After six hostages died in Gaza on Sunday, Israel saw widespread protests. Anger over the government’s failure to negotiate a cease-fire agreement to release Israeli prisoners intensified.
Protesters in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other cities—reportedly numbering up to 500,000—demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take more action to free the remaining 101 hostages. Israeli officials assume these hostages are dead.
Demonstrators in Jerusalem stopped roads and staged demonstrations in front of the prime minister’s home. The main roadway in Tel Aviv was crowded with demonstrators waving flags bearing images of the captives who had died, according to aerial footage.
Police were seen shooting demonstrators who had barricaded roadways with water cannons in Israeli television footage. 29 arrests were reported by the local media.
On Monday, labor leaders declared a one-day nationwide walkout.
The Israeli military announced the recovery of bodies from a tunnel in Rafah. At the same time, a polio vaccination campaign launched in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, and rioting erupted in the occupied West Bank.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokeswoman, informed reporters that the bodies of the hostages Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino had been returned to Israel.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli health ministry said that a forensic investigation revealed they were “murdered by Hamas terrorists in a number of shots at close range” 48–72 hours earlier.
Netanyahu declared that Israel will not stop until it apprehends those responsible for the nearly 11 months of fighting. This statement comes in response to rising calls for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages. “Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal,” he stated.
Senior representatives of Hamas claimed that the deaths were caused by Israel’s failure to sign a ceasefire accord.
According to senior Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, “Netanyahu is responsible for the killing of Israeli prisoners,” as reported by Reuters. “The Israelis should choose between Netanyahu and the deal.”
After attacks on Israel on October 7 that killed over 1,200 people and saw about 250 kidnapped by Hamas and other militants, Israel launched its assault on Gaza.
Since then, the 2.3 million-person enclave has been mostly destroyed by Israel’s attack, and according to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 40,738 Palestinians have died. People who have been displaced are suffering from a lack of food and substandard housing.
“HAMAS WILL PAY,” BIDEN ANNOUNCES
In response to growing public outrage, Arnon Bar-David, Israel’s chief labor union federation official, announced on Sunday that Ben Gurion Airport will close at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Monday. This move aims to pressure the government into accepting a deal.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a frequent opponent of Netanyahu, demanded an agreement. Meanwhile, Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and former prime minister, encouraged people to join the Tel Aviv protest.
Hardline member of Israel’s security cabinet and minister of finance, Bezalel Smotrich, requested that the attorney general forbid the strike in a desperate attempt to put an end to the protests.
Netanyahu was urged by the Hostage Families Forum to accept accountability and provide an explanation for the impasse over an accord.
The six hostages brought home on Sunday “were all murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture, and starvation in Hamas captivity. The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages,” it said.
Netanyahu’s office reports that he apologized to the family of Lobanov. He expressed “deep sorrow” after Lobanov’s body was found among the rescued bodies.
However, Gat’s family claimed they would not talk to the prime minister and instead urged Israelis to take part in demonstrations.
“Take to the streets and shut down the country until everyone returns. They can still be saved,” Gat’s cousin, Gil Dickmann, wrote on X. U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” by the death of 23-year-old Israeli American Goldberg-Polin and the other hostages.
“Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” he said in a statement.
When he made this statement to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, he was “still optimistic” about a ceasefire agreement.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have mediated stop-start conversations for months. Despite heightened US pressure and several visits by top officials, no agreement has been reached.
Chief Hamas negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya, based in Qatar, reiterated on Al-Jazeera television that the organization will not sign an agreement. He stated that Israel must completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, which remain contentious.
POLIO VACCINATIONS
Israel and Hamas agreed to halt hostilities in some areas of Gaza for at least eight hours each day from Sunday to Tuesday. This decision aims to start immunizing 640,000 children against polio.
Palestinian sources said that children thronged a UN clinic in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, escorted by family members. According to the health ministry of the territory, at least 72,611 kids received vaccinations on the first day.
The campaign follows the announcement last month that the type 2 polio virus partially paralyzed a baby—the first instance of that kind in the region in 25 years.
The Israeli military targeted a former school in Gaza City, claiming it was a Hamas command center. They continued their fight against Hamas terrorists across various areas of the Gaza Strip. Medical personnel reported numerous injuries and 11 confirmed deaths, according to the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service.
Gaza has now lost 27 people this day. In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike claimed the lives of two Palestinians and injured ten more, according to medical personnel.
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