Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Tel Aviv last night to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the target of numerous protests that swept the country on Sunday following the death of six hostages in Gaza just hours before the army recovered their bodies.
Many protesters carried Israeli flags and six coffins were placed on a stage to commemorate the dead hostages. Demonstrators also blocked a central highway in Tel Aviv, while people also took to the streets in other Israeli cities. Demonstrators called on the government to quickly agree to a ceasefire agreement that would guarantee the release of the 100 or so hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and other countries, including Germany and the United States.
Indirect negotiations on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, mediated by Egypt, the United States and Qatar, have been stalled for a month. Israel’s Histadrut trade union has called for a general strike on Monday to increase pressure on Netanyahu’s government to reach a deal on the hostages.
“If my government does not do everything in its power to bring the hostages back, even if it means paying a high price, I don’t think this country can continue to exist,” says one of the protesters, Tal Horowitz, 45, lamenting that she feels unprotected as an Israeli after almost eleven months of war in Gaza.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the number of people in Tel Aviv was around 300,000. On the outskirts of the city, demonstrators blocked highways, even creating barricades of burning tires. Also in the northern port city of Haifa, thousands of people raised the national flag and blocked the entrances to the city.
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