Tel Aviv rally calls for war to end as hunger collapses again after Gaza rule and ceasefire
Roy Rieck, standing in a mass protest in Habima Square, demanding an end to the Gaza war, said the atmosphere was more rechargeable than previous demonstrations.
Tel Aviv – Roy Rieck, standing in a mass protest at Habima Square, demanding an end to the war in Gaza, said the atmosphere was more fulfilling than previous demonstrations. The difference, he said, is that it is not just the plight of the remaining 50 kinds of Israeli hostages, who overwhelmed those people.
“People want to stop the war not only from taking hostages, but from understanding that the war goes too far – the cost of soldiers is too high, and the suffering of Gaza becomes unbearable,” he said.
The rally held Thursday night is a narrative of images of hungry children and relentless hunger pouring into Gaza, where Israel has been fighting for more than 21 months, breaking through the discourse even among those who tend to support the war. However, more urgent development is central.
The rally consisting of bereavement families, relatives of hostages and parents of combat soldiers was during hours of US envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for the ceasefire and hostage negotiations in Doha, resulting in Israel and our return to the U.S. delegation from Qatari Capital. Israeli sources reported that Hamas raised new demands for the release of some members participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.
The clear collapse of negotiations has been shattered in recent years, a deal to release at least the remaining hostages (20 of them are still alive).
Thousands of Israelis protest against the government’s judicial reforms in the Habima Forum in Tel Aviv in this drone video taken on January 14, 2023 (Honor: Amir Goldstein)
How did it go?
The assembly was silent for a moment for the fallen soldiers, and then prayed for the safety of the troops and the return of the hostages.
Speakers include Effie Shoham, whose son Yuval was killed in Gaza and mentioned the Gaza crisis.
“We face difficult choices these days between choosing life and goodness, war, hunger, death and evil. We have to choose life,” an emotional Shoham told the crowd. “On behalf of the Israeli people who gather here today, I call on the Israeli government to stop the war.”
Retired Major General Noam Tibon personally rescued family members from Hamas attackers on October 7, 2023, saying the war no longer has “a viable security goal.”
“It has become a political war, run by a failed government, which died while passing the shameful draft laws,” he said.
Tiben said the IDF “goes deep into the bleeding swamp in Gaza.”
Viki Cohen’s son Nimrod was detained in Gaza in Gaza. Her son chose to serve in the tank unit of “Zionism and love for the land”, but now “the country he loved very much did not defend him.”
She accused the government of pushing for some hostage deals, which could leave her son behind.
Elroi, son of Raphi Ben-Shitrit, was killed on October 7, told the crowd that extending the war threatened “the future of Zionist enterprises.” He said that at the end of the war, it was not a sign of weakness, but a reflection of “the sacredness of life, the heroism of the Jewish spirit, and the power of the Israeli spirit.”
A group of left-wing protesters have accused Israel of signs of genocide in Gaza and called on soldiers to refuse service. Not far from them, others hold banners of “Dignified Religious Zionism.”
“Increasingly, soldiers die every day without obvious reasons,” said Yehuda Mirsky, an American-Israel, who traveled from Jerusalem, a religious activist and scholar of Jewish thought.
He added that although early reports of the Gaza famine were once considered “controversial”, it seems obvious that Israel has played a role in Gaza but cannot be maintained. Like Tibon, Mirsky cited draft ultra-Orthodox immunity to prove that Netanyahu is prolonging the war in search of political gain.
But while the scale of the protests filled Rieck with excitement, he lamented that protests were not enough for mass movements in the past. He said it lacked the continued momentum for the 2023 judicial overhaul demonstrations, when thousands of weeks and weeks were spread all over the streets, and it wasn’t close to the scale of anti-war rally in the 1980s, when Sabra and Shatila Massacres gathered in Tel Aviv during the Lebanese War.
“We haven’t seen the critical mass yet,” Rick said. “Looking around Tel Aviv – elsewhere, people are moving forward as usual.”
