Thousands of Israeli protesters took to streets on Sunday, blocking roads and highways in a general strike aimed at calling for a hostage deal and end to war in Gaza.
The protests, many of which have blocked major highways, were part of a nationwide strike organized by the families of captives and those killed during October 2023 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The protesters oppose the occupation government’s decision to expand the war in Gaza rather than negotiate a deal to return the remaining hostages.
Occupation police announced that they have detained 32 protesters during the demonstrations.
Police dragged the protesters from the pavement after dousing them with a water cannon in a key tunnel leading into Al-Quds, according to Israeli media.
The bulk of detained demonstrators had been protesting on Begin Road and Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv. Seven others were arrested in occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem) for blocking roads during a march throughout the city.
The three hour-long march in the capital has since ended, after the demonstrators were stopped on their way to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.
“Military Pressure Only Kills Captives”
Released Israeli captive Arbel Yehoud addressed the crowd at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square during the daylong protest. She stressed that military pressure ‘only kills’ captives.
“I know firsthand what it’s like to be in captivity. I know that military pressure doesn’t bring hostages back — it only kills them. The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games,” Yehoud stated, as quoted by The Times of Israel.
“We need to stop normal life again and again until those in captivity return. You’ve seen the photos, the videos, the horrors. How much longer will you continue to close your eyes? There is only one way to bring them all back: a deal now,” the captive who was released in January ceasefire added.
“They Won’t Stop Us”
For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid visited Hostages Square as he criticized the occupation government during the strike.
“We are shutting down the country today,” Lapid said in a video message delivered in the plaza in Tel Aviv as it fills with demonstrators.
“Because our hostages are not pawns that the government is allowed to sacrifice for the sake of the war effort — they are citizens that the government must return to their families,” the Yesh Atid chair continued.
“They won’t stop us, they won’t tire us, they won’t exhaust us, we’ll continue to fight until the hostages return home, there’s a deal, the war ends,” he added.
Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
