Protesters block the main highway linking Petah Tikva, a tech industry hub in the center of the country, with Tel Aviv as part of nationwide protests demanding the government prioritize bringing the hostages home over defeating Hamas. Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA
Aug. 26 (UPI) — Families of Israeli hostages and their supporters staged protests across the country Tuesday, blocking major roads and setting tire bonfires, demanding the government end the war in Gaza and agree a deal to bring their loved ones home.
The day of action organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum brought rush-hour traffic to a standstill on multiple highways and intersections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv — where the main Ayalon thruway was closed for the second time in a week — and the main coastal highway linking Tel Aviv with the port city of Haifa.
The group kicked off the so-called “National Solidarity Day” by unfurling its huge yellow flags in front of the branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, with demonstrators also gathering outside the private residences of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Education Minister Yoav Kisch.
A mothers and strollers protest was also planned in Tel Aviv, marches across the country scheduled for 2 p.m. local time and a large rally capping the day off in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in the evening.
“For 690 days, the government has been waging a war without a clear objective,” Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, who has been held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, told a news conference
“Today, it is clear that Netanyahu fears one thing, public pressure. We could have ended the war a year ago and brought all the hostages and soldiers home. We could have saved hostages and soldiers, but the prime minister chose, again and again, to sacrifice civilians for the sake of [maintaining] his rule,” she said.
Leaders of the group seized on comments Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump that there would be a “pretty conclusive ending” to the war in the next two to three weeks, to appeal to him to intervene and use his influence to help seal a cease-fire with Hamas.
In comments to reporters at the White House, Trump said a “very serious” diplomatic effort to end the war and secure the release of Israeli hostages was underway and that he had told Netanyahu he’d better get it settled soon.”
Trump did not elaborate but pointed to recent initiatives by his special envoy Steve Witkoff.
A framework first proposed by Witkoff in June formed the basis for a Qatari-Egyptian negotiated part-agreement for a 60-day cease-fire and hostage-prisoner swap deal currently on the table, accepted by Hamas but not Israel, which has instead launched a major military offensive to capture Gaza City.
The proposal, which calls for the release of half of the hostages in two phases, was not on the agenda of a meeting of Netanyahu’s security cabinet due to take place Tuesday afternoon, its first full meeting since the latest plan emerged Aug. 18.
Netanyahu has insisted that only a deal in which all the hostages are released will be considered, ordering his negotiators to resume talks on that basis — while restating his intention to follow through with seizing control of Gaza City.