At Tel Aviv\u2019s so-called \u201cHostage Square\u201d, activists unfurled a huge Israeli flag covered with the faces of captives still held in Gaza. Protesters also blocked major roads, including the highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where tyres were set alight and traffic came to a standstill, according to local reports.<\/p>\n
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of those held, declared a nationwide strike. \u201cWe will shut down the country today with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war,\u201d the group said, pledging to escalate their campaign with a protest tent near the Gaza border.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t bring them back now \u2013 we will lose them forever,\u201d the group warned.<\/p>\n
![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/000_69QH2T9-1755428574.jpg\")
Israeli police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking traffic in a tunnel [Menahem Kahana\/AFP]<\/p>\n
In Jerusalem, businesses closed as demonstrators joined marches. \u201cIt\u2019s time to end the war. It\u2019s time to release all of the hostages. And it\u2019s time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East,\u201d said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide speaking to the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that while protests were spread across the country, turnout remained relatively small.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of people is pretty small \u2026 I do expect it to increase during the day,\u201d he said, noting many shops, restaurants and universities were closed, with public transport running at half capacity. \u201cIt\u2019s not a general strike in the sense that people envisage, but it is palpable, it\u2019s tangible, you can feel it in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s response to the unrest, Pinkas was scathing. \u201cMost prime ministers would have resigned after October 7th \u2026 He is not just another prime minister. He cares only about his survival. He is driven by some Messianic delusions of redrawing the Middle East<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Pinkas added that Netanyahu was deflecting public anger by blaming \u201cthe elites\u201d and a \u201cdeep-state cabal\u201d rather than taking responsibility.<\/p>\n Israeli government condemns protests<\/p>\n President Isaac Herzog voiced support for the captives\u2019 return, urging international pressure on Hamas rather than heeding calls to halt the war.<\/p>\n But senior government figures lashed out at the protests.<\/p>\n Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denounced them as \u201ca perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas,\u201d while Culture Minister Miki Zohar said blocking roads \u201cis a serious mistake and a reward to the enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n Police reinforced their presence across the country, warning that no \u201cpublic order disturbances\u201d would be tolerated. Demonstrations were also held near the Gaza border, including in Beeri, a kibbutz badly hit during the Hamas-led attack of October 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in that attack that triggered what campaigners say is Israel\u2019s war of vengeance. More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority women and children, in an Israeli offensive that has been dubbed genocide by multiple rights groups.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yaov Gallant have been issued arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.<\/p>\n