Police forced family members of the Gaza hostages to halt their march toward the end of the three-day event for security reasons, sparking brief clashes near the Yad Mordechai junction on Friday afternoon.
It is believed that two of the captives – Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul – were killed in the 2014 Gaza War but that Hamas is holding their bodies.
Marchers chanted that the war, known as Operation Protective Edge, "is not over until Oron and Hadar are returned."
The activists started out on Wednesday from the Goldin family home in Kfar Saba and had intended to finish the event at the Erez Crossing into Gaza.
But the event, led by the Goldin family, coincided with an IDF closure of the southern border area, due to fear of a retaliatory Hamas strike following the arrest of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin earlier this week.
The marchers came close to the Gaza border on Friday shortly before the IDF killed top PIJ commander Tayseer al-Jaabari in an aerial strike on the Strip.
Clashes with police
The Goldin family had been asked by police to end the event, but they refused, intent on reaching the Erez Crossing.
In response, police officers stretched out across the road to block their path.
At first, Hadar's parents' Simha and Leah tried to convince the police to let them through, explaining that they respected them, but "there is a limit."
There are IDF commanders who "do not take responsibility" for soldiers who have been abandoned in Gaza for eight years while they sit in air-conditioned offices, Leah said.
Marchers including the Goldin family tried to break the police line, as officers pushed them back and screams broke out.
The family had initially insisted that neither they nor the marchers would leave the area until the head of the IDF's Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano arrived to speak with them and pledge that he would insure the return of the captives.
"Get out of the air-conditioning and come here," Leah said, calling to Toledo through a bullhorn.
Eventually, all of the marchers left without meeting Toledano.
Aside from the bodies of Hadar and Oron, Hamas is also believed to be holding two Israeli civilians captive: Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayad, both of whom suffer from psychological disorders.
Mengistu entered Gaza in September 2014 and Sayad crossed into the Strip in April 2015. Hamas in June released a video that showed Sayad alive but ill.
Members of the Shaul, Mengistu and Sayad families joined parts of the march but were not present on all three days.