In what organizers later described as an “endless sea of protesters,” an outpouring of anger and grief swelled into mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv and beyond on Sunday, after Israel’s military said it had found the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas in Gaza.
While the protesters hold Hamas responsible for the death of hostages taken in the October 7 attacks, they also blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the crisis, saying he has not done enough to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal.
Here are some of the scenes from around Sunday’s numerous protests:
In Tel Aviv, where organizers said they held the largest demonstration since the start of the war, crowds chanted “we won’t abandon them” and repeated the names of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered in Gaza.
“We will continue to fight until all the hostages return,” said one speaker onstage.
A group of protesters could be seen standing behind a mock cemetery made of cardboard cutouts holding a sign saying “named after Benjamin Netanyahu,” casting blame on him for the death of the hostages.
“This girl is my friends’ daughter,” Yael said, while holding Carmel Gat’s photo and starting to tear up. “I’m here every week, I wanted to show her father and other parents that we are here for them. And on the other side, we’re incredibly angry at the government. What they’ve been doing is unforgivable.”
When asked if she thinks this protest will bring about a change, she admitted she’s not very hopeful. “I think that the fact that this hasn’t brought any change so far, goes to show how oblivious our leaders are,” she said.
“Bibi is looking to keep his chair, everything he does is merely for the sake of holding on to his power,” she said, using a popular nickname for Netanyahu. “I believe he’s frightened, even though he has zero emotion or empathy. He neglected them,” she said.
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters gathered in the southern city of Be’er Sheva for the biggest demonstration there since October 7, according to protest organizers.
At a demonstration in Ra’anana, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Tel Aviv, police appear to have pepper-sprayed protesters. A speaker can be heard in the background of one video telling the crowd to “have a drink of water and return to the intersection (to protest).”
Another video, from earlier on Sunday, showed several protesters burning what appeared to be tires on the Road 2 highway, north of Tel Aviv.
More to come: The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called for the country to be brought to a “halt” over the news of the killed hostages, and urged the country to put pressure on the government to sign a deal to have the remaining hostages released before they are killed as well.
The country’s largest labor union has called for a nationwide strike, saying the “entire Israeli economy will shut down” today.
