Israeli protesters call for ceasefire in Gaza

Thousands of Israeli protesters marched through Tel Aviv on Sunday, chanting “We will not give up,” for the second day in a row, increasing pressure on a deal to release hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire and release the hostages, or step down.

The nationwide “ceasefire day” began at 6:29 a.m. and is linked to the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which was the cause of the war.

Protester Yoni Peleg called it “a last cry from the whole country, help us end the war, help us save our people.”

“It is time for them to step down, take responsibility and allow others to repair the damage they have done,” he said.

They stopped vehicles at a Tel Aviv intersection and called on the government to reach a deal for hostages still held by the Palestinian militant Hamas.

Israel said 116 people remained captive, 42 of whom the military said were dead.

“Enough!” said Orly Nativ, a 57-year-old social worker in Tel Aviv who joined the flag-waving protesters.

“The government doesn’t care what the people think, they haven’t done anything to bring our brothers and sisters back from Gaza,” Natif said.

In Jerusalem, police stepped up security around Netanyahu’s residence ahead of a planned rally.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech was largely ceremonial, saying on social media platform X that “the vast majority of people support the hostage trade. It is the state’s responsibility to return them.”

The war was lost

Large protests break out every Saturday night in Israel’s commercial centers, demanding elections, and smaller protests have also broken out across the country.

Anti-government protesters blocked a highway in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, with some clashing with police on horseback before police used water cannon to push people off the road.

Protest organizers estimated that by 9 p.m., about 176,000 people had gathered at a Tel Aviv intersection they called “Democracy Square.” It would be one of the largest demonstrations since the war began.

Earlier, at another rally for relatives of the hostages, they made an emotional appeal to all parties to reach an agreement to allow their missing loved ones to return home.

In the crowds scattered between art exhibits, some mourned the missing men, women and children, while others held signs saying that refusing the deal would be a fatal blow.

“Our message to the government is simple. There is a deal on the table. Accept it,” said Yehuda Cohen, father of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen.

Others were more depressed.

“This war is lost,” said Inbar R, a 27-year-old tech worker in Tel Aviv who did not want to give her full name.

“The only thing it does is make the world hate us.”

The protests came as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas regained momentum after months of failed diplomatic efforts.

Netanyahu has consistently opposed any ceasefire that would allow Hamas to survive.

The October 7 attack killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants held 251 hostages that day, of whom Israeli forces rescued seven. Another 105 hostages were rescued, including 80 Israelis, in the only truce of the war, which lasted a week in November.

In response to the October 7 attack, Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry.