One million expected to participate in protests

Several arrested in protests in Israel – demand ceasefire in Gaza

Jonathan Norberg 

Updated 12.47 | Published 11.45

Nearly one million Israelis are expected to participate in protests against the government's Gaza policy on Sunday.

The demonstrations are organized by families of those held captive by Hamas.

- The Israeli government has chosen to kill the hostages, Danny Elgrat tells Haaretz.

Israeli police have arrested 25 protesters around the country on Sunday morning, reports the Times of Israel.

During the day, several roads have also been blocked by protesters who are critical of Israel's warfare in Gaza. In one of Jerusalem's largest road tunnels, the police have entered with water cannons to disperse the crowds.

The protesters are primarily demanding that the Israeli government reach a ceasefire to bring home the Israelis held captive by Hamas.  

          

           

          

         Protests in Tel Aviv, Israel.

         1 / 3Photo: Maya Levin / AP

 

          

          

          

         Demonstrators block a road near Jerusalem.

         1 / 3Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg / AP

Organized by relatives of hostages

The protest movement, which goes under the slogan "Strike for the hostages", is expected to attract one million participants on Sunday, according to the organizers themselves.

The demonstrations are organized in part by relatives of hostages who are critical of the fact that the Israeli government has not returned the Israelis who are stuck in Gaza after two years.

One of those participating in the protests is Danny Elgarat, whose brother was kidnapped and killed in Gaza. He tells the newspaper Haaretz that it is the Israeli government that is responsible for the hostages' deaths.

- How can it be that the prime minister sees a diplomatic solution as a defeat? It is his job to reach diplomatic solutions, he says, adding:

– Netanyahu is a fascist and a coward who only cares about his own government and his own interests.

          

          

         Protests in Jerusalem.

         1 / 2Photo: Mahmoud Illean / AP

Finance Minister: “Playing into Hamas’ hands”

Among those speaking in the square in Tel Aviv were Arbel Yehoud, who himself was held captive by Hamas for 482 days before he was released.

According to him, the only thing that can bring the remaining hostages home – dead or alive – is a ceasefire in Gaza.

– I know what it is like to be a prisoner myself. I know that military pressure does not bring hostages home, it only kills them, he says according to the Times of Israel.

Parts of the Israeli government have clearly condemned the protests. In a post on X, the country’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the protests have so far attracted “very few people.”

“The nation of Israel is waking up to a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas’ hands, buries hostages in tunnels, and tries to make Israel surrender to its enemies,” he writes.