Protests marking 11 months since Oct. 7 cap off week of demonstrations after IDF recovered 6 hostages murdered by Hamas captors; army reportedly had clear signs of life from all 6
Crowds gathered at rallies around the country for a hostage deal and new elections Saturday night as pressure grows on the government to reach an agreement with Hamas in Gaza.
Masses took to the streets earlier in the week in the wake of the murder of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel would remain on the Gaza-Egypt border under any deal, an eleventh-hour demand that has reportedly frustrated negotiations.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the loved ones of many of those held in Gaza, announced that this Saturday night’s rally would not be held at Tel Aviv’s Hostages’ Square and instead would take place on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street, at the entrance to IDF headquarters. The change of location meant that the protest would be combined with the weekly event held by relatives of hostages who are more openly critical of the government.
Saturday’s protest, on the 11-month anniversary of the devastating October 7 attack, was being held under the slogan of “Stop the World!”
Speakers at the Saturday night Tel Aviv rally were to include: Andrey Kozlov, a former hostage rescued from Gaza in an IDF operation; former hostage Danielle Aloni who was released along with her young daughter Emilia during the November ceasefire; Shay Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat, whose murder was announced by the IDF earlier this week along with five other hostages; Nissan Calderon, brother of hostage Ofer Calderon; Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander; and Einav Moses, the daughter-in-law of 80-year-old hostage Gadi Moses.
At 8:30 p.m. a demonstration was being held in Jerusalem at Paris Square where speakers will include Dani Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran; Ella Mor, aunt of former hostage 4-year-old Avigail Idan whose parents were murdered on October 7; Maya Shmiel, cousin of hostage brothers Yair and Eitan Horn; Gal Goren, son of Maya Goren, whose body was recovered by the IDF from Gaza; and Moshe Shapira, father of Aner Shapira, who fended off seven grenades from a bomb shelter near the Nova party on October 7 before he was killed, and was the best friend of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was one of the six hostages murdered last week.
At the Sha’ar HaNegev Junction in the south, speakers will include Tom Damari, brother of hostage Emily Damari, and Itzik Horn, whose sons are held hostage in Gaza.
In Carmei Gat, speakers will include Yuval Mansour, the granddaughter of hostage Shlomo Mansour; Mor Bayder, granddaughter of Bracha Levinson, killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz; and Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of Yoram Metzger, killed by Hamas while he was held hostage in Gaza.
Demonstrations were also being held Saturday evening in dozens of towns and cities nationwide, as well as on bridges and at intersections across the country.
Protests have become louder and wilder since the murders of the six hostages, with demonstrators more often clashing with police and attempting to block roads in greater force.
Demonstrations have been held daily on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street over the past week, starting with a rally on Sunday night that organizers claimed drew 300,000 people, though there was no independent assessment of the numbers.
Protesters accuse Netanyahu of thwarting a truce-hostage deal with his demand — absent from Israel’s May 27 proposal which forms the basis for negotiations — that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.
The premier reportedly told the cabinet last week that he prioritizes Philadelphi over the hostages. In twin press conferences on Sunday and Wednesday, he insisted Israel would stay on the border.
This, despite insistence by most defense chiefs that Israel can retake Philadelphi at a later time if need be, and that rescuing those hostages who remain alive should be Israel’s top priority.
Hostages’ families say Netanyahu is purposely torpedoing a deal to keep his rightwing government intact.
Channel 12 reported Friday that prior to the six hostages’ murders, the IDF had in recent weeks given their families clear signs of life from their loved ones and information on their physical condition. The information, whose publication was okayed by the military sensor after the army’s announcement, showed that the hostages were being held in tunnels near Rafah, and none of them were in solitary confinement.
The network said the information underscored the families’ despair at the government’s failure to save them. While it is unclear whether the IDF could have done more to prevent their killings, at least three of them had been slated to be released in the first phase of a potential deal.
