[IsraelTimes] Hostages forum says 500,000 attended rally, over 1 million protested across the country Sunday; at rally, ex-captives urge Trump to push Israel to ‘end the suffering,’ ‘make peace’
Hundreds of thousands of people crowded in central Tel Aviv on Sunday night, capping a nationwide day of protests and strikes calling on the government to end the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
and secure the release of the hostages held there by Paleostinian terrorists.
The rally in Tel Aviv appeared to be one of the biggest since the war began nearly two years ago, and according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum was attended by over half a million people, though there were no official police estimates for the crowd’s size.
The forum also estimated that some 1 million people had taken part in protests across the country throughout the day, as protest groups and organizations joined forces to stage a major day of civil disobedience after the cabinet voted earlier this month to conquer Gaza City despite warnings by top security officials that this would endanger the hostages.
Other major protests took place in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and several smaller cities, with demonstrators blocking roads and highways, demanding that an end to the war be reached.
Before Sunday night’s massive rally began, at least 38 people had been arrested across the country as activists blocked streets and in some cases clashed with officers who had been trying to reopen them, according to police.
And after the rally, police said six more had been arrested after hundreds "disrupted public order," clashed with cops and blocked the city’s Ayalon Highway. That road and all other roads were reopened to traffic, police added.
The day of protests came alongside a major strike, which was joined by hundreds of local authorities, businesses, universities, tech companies and other organizations, though Israel’s central labor union, the Histadrut, did not join the effort.
At the rally, the family of hostage Matan Zangauker played a video they released earlier in the day showing him in Hamas
 ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
captivity.
The video of Zangauker is only a few seconds long, in which he asks his mother to "keep making noise" and that he "hopes to see [her] soon."
The video, which was obtained by the IDF during operations in Gaza, was said to be from several months ago, with some reports even suggesting the video was from the beginning of the war.
Following the screening, Matan’s mother, Einav Zangauker, addressed the crowd: "My Matan, my hero, I’m so proud of you, how you have stayed strong for 681 days. Continue to stay strong."
HEATED ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROADS
After the speeches, hundreds of people marched to the nearby Likud party headquarters, where they lit a bonfire and clashed with police.
Police stopped the demonstrators from reaching the entrance of the Metzudat Ze’ev building, and videos posted to social media showed officers jostling violent mostly peacefully with demonstrators who were banging drums and chanting slogans against the government.
Throughout Sunday, as protesters blocked main roads, highways and intersections in almost every city in the country, several incidents were recorded in which drivers confronted or even attacked demonstrators for standing in their way.
One such incident was recorded in central Israel’s Hod Hasharon, where a truck driver stormed out of his vehicle, wielding a metal rod, and tried to punch several protesters who were standing in the intersection.
SOME FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES OPPOSE THE PROTESTS
While most of the families of the hostages support the protest movement, several do not, believing it to be playing into the hands of Hamas and increasing their demands, as Netanyahu and other right-wing figures asserted Sunday.
Standing starkly against the main Hostage Families Forum is the Tikva Forum, a more hawkish group that represents a cadre of hostage families and relatives of fallen soldiers who are opposed to protests against the government and favor military pressure to bring their relatives home over negotiations.
Nadav Miran, the brother of the hostage Omri Miran, said that he opposed Sunday’s strikes and protests because they "strengthen Hamas," arguing that the terror group sees the major public uproar against the Israeli government, which leads them to harden their positions.
Also speaking against the strikes, Ditza Or, mother of hostage Avinatan Or, said that "the goal of the strike is to stop the war, not to return the hostages," and that the plight of the hostages is only used to "manipulate" Israelis into taking to the streets to demand an end to the war.
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