Protesters at an anti-government rally calling for the release of Israeli hostages, in Tel Aviv on September 1. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

By Benyamin Cohen September 1, 2024

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched in cities throughout Israel Sunday night, as sadness turned towards anger after the Israeli military found the dead bodies of six hostages in Gaza.

Much of the frustration was focused on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who they blame for not reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas. “For 11 months, the government of Israel led by Netanyahu failed to do what is expected of a government — to bring its sons and daughters home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still captive in Gaza, spoke at a protest in Tel Aviv which blocked a major highway. “My son is still alive, but every day is like a game of Russian roulette that Netanyahu is playing until all the hostages have died.” She added that in the history books “there won’t be enough room to write about the disaster you have brought upon us.”

The head of Israel’s largest labor union, Arnon Bar-David, called for a national strike to start Monday morning. “We refuse to remain indifferent to the fact that our country has become one of abandonment,” Bar-David said. The group represents roughly 800,000 workers, and the strike is expected to impact Ben-Gurion Airport, where all departing flights would be grounded. (Arriving flights would still be able to land.)

Police clashed with the protesters, some of whom carried six prop coffins. More than a dozen protesters were detained.

Four of the hostages found dead this weekend — Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusim and Eden Yerushalmi — were on a list of children, women and wounded hostages Israel wanted released in the first phase of the latest proposed ceasefire deal. Israeli officials said the six hostage bodies found on Saturday were likely “shot at close range sometime between Thursday and Friday morning.” 

Netanyahu spoke with the parents of one of the dead, Alex “Sasha” Lubnov, earlier on Sunday and offered an apology. “I would like to tell you how much I regret and request forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu, for his part, blamed Hamas. “Whoever murders hostages — does not want a deal,” he wrote on social media, adding: “We will pursue you, we will catch up with you and we will settle accounts with you.”

There are over 100 hostages still in Gaza, two-thirds of whom are believed to still be alive.

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