HUNDREDS of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on 1 September demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the release of hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.
The protests erupted after the Israeli military announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages who had been recently killed in tunnels underneath Gaza earlier that day. The Israeli health ministry said they had been shot at close range.
The families of the hostages and the protesters who swarmed the streets directed their anger at Netanyahu’s government, which they accused of having blood on its hands for failing to reach a deal that could have seen the hostages returned while they were still alive.
The outlines of a ceasefire deal to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza have been on the table since April. Many in Israel believe that Netanyahu has avoided committing to an agreement to end the war in order to keep his political coalition – which includes far-right ministers opposed to a ceasefire – from collapsing.
The mass protests were followed by a general strike called by Israel’s largest labour union on 2 September.
Israel’s current war in Gaza has now been going on for nearly 11 months. It began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October last year, killing around 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and taking around 250 hostages. Hamas is still holding 101 hostages in Gaza, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
The military campaign Israel launched in Gaza in response has killed nearly 41,000 Palestinians and injured almost 95,000 others, according to health authorities in the enclave. Around 90% of Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million people has been forcibly displaced, and the territory’s critical infrastructure has been laid to waste.
On 2 September, the UK suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel due to concerns that the military hardware may be used in serious violations of international law.
With humanitarian operations limited by security concerns and other barriers imposed by Israel, hunger and disease have spread among the dismal conditions people have been forced to live in – including polio.
The protests in Israel have increased the pressure on Netanyahu to finally reach a ceasefire deal, although it is still unclear whether he will be willing to. The US, Egypt, and Qatar – which have been mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas – are reportedly preparing a final take-it-or-leave-it proposal to be presented in the coming weeks.
