Tens of thousands of people took part in demonstrations across Israel on Tuesday, blocking highways on a “day of disruption” that aimed to push Benjamin Netanyahu into agreeing a deal to end the war and calling off plans to attack Gaza City.
Relatives of hostages led the biggest march and rally in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem hundreds of people gathered outside the prime minister’s office as the security cabinet met to discuss the war. There were dozens of other protests around the country, including on the main highway to the northern city of Haifa and inside Ben Gurion airport.
Israel’s military has been ordered to speed up preparations for a ground offensive in Gaza City, even as mediators say they are waiting for Israel’s response to a ceasefire agreement already on the table.
Netanyahu has shrugged off warnings that attacking Gaza City would be catastrophic for Palestinians struggling to survive a famine, and dangerous for about 20 hostages thought to still be alive.
No decision about the Gaza City campaign was reached at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, amid intense global anger over a strike on a hospital that killed 20 people, among them five journalists.
Qatar’s foreign ministry called on Israel to respond to the ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza, which has been accepted by Hamas and reflects previous Israeli demands.
“Attempts to stall by shifting locations or other tactics are clear to the international community, and it is time for Israel to give a serious answer to what it has already agreed to in the past,” the ministry’s spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said.
A majority of Israelis back ending the war as part of a ceasefire deal to free all remaining hostages, a sentiment mostly driven by concerns about hostages still in Gaza and the impact of two years of war on Israeli society and its economy.
Most protests include some demonstrators calling for an end to famine and the slaughter of Palestinians, but they are usually a tiny minority. Polling this week showed that nearly three-quarters of Jewish Israelis partially or totally agree with the claim made by Israel’s government that “there are no innocents in Gaza”.
Earlier this month, another survey found 78% of Jewish Israelis said they were “not so troubled” or “not troubled” at all by reports of Palestinian suffering.
Netanyahu is under pressure from far-right parties propping up his fragile coalition government who say they will quit if he agrees a ceasefire deal. Critics, including relatives of hostages in Gaza, say he is prolonging the war to extend his personal political career.
“We could have ended the war a year ago and brought all the hostages and soldiers home. We could have saved hostages and soldiers, but the prime minister chose, again and again, to sacrifice civilians for the sake of his rule,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son Matan is still in Gaza.
The prime minister says military force is the best way to protect Israel’s security and put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
Some protesters said they had little hope Netanyahu would change course but wanted to stand up against his policies, including Ada Gorni, 88, protesting with her daughter Carmen, who was carrying a sign saying “Enough” in Arabic, English and Hebrew.
“We just want to stop the war, bring home the hostages and stop the starvation in Gaza,” said Carmen, 58. “I think we have to say it out loud, but I don’t think they are listening to us.”
