TEL AVIV – Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters have taken to the streets across the country to oppose the government’s plan to expand its military operation in Gaza, amid ongoing starvation of civilians in the enclave.
Demonstrators waved signs and held up pictures of hostages still being held in Gaza while calling on the government to secure their release.
The public anger follows Israel’s security cabinet approval of five principles to end the war that included ‘taking security control’ over the Gaza Strip and handing over its governance to Arab states.
Protesters, including family members of 50 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are still thought to be alive, fear the plan puts the lives of hostages at risk, and urged the government to secure their release, BBC reported on Sunday.
Israeli leaders have since ignored criticism of its plan, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying “this will help free our hostages”.
A group representing families of the hostages said on X: “Expanding the fighting endangers the hostages and the soldiers – the people of Israel are not willing to risk them!”
The Times of Israel reported that family members of hostages and soldiers at a protest in Tel Aviv near the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters called on other soldiers to refuse to serve in the expanded military operation to protect hostages.
The mother of one of the hostages has called for a general strike in Israel, although the country’s main labour union will not back it, according to the Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also faced strong opposition from the army’s Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir who, according to Israeli media, had warned the prime minister that a full occupation of Gaza was “tantamount to walking into a trap” and would endanger the living hostages.
Polls suggest most of the Israeli public favour a deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages and the end of the war.
Netanyahu had told Fox News earlier this week that Israel planned to occupy of the entire Gaza Strip and eventually “hand it over to Arab forces”.
“We are not going to occupy Gaza – we are going to free Gaza from Hamas,” Netanyahu said on X on Friday. “This will help free our hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since then, more than 61,300 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli military operations, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Natanyahu and now deceased Hamas leaders, to be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war
