Israelis stage nationwide protests to demand end to Gaza war and release of hostages

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14 hours ago

With drums and horns blaring, hundreds of thousands of passionate Israelis have shouted in protest on the streets of Tel Aviv.
It's a common refrain, uttered week after week in hostage square for almost two years now.
But Sunday's protest conveyed more urgency than normal.
Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have expressed their urgent fears that Israel's expanded, looming offensive could kill their loved ones.
"Every bullet, every strike, could be the one to end their life," a voice rang out to the crowd.
"End the war and end the suffering."
"This is a very critical stage in Israel," Danny Kalmanson, who attended the protest, told the ABC.
"We can't continue endlessly, we're losing all these people.
"Israel can afford to say let's have a ceasefire now, bring them home."
Organisers say at least 350 thousand people attended Sunday night's rally, calling for the war to end immediately and for a deal to be reached to release the hostages.
There are 50 Israelis still held captive in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.
Signs held by protesters called on US President Donald Trump to "save" Israel from its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Naama Gild said she was there to support the families of hostages.
"We don't want to be here every weekend, we just want them home," she said.
"I think some of the [politicians] don't listen, I think [Prime Minister Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu is doing an awful disservice to Israel at this point.
"They need to listen up, because nothing changes."
Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran, was also among those promoting the event earlier on Sunday.
"The mobilisation from the bottom up is amazing, thousands of private companies, alongside the Histadrut [the Israeli workers' union], will allow their employees to stop everything and dedicate the entire day for our dear ones," Ms Miran-Lavi said.
"The support is enormous and moving us to tears.
"We feel that everyone understands that the struggle is not private to the families, but to the entire people of Israel."
She insisted Sunday's protests were just the beginning of the actions.
While Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were the focal points for many of the rallies, protesters took to highways and intersections across the country to make their point heard.
At one stage Highway One between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, one of the busiest routes in Israel, was shut down after tyres were strewn across the road and set on fire. At least 30 protesters were detained by police.
At the start of his weekly government meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised those pushing the nationwide shutdown.
"Those who are calling today for an end to the war without the defeat of Hamas are not only strengthening Hamas and delaying the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of October 7 will repeat themselves over and over again, and that our sons and daughters will have to fight over and over again in an endless war," he said.
"Therefore, in order both to advance the release of our hostages and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, we must complete the task and defeat Hamas."
While Mr Netanyahu's criticism was directed at a home audience, the Israeli President Isaac Herzog had choice words for the international community.
He argued the pressure being put on Israel to end the war was misguided, and ignored the role Hamas played.
"Our sons and daughters are there in the dungeons of Gaza for 681 days," he said at Hostage Square on Sunday.
"We want them back home as soon as possible. The world should want them back home as soon as possible.
"Stop being a bunch of hypocrites. Press, because when you know how to press, you press, press and tell Hamas, 'no deal, no nothing, until you release them'."
As the protests demanding the end of the military offensive in Gaza were underway in Israel, the country's military chief was touring the war-ravaged strip.
"We will continue to strike until the decisive defeat of Hamas, with the hostages always at the forefront of our minds," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in Gaza.
"We will act with a sophisticated, balanced, and responsible strategy.
"The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will deploy all its capabilities, on land, in the air, and at sea, in order to strike Hamas decisively."
Hamas described the move as "a declaration of a new wave of genocide and mass displacement", and criticised an announcement on Saturday from the IDF it would start delivering tents to the hundreds of thousands of people who would be forced out of Gaza City.
"The plans to occupy Gaza and displace its population are a major war crime that reflects the occupation's disregard for international and humanitarian laws," Hamas said in a statement.
"The occupation's talk of bringing in tents in southern Gaza under the guise of 'humanitarian arrangements' is a blatant deception aimed at covering up a crime of displacement and an imminent massacre."
Egypt late on Sunday said it categorically rejected the "displacement of Palestinians and calls on states not to participate in this heinous crime".
Gaza's health authorities say more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which is rapidly approaching its second anniversary.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been forced to move repeatedly during the war, as Israeli attacks against claimed Hamas targets have left few parts of the strip untouched.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
ABC with wires