‘Day of Disruption’: Families, supporters of Israeli Gaza captives protest

Israeli protesters have taken to the streets in large numbers across the country, demanding the release of captives held in Gaza and an immediate end to Israel’s ongoing war on the besieged enclave.

Demonstrators blocked major roads on Tuesday in Tel Aviv and other cities, holding pictures of captives taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in southern Israel, and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Hundreds gathered outside Israel’s Ministry of Defence headquarters in central Tel Aviv in what was billed as a “Day of Disruption”, organised by families of the captives, who have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of abandoning their relatives.

“For 690 days, the government has been waging a war without a clear objective,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son Matan remains held in Gaza. “We could have saved hostages and soldiers, but the prime minister chose, again and again, to sacrifice civilians for the sake of his rule,” she told the Reuters news agency.

Ruby Chen, the father of 21-year-old Itay Chen, a US-Israeli soldier whose body is being held in Gaza, urged officials to resume talks. “Go back to the negotiation table. There’s a good deal on the table… We could get a deal done to bring all the hostages back,” he said.

Despite growing international condemnation and declarations of a famine from aid agencies and the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Israel is carrying out a new offensive on Gaza City.

The Israeli military chief reportedly said that “a deal was on the table” to free the captives, and added that the offensive to seize Gaza City would pose a “great danger” to their lives, according to Israeli media.

“Now it’s in Netanyahu’s hands,” Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir was quoted as saying by Israel’s Channel 13 news during his visit to the Haifa naval base on Sunday.

The protests come as Israel intensifies its genocide in Gaza, while a new poll from an Israeli research group has revealed overwhelming support among Jewish Israelis for the claim that there are “no innocents” in the Gaza Strip

The survey, conducted by aChord, a social psychology research group based at Hebrew University, found that 76 percent of Jewish-Israeli respondents partially or fully agreed with the statement that no civilians in Gaza can be considered innocent.

Even among voters who support opposition parties, nearly half (47 percent) fully endorsed the claim. Researchers said the findings highlight a deeply entrenched public acceptance of Israel’s devastating military campaign, which has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians and levelled much of Gaza.

“These are difficult findings,” researcher Ron Gerlitz said in a post on X. “They shed light on the enormous number of Palestinian civilians killed in the war in Gaza.”

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that dozens of protesters demonstrated outside a restaurant in Jerusalem that was hosting an event by the Binyamin Regional Council, a body that oversees dozens of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to Haaretz, the protesters chanted, “They are starving, you are celebrating.”

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that at least 64 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks since dawn, including 13 who were shot dead while seeking desperately needed aid.

Half of Gaza’s 2 million people are sheltering in Gaza City, with thousands now crammed into coastal areas or fleeing south to camps in central Gaza and al-Mawasi.