Thousands of protesters gathered in several cities across Israel on Saturday, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government make the return of the Gaza hostages a top priority.
In Tel Aviv, people protested outside the Israel Defense Forces headquarters, blocking traffic and shouting anti-government slogans.
Eran Nissan, a peace activist from the Israeli progressive group Mehazkim, has been participating in anti-government rallies since January last year. On Saturday, he was handing out T-shirts and stickers with derogatory messages about Israel’s far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Nissan said a hostage ceasefire was a central demand of the protests. “The hostage crisis is our first, second and third priority,” he told CNN, adding that he believed Wednesday’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was an opportunity to finally reach a deal. added.
“There is a strong majority and consensus in Israeli society on this, and 105 hostages have been brought back (already) as per the agreement,” he said, referring to the week-long ceasefire and hostage exchange that took place last November. said.
Israeli authorities say 101 hostages are still being held in Gaza, but one-third of them are believed to have died.
He added that he believed the current government was interested in prolonging the war.
“They know that once the war is over, they will have to answer questions about how they were complicit in implicating Israel in the October 7 (terrorist attack), that there will be a national investigation, and that there will be a national investigation. “We know there will be a lot of polls. And it’s clear from every poll right now that they’re going to be hit hard.”
Saturday’s large protests were the first in Israel since the government banned large gatherings, citing security concerns, following Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack. , Iran claimed the attack was in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
