As we’ve been reporting, Israelis started a nationwide day of protest today, blocking highways and burning tires as they called for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages held there.
Hostage families and other supporters joined the protest, calling it the “day of struggle.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the protest opened with the displaying of giant Israeli flags outside the US Embassy branch in Tel Aviv.
“The message was clear: 6:29 AM on October 7th – the time our lives changed, this is the time we open the national day of struggle,” the forum said.
Hagit Chen, mother of Itay Chen who was killed on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, said: “There is an offer on the table. We demand that our leaders sit at the negotiation table and not get up until there is an agreement that guarantees when the last hostage will return.”
Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, said: “More than 80 percent want an end to the war and a hostage deal. All of Israel wants an end to this nightmare.”
Nearly a week after Hamas accepted the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal from Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Israel has yet to respond, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he is “immediately” starting negotiations to release all the hostages and end the war.
After 18 months of agreeing only to partial, phased ceasefire deals, Netanyahu is now demanding a comprehensive agreement that would secure the release of all hostages and end the war entirely – on Israel’s terms.
