100,000 people rallied against the government and demanded a hostage deal in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli army discovered the body of Elad Katzir, taken on 7 October, Israeli media reported.
Demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other cities began after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) discovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir. Protesters chanted: “Elections now” and “Elad, we’re sorry,” according to local media.
Anti-government protesters were joined by families of hostages held in Gaza. The demonstrators expressed frustration at the government’s failure to release some 130 hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip held by Hamas and its allies.
Some 129 hostages remain missing since their abduction, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead. The Israel Defence Forces have recovered 12 bodies.
Earlier on Saturday, the IDF recovered the body of Elad Katzir, who was captured and taken to Gaza during Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October. He appeared alive in a hostage video published in January.
Elad Katzir managed to survive three months in captivity. He should have been with us today. He could have been with us today, protester Noam Peri told a BBC reporter.
Organisers said protesters gathered in about 50 locations across Israel. They were the latest in a series of large-scale anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Netanyahu amid fury over his failure to free the remaining hostages.
Katzir’s sister, Carmit Palty Katzir, accused Israeli authorities of her brother’s death, writing on social media that he would have returned alive if they had negotiated a new truce.
Our leadership is cowardly and driven by political consideration, which is why this deal has not happened yet, she wrote on Facebook.
Further, she added:
Prime Minister, war cabinet, and coalition members: Look at yourself in the mirror and say if your hands didn’t spill blood.
Hamas attacks on 7 October killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Israel then launched a counter-offensive in the Gaza Strip that has already killed more than 33,000 people, many of them women and children.
Both Israelis and Palestinians are preparing to mark six months of war on Sunday. In addition, on Sunday, exactly six months after Hamas attacks sparked war in the Gaza Strip, negotiators plan to meet in Cairo to try to reach a ceasefire.
