Hostage Deaths Spark Massive Demonstrations in Israel

Basil Maghrebi at the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that tens of thousands of Israelis participated in massive demonstrations on Sunday, unprecedented since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, especially in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. They demanded an exchange of hostages that would lead to the release of the nearly 100 Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas; only 60 or so are thought to be alive.

Israel’s most powerful labor union, Histadrut, announced a national strike for Monday, with some labor stoppages starting Sunday evening. Some retail chains said they would close in support of the families of the hostages. Ben Gurion International Airport will close, as will schools and universities. Opposition leader Benny Gantz supported closing the economy in protest.

The furor was provoked by the discovery of the bodies of six Israeli hostages in Gaza by Israeli troops on Saturday night. Three of them had been designated as part of a hostage exchange agreed to on Aug. 3, the implementation of which faced obstacles from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Among them were his military occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor just south of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Many Israelis say they believe that if Netanyahu had accepted the hostage deal in early August, the six who were found dead on Saturday would still be alive. According to reports, an Israeli military unit was approaching a Hamas hideout where the hostages were being kept, and Hamas terrorists killed them before fleeing. Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky wrote, “Now it’s official, @IDFSpokesperson confirms hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Ori Danino, 25; Alex Lubanov, 32; Carmel Gat, 40; and Almog Sarusi, 25, ‘were murdered by their Hamas captors a short time before being located by IDF forces in Gaza yesterday.’”

Arab 48 reports that the Crowd Solutions firm estimated that there were 280,000 demonstrators on Sunday in Tel Aviv. One group of protesters there closed Kaplan Street for several hours. Others stopped traffic on the Ayalon Highway. Some of the protesters were family members of hostages in Gaza.

In Jerusalem, demonstrators rallied in front of the prime minister’s residence and then closed an entrance to the city for two hours. Police sprayed them with water cannons and arrested five. In Beersheba, crowds closed off the city’s central street.

One woman mocked Netanyahu’s attempt to blame Hamas. He had said, “Whoever wants a deal doesn’t kill hostages.” But the demonstrator said Netanyahu was the one who didn’t want a deal and alleged that his cabinet voted to sacrifice the hostages. She pointed out that the six hostages had survived in captivity 11 months and were killed only a week ago. She said the families of the hostages want a deal now.

Arab 48 reports that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to “reduce the area of ​​the Gaza Strip and cleanse the area two kilometers deep along the Strip.”

Netanyahu pledged he would make the Hamas fighters pay for killing the hostages.

Hamas falsely alleged that the hostages were killed by Israeli fire. (Evidence showed that they were executed at short range.) The terrorist organization said that if President Joe Biden cared about the lives of the hostages, he would pressure the Israeli government for an immediate end to its war on Gaza.

Hamas previously announced that heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza had resulted in the deaths of hostages.

Members of the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades and Palestinian Islamic Jihad killed over 600 civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, and abducted 251 people, mostly civilians. During a temporary ceasefire last fall, Hamas released 117 of the hostages.