Sawt Falasteen - Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal

The protests come more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 people were taken hostage.

Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called Hostage Square -- which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war.

Demonstrators also blocked several roads in the city, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where demonstrators set tires on fire and caused traffic jams, according to local media footage.

Protest organisers and the main campaign group representing the families of hostages also called for a general strike on Sunday -- the first day of the week in Israel.

In Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, many businesses were shut.

"I think it's time to end the war. It's time to release all of the hostages. And it's time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East," said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide, at a rally in Jerusalem.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group said in a statement that protesters would "shut down the country today (Sunday) with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war".

Their toll includes a soldier killed in a 2014 war whose remains are held by Hamas.

The forum plans to set up a protest tent near the Gaza border, vowing to "escalate our struggle and do everything possible to bring back our beloved ones".

"If we don't bring them back now -– we will lose them forever."

- 'Stay strong' -

Recent videos released by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad showing two weak and emaciated captives have heightened concern for the fate of the hostages.

Egypt said in recent days mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce that would include hostage release, after the last round of talks in Qatar had ended without a breakthrough.

Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza, said in a post on X addressing him: "I hope you have access to the media somewhere in the tunnels, and that you will see how the people of Israel pause life today for you and for the hostages. Stay strong, just a little more."

Speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv, Israeli President Issac Herzog said "we want them back as soon as possible", calling for international pressure on Hamas.

Some Israeli government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed Sunday's demonstrations.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried "a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas".

He argued that public pressure to secure a deal effectively "buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future".

Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said on X that blocking roads and disrupting daily life "is a serious mistake and a reward to the enemy".

Israeli police beefed up forces, saying no "public order disturbances" would be tolerated.

- Famine warning -

AFPTV footage showed protesters at a rally in Beeri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was one of the hardest-hit communities in the Hamas attack, and Israeli media reported protests in numerous locations across the country.

The Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.

UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST