Strike and large demonstration for freedom of Hamas-Geiseln

Israel in motion

Strike and large demonstration for freedom of Hamas-Geiseln

The kidnapped people in the Gaza Strip have been suffering for more than 22 months. Angry demonstrators in Israel block streets. Hundreds of thousands are calling for an end to the Gaza War in Tel Aviv.

With strikes and protests, numerous Israelis have expressed their solidarity with the hostages, which have been captured by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for almost two years. In the evening, more than 200,000 people gathered in the center of Tel Aviv, as the organizers announced, citing police estimates. They loudly demanded the release of the hostages and an end to the Gaza War, as a reporter from the German Press Agency observed.

The forum of the hostage members had called for a nationwide strike for Sunday – the beginning of the Israeli working week. The country should be “paralyzed” that day, they announced. Already in the morning, demonstrators blocked numerous streets in the country, including a central expressway in the Tel Aviv coastal metropolis. They swiveled blue and white Israeli flags and yellow flags that symbolize solidarity with the hostages.

The mighty trade union roof association Histadrut did not join the strike, but expressed understanding of the step. Numerous companies and municipalities strike as an expression of solidarity. The two big theater in Tel Aviv also stopped their performances. According to the police, more than 30 people were arrested. In Jerusalem, water cannons were used against demonstrators.

Even in the large demonstration in the evening, speakers and participants demanded the end of the Gaza war and the immediate release of the Hamas Geiseln. In addition, they called on the Israeli government to reverse its decision, to take the city of Gaza and other areas in the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli government never made a serious attempt to get the hostages through a comprehensive agreement,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is one of 20 living hostages in the Gaza Strip. “She made the most justified war a wrong.”

The trigger of the Gaza War was the attack by Hamas and other Islamist groups on Israel on October 7, 2023. In the unprecedented massacre, the terrorists killed around 1,200 people and more than 250 more than hostage in the Gaza Strip. Since then, almost 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Palestinian Health Authority. The number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.