JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. They urged the government to reach a cease-fire deal to free dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to hold early elections.
Israeli society was broadly united immediately after Oct. 7, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people during a cross-border attack and took 250 others hostage. Nearly six months of conflict have renewed divisions over the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the country remains largely in favor of the war.
Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home, yet those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact.
Roughly half the hostages in Gaza were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November. But attempts by international mediators to bring home the remaining hostages have failed. Talks resumed on Sunday with little expectation of a breakthrough.
Hostages’ families believe time is running out.
“We believe that no hostages will come back with this government because they’re busy putting sticks in the wheels of negotiations for the hostages,” said Boaz Atzili, whose cousin, Aviv Atlizi and his wife, Liat, were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Lait was released but Aviv was killed, and his body is in Gaza. “Netanyahu is only working in his private interests.”
Protesters blame Netanyahu for the failures of Oct. 7 and say the deep political divisions over his attempted judicial overhaul last year weakened Israel ahead of the attack. Some accuse him of damaging relations with the United States, Israel’s most important ally.
Netanyahu is also facing a litany of corruption charges which are slowly making their way through the courts, and critics say his decisions appear to be focused on political survival over the national interest.
Many families of hostages had refrained from publicly denouncing Netanyahu to avoid antagonizing the leadership and making the hostages’ plight a political issue. But some now want to change course.
The crowd on Sunday stretched for blocks around the Knesset, or parliament building, and organizers vowed to continue the demonstration for several days. They urged the government to hold new elections nearly two years ahead of schedule. Thousands also demonstrated in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu, in a nationally televised speech before undergoing hernia surgery later Sunday, said he understood families’ pain. But he said calling new elections — in what he described as a moment before victory — would paralyze Israel for six to eight months and stall the hostage talks.
Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears to remain firmly intact, and even if he were ousted, top rival Benny Gantz is a war cabinet member and likely would continue many of his policies.
In his Sunday address, Netanyahu also repeated his vow for a military ground offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than half of territory’s population of 2.3 million now shelters after fleeing fighting elsewhere. “There is no victory without going into Rafah,” he said, adding that U.S. pressure would not deter him. Israel’s military says Hamas battalions remain there.
In another reminder of Israel’s divisions, a group of reservists and retired officers demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.
Ultra-Orthodox men for generations have received exemptions from military service, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. Resentment over that has deepened during the war. Netanyahu’s government has been ordered to present a new plan for a more equitable draft law by Monday.
Netanyahu, who relies heavily on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, last week asked for an extension.
The Bank of Israel said in its annual report on Sunday that there could be economic damage if large numbers of ultra-Orthodox men continue not to serve in Israel’s military.
Also Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent camp in the courtyard of a crowded hospital in central Gaza, killing two Palestinians and wounding another 15, including journalists working nearby.
An Associated Press reporter filmed the strike and aftermath at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where thousands of people have sheltered. The Israeli military said it struck a command center of the Islamic Jihad group.
Tens of thousands of people have sought shelter in Gaza’s hospitals, viewing them as relatively safe from airstrikes. Israel accuses Hamas and other fighters of operating in and around medical facilities, which Gaza’s health officials deny.
Those wounded in Sunday’s strike lay on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital floor and gasped while being treated, one clutching at the underside of a stretcher that held someone else.
Israeli troops have been raiding Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, for nearly two weeks and say they have killed scores of fighters, including senior Hamas operatives. Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 100 patients remain with no potable water and septic wounds, while doctors use plastic bags for gloves.
Not far from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, dozens of Palestinian Christians gathered at the Holy Family Church to celebrate Easter, with incense wafting through the rare building that appeared untouched by war. “We are here with sadness,” attendee Winnie Tarazi said. About 600 people shelter in the compound.
The United Nations and partners warn that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza. Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road. Egypt has said thousands of trucks are waiting.
The head of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told CBS it was able to get just nine trucks into Gaza on Thursday. “That’s nothing. We just cannot continue this way,” she said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 32,782 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilians and fighters, but it has said that women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
Israel says over one-third of the dead are fighters, though it has not provided evidence, and it blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates in residential areas.
Amid concerns about a wider conflict in the region, Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese town of Konin.
A Lebanese security official told The Associated Press that Hezbollah’s Ismail al-Zain was killed, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Israel’s military called al-Zain a “significant commander” in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces’ anti-tank unit, which has conducted strikes into northern Israel. Hezbollah confirmed the death.
Melanie Lidman also contributed to this report. Magdy reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah. Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
