Mass Protests in Tel Aviv for Hostage Release

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages still held in Gaza after ten months of war between Israel and Hamas.

Protesters carried pictures of the hostages, chanted slogans, and called for an immediate ceasefire and release of those being held captive.

Israeli anti-government protesters took to the streets calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to step down.

Thousands of people rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem to call for a hostage deal, while at the same time, anti-government protesters marched to the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv to demand early elections.

The massive rally in Jerusalem marked the end of a four-day march led by hostage families, which began in Tel Aviv and ended in the capital.

It took place at the same time as dozens of other demonstrations across the country, including one outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea, and others in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Herzliya.

The march was organized amid the ramped-up hostage deal talks in Doha and Cairo that took place throughout much of last week, as family members of captives held by Hamas in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of trying to sabotage any progress made during the indirect negotiations by issuing hardened demands.

In Tel Aviv, where Netanyahu still controls a stable majority in parliament, many protesters waved Israeli flags while others carried signs criticizing Netanyahu's handling of pivotal issues such as bringing hostages back from Gaza and agreeing to a ceasefire.

The weekly protests have grown more frequent as the war against Hamas rages on, following an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza.

Israel has retaliated with its military action in Gaza that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, medical authorities in Gaza say.