Massive protests erupted across Israel on Sunday after six hostages were killed in Gaza, sparking growing frustration over the government’s inability to secure a ceasefire deal to release Israeli captives.
Israeli media reported that up to 500,000 people gathered in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other cities, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take stronger action to bring back the remaining 101 hostages, of whom about a third are believed to have died.
Read more: Gaza’s Vaccination Campaign: A Sinister Agenda?
In Jerusalem, demonstrators blocked streets and protested outside the prime minister’s residence, while aerial footage showed Tel Aviv’s main highway filled with protesters holding flags bearing images of the slain hostages.
Israeli television showed police using water cannons on protesters who had blocked roads, with local reports indicating 29 arrests.
The Israeli military recovered the bodies of the six hostages from a tunnel in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, as a polio vaccination campaign began in the war-torn Palestinian territory and violence escalated in the West Bank.
The hostages—Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino—were returned to Israel. Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed that a forensic examination revealed they had been “murdered by Hamas terrorists in close-range shootings” 48-72 hours earlier, according to a health ministry spokesperson.
Amid increasing pressure to end nearly 11 months of conflict with a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would pursue those responsible. “Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,” he stated.
Senior Hamas officials claimed that Israel’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire was responsible for the deaths. “Netanyahu is responsible for the killing of Israeli prisoners,” said Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, urging Israelis to choose between Netanyahu and a ceasefire deal.
Israel’s offensive on Gaza followed an October 7 attack by Hamas and other militants that left around 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. Since then, Israel’s military operations have devastated much of Gaza, where the health ministry reports that at least 40,738 Palestinians have been killed. Displaced residents are facing severe hardships, with inadequate shelter and widespread hunger.
‘HAMAS WILL PAY,’ BIDEN SAYS
Amid rising public anger, Arnon Bar-David, head of Israel’s trades union federation, called for a general strike on Monday to pressure the government into signing a deal. He announced that Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s primary air transport hub, would close at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT).
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has frequently clashed with Netanyahu, also urged an agreement, while opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid encouraged people to join the Tel Aviv protests.
In a last-minute effort to prevent the demonstrations, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline member of Israel’s security cabinet, requested the attorney general to block the strike.
The Hostage Families Forum demanded that Netanyahu take responsibility and clarify what is delaying the agreement.
The Forum stated that the six hostages returned on Sunday “were murdered in recent days, after enduring nearly 11 months of abuse, torture, and starvation in Hamas captivity. The delay in finalizing the deal has caused their deaths and those of many others.”
Netanyahu’s office reported that he had spoken with the family of Alexander Lobanov, one of the recovered hostages, apologizing and expressing “deep sorrow.”
However, the family of Carmel Gat declined to speak with the prime minister and instead called on Israelis to join the protests.
“Take to the streets and shut down the country until everyone returns. They can still be saved,” wrote Gat’s cousin, Gil Dickmann, on X.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his devastation and outrage over the death of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and the other hostages.
“Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. We will continue working tirelessly to secure a deal for the release of the remaining hostages,” Biden said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, he stated that he remains “optimistic” about a ceasefire deal.
Months of on-and-off negotiations, mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, have so far failed to secure an agreement, despite increased U.S. pressure and multiple visits by top officials to the region.
Speaking to Media on Sunday, chief Hamas negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya, based in Qatar, reaffirmed that the group would not sign an agreement unless Israel fully withdrew from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, which have been sticking points in the negotiations.
