Protesters gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem Wednesday morning, calling on the government to return the hostages in Gaza as part of a nationwide day of protest. Parallel protests took place in Tel Aviv and in front of the Israeli consulate in New York.
The protests were set to take place in more than 50 locations across Israel, with thousands of people participating, after being organized by The Women’s Protest for the Return of the Hostages.
Among the participants were families of the hostages who demanded a deal to bring their loved ones home.
One family member, Shay Dickmann, wore the same style of outfit her cousin, Carmel Gat, was wearing when she was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7: black athletic shorts and a gray t-shirt.
“I’m afraid every single day of what’s going to happen to Carmel,” Dickmann told The Jerusalem Post. “We have to get her back; we have to bring her back home to our hands, to her father’s hug, to our family, and to the State of Israel to be safe again.”
Dickmann said she believes the only way to get all 120 hostages home is through a deal and called on all the MKs to make one happen.
“We have to seal a deal that will bring them back. We have to get them back before it’s too late,” Dickmann said.
Another family member, Shaul Levy, the grandfather of Naama Levy, who celebrated her 20th birthday in Hamas captivity this week, participated in one of the protests in Meitar.
'Practically speaking, the war is over'
“Practically speaking, the war is over. There are no more excuses. There’s only one thing they aren’t dealing with, and that’s the hostages,” Levy said.
Also on Wednesday, family members urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to pledge his full support to a deal presented by US President Joe Biden to bring the hostages home during a press conference held by the Forum.
“I can’t stop the thought that I might already be a grandmother. There is a possibility I already am one,” Orly Gilboa, the mother of hostage Daniela Gilboa, said.
At a protest outside the Knesset, demonstrators could be heard chanting, “We want them alive and not in coffins.” They continued to chant, “What if it was your daughter? What if it was your son? What if it was your dad?”
Organizers planned to conclude the national day of protest with a march for the hostages at 7:30 p.m. in Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
Multiple roads closed as a result of the protests, and the demonstrators shut down Eliezer Kaplan Street in Jerusalem and blocked the road for several minutes in Dizengoff Square.
Additional protests around the country were planned for the coming days with protest organizations calling for a civil strike on Thursday, and over 1,000 businesses shutting down for the day, according to the organizers. One protest group, The Day After, called on the president and rector of Hebrew University to shut down classes Thursday in accordance with the strike.
“Let’s show them that we, the students, will not give up our future. We will demand that they join the struggle and strike,” the organizers wrote in a call to protestors.
The protest groups arrived in Tel Aviv late Wednesday evening, calling for an immediate hostage deal.
“For an entire week now, the government has been dealing with fixing jobs for rabbis and draft exemptions, instead of the hostages, one of whom is a toddler who has spent more in prison than out of it,” The Women’s Protest for the Return of the Hostages said. “The public today proved that it won’t abandon the 120 hostages that are being held in Gaza for nine months now. Stop the war! Bring them home!"
The Black Flags protest group called for a march for the hostages in Jerusalem on Thursday. Kaplan Force announced that it would hold a protest on Thursday evening in front of Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem on Azza Street at 8 p.m., which will begin with a gathering at the Chords Bridge. A parallel protest will take place in front of the Netanyahu home in Caesarea.