Half a Million Rally in Tel Aviv for Hostage Release Deal With Hamas
Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night, rallying for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and demanding that the government strike a ceasefire deal to secure their freedom. The mass demonstration marked the largest in Israel’s history, according to protest organizers.
The rally, organized by the Hostage Families Forum, drew an estimated 500,000 participants in Tel Aviv, a figure organizers said was confirmed by police. Another 250,000 people reportedly gathered in simultaneous protests across other cities, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Rishon Lezion, Beersheba, and Netanya. Police, however, did not provide an official crowd size estimate but confirmed that five protesters were detained during the Tel Aviv demonstration.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The demonstration saw skirmishes between protesters and police, with some activists attempting to block roads, including the Ayalon freeway in Tel Aviv. Clashes also occurred between demonstrators and far-right counter-protesters, highlighting the growing divisions within Israeli society over the government’s handling of the hostage crisis.
Protests extended beyond Tel Aviv, with demonstrations in cities like Haifa, where police were accused of using excessive force to disperse crowds. In Jerusalem, protesters gathered near the Prime Minister’s residence, demanding his resignation and calling for a new strategy to end the war and free the captives.
The protests were fueled by anger over the recent execution of six hostages by Hamas, who might have been freed in a proposed exchange, as well as the approaching one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack in which 1,200 people were killed, and about 250 hostages were taken into Gaza. As the standoff continues, 97 of the 251 hostages taken on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Despite the government’s ongoing refusal to make concessions, demonstrators called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a deal with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages. Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining Israel’s military presence on the Philadelphi Corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, has been a major sticking point in negotiations.