Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets of downtown Tel Aviv to demand the Israeli government reach a deal to free the hostages, N12 TV channel and Ynet news portal reported.
Organizers of the Tel Aviv rally estimated the number of participants at 500,000; police did not provide their figures, The Times of Israel reported. According to the newspaper, up to 1 million Israelis took part in various rallies in support of the hostages and against the expansion of the military operation in the Gaza Strip on the day of August 17. The mass demonstration in Tel Aviv was the end of a one-day “popular strike“ held on August 17 by associations of relatives of the abductees.
According to Ynet, during the day, Israeli police arrested 38 people for public order violations during various mass actions that took place throughout Israel. The police press service confirmed that 25 participants in the riots were arrested across the country. According to the department, 11 arrests were made in Tel Aviv on the afternoon of August 17 “in connection with illegal demonstrations“, during which “protesters blocked traffic in several places“ on the Ayalon Highway and Begin Street in the city center. According to the state-run Kan TV, the protesters “periodically blocked“ traffic on highways 1, 34 and 443.
The “People's Strike“, announced by the associations of relatives of the kidnapped, began on August 17 at 06:29 - the time of the beginning of the attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip against Israel on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border villages and the capture of over 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the enclave with the aim of destroying Hamas's military and political structures and freeing all the kidnapped.