750,000 Israelis Protest Nationwide, Calling for a Prisoner Exchange Deal

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Disappointment boiled over as hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested the government's failure to secure the release of prisoners in Gaza. An estimated 750,000 Israelis took to the streets in one of the largest rallies ever in Israel, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government make a deal to release the captives still in Gaza.

Family members of Israeli hostages and groups representing them blamed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government for failing to secure a ceasefire deal that would guarantee their release.

More than 100 captives remain in Gaza, but about a third of them are believed to have died, according to the Israeli military. A total of 105 prisoners were released by Hamas in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as part of a deal in November.

Hamas-led Palestinian fighters took about 240 people captive after an attack in southern Israel on October 7. At least 1,139 people were killed in the attack.

Since then, Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza and destroyed much of the coastal enclave in a campaign that has drawn global condemnation. Israel has also killed more than 600 people in the occupied West Bank and detained nearly 10,000 Palestinians.

The Largest Protest in Israel's History

According to the Times of Israel, groups behind the demonstration estimate 500,000 people attended the main rally, 250,000 attended other rallies across the country; police clashed with activists blocking roads and arrested five people.

Crowds estimated in the hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Tel Aviv to rally for the release of prisoners in Gaza on the evening of Saturday, September 7, 2024, amid growing rallies demanding that the government reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the release of prisoners kidnapped 11 months earlier.

With crowds outraged over the execution of six hostages who may have been released in a recent exchange, and with the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre approaching, crowds gathered in various cities across the country to demonstrate against the government and urge the government to conduct a hostage exchange.

Protest organizers estimate that 500,000 people attended the main demonstration in Tel Aviv, organized by the Hostage Families Forum - an estimate they claim has been confirmed by police. They say that another 250,000 people demonstrated in other areas across the country.

Demonstrators gather around a bonfire during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and calling for the release of hostages in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Florion Goga)

If true, the Tel Aviv rally would mark the largest demonstration in Israeli history.

Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut reporting from Amman, Jordan, where the channel has been banned by the Israeli government, said that most demonstrators said they would continue to protest until the government heard their demands and changed its policies.

“Successive demonstrations over the past week saw unprecedented crowds, but Netanyahu stated that military pressure is still the main way to bring home the remaining prisoners, and an agreement to release them is still not in sight,” Salhut reported.

Next: A Lasting Ceasefire

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