TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis flooded the streets Sunday night after the bodies of six more hostages were discovered in Gaza. The crowd, chanting “Now! Now!” demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secure a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.
This massive demonstration, likely the largest in 11 months of conflict, signaled a potential turning point, despite the deep divisions within the country.
Adding to the pressure on the government, Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, announced a general strike for Monday—the first since the October 7 Hamas attack that ignited the war. The strike aims to disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, healthcare, and the country’s main airport.
Cease-fire negotiations have stalled for months, with many Israelis blaming Netanyahu for the lack of progress. Opinion polls indicate that a majority favor a deal, yet the prime minister still maintains significant support for his strategy of pursuing “total victory” over Hamas, even if it means delaying an agreement to free the hostages.
Thousands of people, some in tears, gathered outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem on Sunday night. In Tel Aviv, relatives of the hostages marched with symbolic coffins, highlighting the heavy toll.
“We believe the government is prioritizing its own preservation over the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!’” said Shlomit Hacohen, a resident of Tel Aviv.
The discovery that three of the six hostages—among them an Israeli-American—were reportedly set for release in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed in July, has only deepened the anger and frustration among protesters.
“Nothing is worse than knowing they could have been saved,” said Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so tragic to wake people up and drive them into the streets.”
The military reported that all six hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces arrived. “Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” Netanyahu stated, placing the blame on Hamas for the stalled negotiations.
One of the hostages was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, a Berkeley, California native, who lost part of his left arm in a grenade attack. In April, Hamas released a video showing him alive, which sparked protests in Israel.
Israel recovers the bodies of six hostages, including Israeli American
The other hostages were identified by the army as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.
According to the Israeli Health Ministry, autopsies revealed that the hostages were shot at close range and died on Thursday or Friday. The army stated that their bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, approximately a kilometer (half a mile) from where another hostage was rescued alive last week.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson, explained that Israeli forces discovered the bodies several dozen meters underground during “ongoing combat,” though there was no firefight in the tunnel itself. He affirmed that there was no doubt Hamas was responsible for their deaths.
Hamas has proposed releasing the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including prominent militants.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, claimed the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal that Hamas said it agreed to in July.
As funerals began, the outrage deepened. Sarusi’s body was draped in an Israeli flag. “You were abandoned, day after day, hour by hour, for 331 days,” his mother, Nira, lamented. “You and so many other beautiful and pure souls.”
Divisions in Israel and the Government
Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
Top security officials argue that the intense pressure on Hamas has created favorable conditions for a cease-fire deal. The army, acknowledging the difficulties of rescue operations, has conceded that a deal may be the only viable way to safely bring home a large number of hostages.
However, critics accuse the prime minister of prioritizing his personal interests over the hostages’ safety. The war’s conclusion is expected to trigger an investigation into his government’s failures during the October 7 attacks, potentially leading to the government’s collapse and early elections.
Some analysts believe the public outrage over the six hostages who died could escalate political pressure on Netanyahu.
“I think this is an earthquake. This isn’t just another step in the war,” said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, associate fellow in the International Security Program at Chatham House, just before Sunday’s protests.
Divisions have also surfaced within the government. Senior military and security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have warned that time is running out.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu engaged in a shouting match with Gallant during a security Cabinet meeting on Thursday. Gallant accused Netanyahu of prioritizing control of a strategic corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border—a major sticking point in the talks—over the lives of the hostages.
An Israeli official confirmed the report, stating that three of the hostages—Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi, and Gat—had been slated for release in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed in July. The official, not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations, spoke on condition of anonymity.
“In the name of the state of Israel, I hold their families close to my heart and ask for forgiveness,” Gallant said on Sunday. The Cabinet convened that night.
A forum representing hostage families has called for a “complete halt of the country” to push for a cease-fire and the release of the hostages.
Although widespread anger may not immediately threaten Netanyahu or his far-right government, he has previously yielded to public pressure. Last year, a general strike contributed to the delay of his controversial judicial overhaul.
A Family’s High-Profile Campaign
Goldberg-Polin’s parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, have become some of the most prominent relatives of hostages on the international stage. They met with U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis and addressed the Democratic National Convention on August 21, where they received sustained applause and chants of “bring him home.”
On Sunday, Biden expressed that he was “devastated and outraged,” and the White House confirmed that he had spoken with Goldberg-Polin’s parents to offer his condolences.
Of the approximately 250 hostages taken on October 7, Israel now believes 101 remain in captivity, including 35 who are presumed dead. More than 100 hostages were freed during a cease-fire in November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Eight have been rescued by Israeli forces, though three Israelis were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops after escaping captivity in December.
On October 7, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during an incursion into southern Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths, according to local health officials, who have not specified how many were militants.
On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike targeted a car on a road in southern Gaza, killing four Palestinians, according to officials from Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and an AP journalist who counted the bodies.
The war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, many multiple times, and has plunged the besieged territory into a severe humanitarian crisis.
