TEL AVIV – Family members of Israeli hostages held by Hamas braved winter storms on Saturday and protested for the second night since ceasefire negotiations stalled this week, a development that families attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Thousands gathered outside Israeli military headquarters here, chanting “Now! Now! Now!” Protesters closed a main street in downtown Tel Aviv on Thursday; a group of hostage family members handcuffed themselves and blocked the gates during a War Cabinet meeting.
Some set off colored smoke bombs and carried placards depicting Netanyahu's son Yair as a hostage and saying, “How would it be different if it were him?”
On Friday, demonstrators fired flares into the air and called for Netanyahu to resign. Mounted police and trucks blocked their way. Protesters blame the prime minister for the security failures that led to the Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7 – when authorities here say militants killed 1,200 people – as well as his handling of the war in Gaza and the hostages since then.
“Netanyahu has to go or we’ll never get the hostages home,” said Karen Beltz, a Tel Aviv film producer. She said the protests were gradually swelling but were still not as large or angry as the anti-government demonstrations that rocked Israel for months last year.
Hamas and allied fighters took more than 253 people hostage on October 7. More than 100 were released in exchange for more than 200 Palestinian prisoners during a lull in fighting in November. Israeli authorities believe there are more than 100 hostages still in the Gaza Strip.
Advocates warn that time is running out for the hostages, who have been held in Gaza for 19 weeks. They were angry when Netanyahu withdrew the Israeli team from ceasefire negotiations in Cairo on Wednesday.
The prime minister said further talks would be pointless until Hamas dropped “delusional demands” that Israel withdraw from the Gaza Strip and release thousands of detained Palestinians as part of a hostage deal.
Israeli protesters block aid deliveries to Gaza
The meeting in Cairo, reportedly attended by Mossad chief David Barnea, CIA Director William J. Burns and senior Hamas leaders from outside the Gaza Strip, followed reports of progress in the Paris talks. There was hope among the families of the remaining hostages, some of whom are elderly or injured.
Israel estimates that more than two dozen hostages may have died. Officials have made the return of their remains part of negotiations.
Under pressure from right-wing members of his narrow governing majority to continue the Gaza offensive, Netanyahu ordered his team to leave Egypt, despite demands from the hostage families but also growing international outrage over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, more than 28,000 Gazans were killed in the three months of war.
Diplomats said negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States were continuing. An Israeli familiar with the discussion said Netanyahu's public comments did not mean he had prevented Israeli negotiators from engaging behind the scenes. “They’re still talking,” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
But the hostage groups reacted with anger. They said Netanyahu prioritized appeasing his right-wing political base over reaching an agreement.
“If the Cairo initiative fails, 134 children and parents will be sacrificed and die,” the largest family umbrella group said in a statement. “Don’t sacrifice her, don’t give her up again.”
One family member after another took the stage Saturday to call on the government to act.
“Leave the politics out of it,” shouted the son of one hostage. “Take her home now.”
Despite heavy rain and cold winds, thousands came out over the weekend. Netanyahu's support fell to all-time lows as citizens increasingly blame him for the policies that helped Hamas thrive and for the collapse of intelligence and security that allowed the militants to lead the Oct. 7 attack.
Polls show that more than two-thirds of Israelis want to see early elections, and about a third are willing to do so before the Gaza war is over. On Saturday, the leader of Israel's largest and most influential trade union group called on Netanyahu to resign and face voters.
“We are at an impasse and there is only one way out – elections,” said Arnon Bar-David, the head of Histadrut, local media reported.
Anger against the prime minister is growing, but analysts say it is unlikely to reach critical levels until the number of combat troops in Gaza falls, tensions along the border with Lebanon ease and the hostages are released.
“There is not yet a feeling that we are in a post-war situation,” said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute. “But we’re there.”