Huge crowds meet in Israel calling for a hostage agreement and at the end of the Gaza War

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Israel to ask for the end of the Gaza War and an agreement to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

On Sunday, the largest crowd was seen in Tel Aviv’s “Smilling Place”, the organizers claiming that government’s plans to take control of Gaza City risked the life of around twenty hostages still held by Hamas.

A one -day national strike – part of wider demonstrations – closed roads, offices and universities in certain regions. Nearly 40 people were arrested during the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the demonstrations, saying that they “would harm the position of Hamas” and would only slow down the release of the hostages.

The far -right Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich also denounced the demonstrations, describing them as a “harmful campaign that plays in the hands of Hamas”.

The national strike was requested by the families of the hostages and other people opposed to the expansion of the war.

Einav Zangauker, mother of the hostage Matan and a leading figure in the forum of families hostage and disappeared, said that the group demanded “a complete and achievable agreement and the end of the war”.

“We demand what is rightly so-our children,” she told Tel Aviv’s crowd. “The Israeli government has transformed a just war into a useless war.”

She spoke after the release of a video of her son.

“My heart burns with desire. All my heart is burned because of my matan. Matan, me, an entire nation, we do everything we can for you, for all hostages,” she said.

The demonstrations occurred a week after the War Cabinet of Israel voted to occupy the city of Gaza, the largest city in the territory, and move its population, in a decision condemned by the United Nations Security Council.

Thousands of residents have since fled the southern district of Zeitoun of Gaza City, when days of continuous Israeli bombing created a “catastrophic” situation, the municipality led by the city Hamas at the BBC told.

At least 40 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the territory on Saturday, said the Civil Defense Agency in Gaza.

Hamas said in a statement that Israeli forces had made an “supported offensive in the eastern and southern districts of Gaza City, in particular in Zeitoun”.

The Israeli army said that it would begin to allow tents to Gaza again by aid agencies.

“As part of the preparations to move the population of the combat zones to the Southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume,” said the Israeli military body Cogat.

Israel plans to move a million people, from Gaza City to southern camps, but he did not provide an exact calendar when his forces would enter the city of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will want the whole city under the Israeli occupation of October 7.

According to the UN.

The international organization indicated that there is a widespread malnutrition in Gaza, with experts supported by the organization warning last month in a report that the “worst scenario” of the famine takes place in the band.

The war in Gaza was launched by the attack on October 7, 2023 of Hamas against Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 other people taken hostage.

Israel’s offensive killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health managed by Hamas, which the UN considers reliable.