Protest erupts in Israel as hostage deaths build pressure on Netanyahu for cease-fire deal

In one of the largest protests since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began nearly 11 months ago, tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis took to the streets after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Some of the protesters weeping, gathered outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, hostages’ relatives marched with coffins to symbolise the toll.

“We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!’” said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.

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Cease-fire negotiations have dragged on for months, and many blame Netanyahu for failing to reach a deal. Israel’s army has acknowledged the difficulty of rescuing dozens of remaining hostages and said only a deal can bring a large-scale return.

“Nothing is worse than knowing that they could have been saved,” said Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so awful to shake people up and get them out into the streets.”

Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, pressured the government by calling a general strike for Monday, the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war. It aims to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, health care and the country’s main airport.

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Several U.S. Democratic lawmakers renewed calls for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire on Sunday in reaction to the killing of six hostages in a tunnel under Gaza, while Republicans criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not giving stronger support to Israel.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, who appeared at the Democratic National Convention last month, to offer condolences, a White House official said.

Another US official said national security adviser Jake Sullivan will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday with the families of American hostages held by Hamas.

Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza where they were apparently killed shortly before its troops reached them, triggering Israeli protests on Sunday and planned strikes over the failure to save them.

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Some Israelis support that as society remains deeply divided on the war.

But critics have accused the prime minister of putting his personal interests over those of the hostages. The war’s end likely will lead to an investigation into his government’s failures in the Oct. 7 attacks, the government’s collapse and early elections.

“I think this is an earthquake. This isn’t just one more step in the war,” said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, associate fellow in the International Security Program at Chatham House, shortly before Sunday’s protests began.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu got into a shouting match at a security Cabinet meeting Thursday with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who accused him of prioritizing control of a strategic corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border — a major sticking point in the talks — over the lives of the hostages.

With inputs from agencies.