Hundreds protest across Israel calling for Netanyahu to accept ceasefire deal
Protesters block the Ayalon highway where they called for a ceasefire and the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, during a protest in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA
Hundreds of Israelis rallied have around the country, calling for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the terms of a ceasefire deal that Hamas accepted earlier on Monday.
About 1,000 protesters gathered near the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem, at least 100 protesters marched toward Netanyahu’s residence with a banner reading, “The blood is on your hands.”
Police were forced to clear a large protest from Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway twice on Monday evening, local media reported.
The highway, which has been a focal point of anti-government protests over the last year, was blocked by families of hostages and others supporting a deal to free captives. Images from the scene showed a number of people who appeared to have been detained by police.
Footage from the scene showed hundreds of demonstrators banging drums, brandishing signs and shouting slogans.
“Bibi is abandoning the hostages!” the demonstrators shouted.
On Monday, Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, but Israel said the deal did not meet its “core demands” and that it was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Israel said it would continue negotiations, even as its military carried out strikes on Rafah with reports tanks had advanced as close as 200 meters from the city’s vital crossing.
The news that Hamas had accepted a deal was greeted with enthusiasm by groups in Israel representing hostages held in Gaza.
The hostage families and missing families forum – an umbrella group that represents a number of relatives of captives – said in a statement that the announcement from Hamas must lead to “the return of the 132 hostages held captive by Hamas for the past seven months.”
“Now is the time for all that are involved to fulfil their commitment and turn this opportunity into a deal for the return of all the hostages,” the statement said.
Israel estimates that 128 of the 250 hostages abducted by militants on 7 October remain in Gaza, including 35 whom the military says are dead.
In Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker is still held in Gaza, told a crowd on Monday night that it was “time to accept the deal.”
Brandishing a megaphone, Zangauker stood on the roof of a car and spoke in front of a large crowd of protesters.
“We’re not going to let you continue to abandon the children,” she said.
Netanyahu is under growing pressure from the families of hostages to reach a deal for their release. They say that time is running out to bring their loved ones home safely, and a ground operation in Rafah could further endanger them.
Netanyahu is also facing pressure from hard-line partners in his coalition who are demanding he follow through with his threats against Rafah and could collapse his government if he agrees to a ceasefire.
In a post on X, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government was not serious about freeing the hostages.
“A government that wants to return the abductees should be convening an urgent discussion and sending [negotiating] teams to Cairo, not hysterically issuing three different briefings from different parties and crushing the hearts of the families. A national disgrace. There is no limit,” he wrote.