More than 500,000 Israelis took to the streets on Sunday, September 2, demanding that the government immediately accept a ceasefire deal with Gaza following the discovery of six hostages murdered in Gaza.
Organized by the Hostage Families Forum in collaboration with Israel’s largest labor union, the demonstrations spanned multiple cities and marked the largest protest since the onset of the war 11 months ago.
In Tel Aviv, protesters marched with coffins representing the deceased hostages and set fires on a major motorway, causing significant traffic disruptions.
The protests erupted after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced the recovery of the bodies of Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Alexander Lobanov, 33, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25, from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Saturday. Post-mortem examinations revealed that they had been shot at close range and had died earlier in the week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of killing the hostages in “cold blood” and impeding ceasefire efforts. He asserted that those who murder hostages do not seek peace.
In contrast, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq blamed Israel and the US for the deaths, claiming the hostages would have survived if Israel had accepted a ceasefire proposal from Hamas in July.
Protesters have criticized Netanyahu for allegedly prioritizing his political future over the lives of the hostages and for imposing conditions on ceasefire deals that are unacceptable to Hamas. Demonstrations also occurred outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, where protesters covered their eyes with yellow material and set off red flares.
Source: https://www.lindaikejisblog.com
