Israel: Protesters go on strike demanding ceasefire and release of Gaza hostages

JERUSALEM (AP) — Protesters in Israel demanding a hostage deal escalated their campaign Sunday with a one-day nationwide strike that blocked roads and closed businesses, as police blasted crowds with water cannons and made dozens of arrests.

The “day of stoppage” was organized by two groups representing some of the families of hostages and bereaved families, weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel announced plans for a new offensive.

Protesters, who fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive, chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages.”

Protesters gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannons as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires that cloaked roads in smoke. Some restaurants and theaters were closed in solidarity.

Police said they had arrested 32 as part of the nationwide demonstration — one of the fiercest since the uproar over six hostages found dead in Gaza last September.

“Military pressure doesn’t bring hostages back — it only kills them,” former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv’s hostage square. “The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games.”

Netanyahu’s allies oppose any deal that leaves Hamas in power

“Today, we stop everything to save and bring back the hostages and soldiers. Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life,” said Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest. “Today, we stop everything to join hands — right, left, center and everything in between.”

Protesters at highway intersections handed out yellow ribbons, the symbol that represents the hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organized the stoppage, said.

Even though Israel’s largest labor union, Histadrut, ultimately did not join Sunday’s action, strikes of this magnitude are relatively rare in Israel. Many businesses and municipalities decided independently to strike.

Still, an end to the conflict does not appear near. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the immediate release of the hostages but is balancing competing pressures, haunted by the potential for mutiny within his coalition.

Far-right members of his cabinet insist they won’t support any deal that allows Hamas to retain power. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages, they threatened to topple Netanyahu’s government.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the stoppage “a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas’ hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in a statement accused protesters of trying to “weaken Israel.” Like Smotrich he said the strike “strengthens Hamas and delays the return of the hostages.”

‘No other option’

Hospitals and eyewitnesses in Gaza reported at least 17 aid-seekers had been killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, including nine awaiting aid trucks close to the Morag corridor.

Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy, when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away.

He saw two people with gunshot wounds — one in the chest and other in the shoulder.

“It’s either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,” he said. “There is no other option.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the distribution points, said there was no gunfire Sunday “at or near” its sites, which sit at the end of aid truck routes.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions about strikes in the three areas.

Israel’s air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and displaced most of the population. The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began.

The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.

On Sunday, two children died of malnutrition related causes in Gaza, bringing the total over the last 24 hours to seven, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Aid flow far below what is needed

While demonstrators in Israel demanded a ceasefire, Israel began preparing for an invasion of Gaza City and other populated parts of the besieged strip, aimed at destroying Hamas.

The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza said Sunday that the supply of tents to the territory would resume. COGAT said it would allow the United Nations to resume importing tents and shelter equipment into Gaza ahead of plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones “for their protection.”

The majority of assistance has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after a ceasefire collapsed when Israel restarted its offensive. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organizations say the flow is far below what is needed. Some have accused Israel of “weaponizing aid” through blockades and rules they say turn humanitarian assistance into a tool of its political and military goals.

Airstrike on power plant in Yemen

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital Sunday, escalating strikes on Iran-backed Houthis, who since the war began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea.

Both the IDF and a Houthi-run television station in Yemen announced the strikes. Al-Masirah Television said they targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service, the Yemeni station said. Israel’s military said Sunday’s strikes targeted energy infrastructure it claimed was being used by the Houthis, and were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

While some projectiles have breached its missile defenses — notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen.

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Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel and Magdy from Cairo.

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