you will have," shouted one of the organizers in a bullhorn, as he proceeded to read out the names of ministers. "We will not give this security cabinet a moment of quiet until all the hostages are released!"
In Jerusalem, demonstrators also later blocked a key entrance to the city where they clashed with police trying to clear the roads.
Thousands also demonstrated at dozens of bridges, highways and cities around the country in what were likely the largest protests since October 7.