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03-09-2024
JERUSALEM: Tens of thousands of people have rallied across Israel after the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were recovered by soldiers, causing national outrage.
Protesters – many clad in Israeli flags – descended on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, accusing PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of not doing enough to reach a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas during the 7 October attacks.
Sunday’s protests were largely peaceful but crowds broke through police lines, blocking a major highway in Tel Aviv.
This comes as a major Israeli labor union, Histadrut, called for a nationwide general strike on Monday, pressing for a hostage deal.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier that the six bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.
The hostages were identified as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino.
The IDF said they had been killed shortly before its troops reached them on Saturday.
This triggered Sunday’s protests, with crowds accusing the government and Netanyahu personally of failing to save the remaining hostages.
In Tel Aviv, protesters broke through police lines on to Ayalon Highway late on Sunday.
Some people scaled buses and bins to gain a vantage point over the march, while others surrounded someone wearing a mask of Netanyahu, chanting: “Alive, alive, we want them alive.”
One demonstrator held a sign which read: “You are the head. You are to blame”.
Crowds also chanted slogans including “policemen, policemen who are you protecting” and “shame, shame”.
Some set fires on the road and draped yellow ribbons, a symbol of solidarity with the hostages.
Naama Lazimi, a Labor Party lawmaker, told media she was slightly injured after police let off stun grenades and she fell down.
She described the protests as “significant and important” but said the “question is what happens tomorrow”.
Among the protesters was Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan is being held hostage in Gaza.
“We hope that those who make the decisions will wake up,” he told media. “We don’t have time anymore.”
He said people from all strands of Israeli society took part in Sunday’s rallies, united in wanting the hostages returned.
“I miss my child so much. All the families are kind of hostages too,” Shtivi said.
Noga Burkman, another demonstrator in Tel Aviv, told media she “couldn’t stay at home any more”.
“People understand that now we need to break the rules and do something,” she said, adding that “tonight is just the beginning”.
Elsewhere, in the city itself, the gathering saw a diverse mix of protesters, with one group of young scouts leading chants.
In Jerusalem, a massive crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the prime minister’s office.
One 50-year-old man told media that the demonstrations were far bigger than any previous ones. “It’s a totally different game today,” he said. “A different scale to anything before.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
