Thousands of protesters took to the streets early Tuesday as part of a coordinated day of action, blocking highways and demonstrating outside cabinet ministers’ homes to demand that the government secure the release of 50 hostages still held by terrorist groups in Gaza.
The day of action was organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and began at 6:29 a.m., marking the exact time Hamas launched its attack on October 7, 2023. Protesters began by displaying Israeli flags outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.
“For 690 days, the government has been waging a war without a clear objective,” said Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker, in a statement issued with other families of hostages. “How will the hostages, the living and the fallen, be returned? Who will govern Gaza the day after? How do we rebuild our country?” she asked.
By 7 a.m., demonstrators moved to block major intersections across Israel, halting traffic with signs calling for the return of all hostages. In some locations, protesters set tires ablaze on highways.
Among the roads blocked for several hours were Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, Route 1 connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and the Route 2 coastal highway. The disruptions caused widespread traffic congestion before police confirmed that all roads had reopened and traffic was flowing again.
Police issued a statement reaffirming the right to protest but emphasising limits. “Freedom of protest and expression is not freedom to harm many others’ freedom of movement,” the statement read. It added that blocking roads without permission or in a way that endangers road users or citizens’ mobility “will not be allowed.”
Later in the day, relatives of the hostages assembled in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to deliver a press statement.
Einav Zangauker again spoke, claiming that after 690 days of war “without a clear goal,” it had become evident that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “afraid of one thing — public pressure.”
Last week, Hamas claimed it had accepted a hostage deal that would involve releasing half of the captives, alongside negotiations to end the conflict and free the remaining hostages. Netanyahu has rejected this proposal, insisting that Israel will only accept a deal that results in the release of all hostages at once. He has instead advanced plans for a military operation to capture Gaza City.
As part of the demonstrations, protesters also gathered outside the homes of cabinet ministers, urging them to back the proposed hostage deal ahead of a cabinet meeting on the issue scheduled for later in the day.
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With inputs from agencies