On Sunday, Sept 1st, 2024, approximately 100 thousands Israelis have blocked Tel Aviv streets, gathering near Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence and calling for him to strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The Prisoners Families Forum representing relatives of some of those held in Gaza urgently mobilized for the demonstrations after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six Israeli prisoners held in Gaza from a tunnel in Rafah.
The death of six captives is the direct result of Netanyahu’s failure to secure a deal to halt the fighting and bring their loved ones home, the forum said in a statement.
Yedioth Ahronot reported that three of the six prisoners whose bodies were recovered from Gaza were supposed to be released in the first stage of an eventual ceasefire deal currently being negotiated.
Hamas responded to the Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Netanyahu who claimed that the prisoners were killed by Hamas, saying “We were more concerned about Israeli prisoners’ lives than Biden; that’s why we agreed on his proposal while Netanyahu rejected it.”
Hamas sated that the one behind the death of the Israeli prisoners is Netanyahu, who insists on continuing the genocide, and the U.S. administration due to its support for the aggression.
The prisoners were killed by the Israeli bombing, Hamas assured, adding that if President Biden truly cares about their lives, he should stop supporting Israel.
Immense Outrage Following Prisoners’ Recovery
In a post on social media platform X, Gil Dickmann, who is a cousin of Carmel Gat whose body was among those returned, urged Israelis to put pressure on the government by taking to the streets and shutting down the occupied territories until everyone returns.
“They can still be saved,” Dickmann wrote.
The family of Israeli Carmel Gat also refused to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Instead, they are calling on Israelis to join protests demanding either Netanyahu’s ousting or pressure on him to secure a deal for the release of the remaining captives.
“We have no interest in talking to whoever murdered Carmel or being a prop in his media circus. We will not allow him to use us as justification and legitimization for the murder of the next abductee. The blood of the kidnapped is on his hands,” wrote Gat’s cousin, Gil Dickmann, on X.
Einav Zangauker, a mother of Israeli prisoner, said that “Netanyahu is not Mr Security, he is Mr Death. He is undermining the deal in cold blood. Netanyahu is committing a crime ‘against the state of Israel’.
Pro-humanitarian activist Khalissee posted on X that, “ISRAEL IS KILLING IT’S OWN HOSTAGES” and sharing a video for Israeli prisoner Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s where he attacks Netanyahu saying, “I’m in underground hell. No water, food, medical care. Netanyahu, you neglected us. Don’t you want to end this nightmare? Bring us home immediately.”
Israeli Prisoners’ Forum stated that “Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. It is now a fact. Starting tomorrow, the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. The country will grind to a halt. The abandonment is over.”
“Netanyahu: enough of the excuses. Enough of the spin. Enough of the abandonment. The time has come to bring our hostages home – those living, the fallen and murdered for burial,” Israeli Prisoner Families Forum also added.
“Bibi Killer” was a message spray-painted by Israeli settlers on Netanyahu’s security vehicles in occupied Jerusalem as they hold him accountable for the death of Israeli prisoners in Gaza.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz slammed Netanyahu and the hard-right ministers behind him, and said that there are those who did not do everything to prevent the prisoners death in Gaza.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is playing for time for political reasons, and Israeli society is falling apart,” he concluded.
General Strike in Israel
The Head of Israel’s Histadrut labour union has called for a general strike on Monday to pressure Netanyahu government into reaching a deal to return the remaining Israeli prisoners still held in Gaza.
Arnon Bar-David called on all workers to join the nationwide strike, revealing that Ben Gurion airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, would be closed from 8am (05:00 GMT).
“We need to reach a deal, a deal that is more important than anything else. A deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable,” he said.
He explained that the flat-out demonstrations must stop Netanyahu’s abandonment of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, adding in a statement that “I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken.”
In response, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated: “I have instructed the payroll department at the Ministry of Finance that those who participate in the Histadrut strike tomorrow will not receive their salaries.”
He further demanded the workers to come to work tomorrow and to refrain from participating in the general strike, threatening them that they would harm Israel during wartime.
Netanyahu Insists on Military Pressure
Certain Israeli officials asserted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently maintained that the sole way for securing the release of the prisoners from Gaza is through sustained military pressure.
Netanyahu neglected Israeli families plea to strike a deal, continuing to say that Israel will never withdraw from the “focal issue” in Philadelphi corridor.
Netanyahu said Hamas killed the six captives and that Hamas is not interested in a deal. But it’s crystal clear to the prisoners families that Netanyahu, for so long, has had these incredibly hard lines that have caused a lot of tension within his own government such as Philadelphi and Natzarim.
They said Netanyahu is neither capable nor willing to make a deal, and that is still their belief that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for personal and political gains. He maintains that military solutions are the only way to continue this genocide.
However, since the beginning of the war, analysts view that a rising pressure from prisoners families is believed to corner Netanyahu to strike a deal.
In addition, experts said that ongoing Palestinain resistance operations in northern West Bank will be depleting Israeli army’s capabilities and pressure on the Israeli government to reconsider its roadblocks.
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