Tel Aviv rally calls for war’s end, as hunger reigns in Gaza and ceasefire talks collapse anew

Standing inside a mass demonstration in Habima Square to demand the end of the war in Gaza, Roy Rieck said that the atmosphere was more loaded than during the previous demonstrations.

Like Aviv – standing in a mass demonstration in Habima Square to demand the end of the war in Gaza, Roy Rieck said that the atmosphere was more loaded than in previous demonstrations. The difference, he said, is that it is not only the fate of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages weighing on those who have proven.

“There was more feeling that people wanted to stop war not only to bring the hostages back, but also of understanding that the war went too far-that the cost for soldiers is too high and that suffering in Gaza has become unbearable,” he said.

The rally Thursday evening came when images of hungry children and relentless stories of hunger have died from Gaza, where Israel has been fighting for more than 21 months, crossing the speech even among those who are inclined to support the war. But even more urgent development has taken the spotlight.

The rally, organized by a coalition of bereaved families, hostage parents and parents of combat soldiers, occurred a few hours after the American envoy, Steve Witkoff, blamed Hamas for having twisted the ceasefire and hostage negotiations in Doha, leading to the return of Israeli and American delegations of the capital Qatari. Israeli sources have indicated that Hamas had submitted a new request for the release of certain members who participated in the attack on October 7, 2023.

The apparent collapse of the talks has destroyed the hopes, attracted in recent days, that an agreement to release at least some of the remaining hostages – 20 of which are considered alive – was close.

How did it go?

The rally opened up with a moment of silence for the fell soldiers, followed by a prayer for the safety of the troops and the return of the hostages.

The speakers understood Effie Shoham, whose son Yuval was killed by fighting in Gaza and who referred to the crisis in Gaza.

“These days, we are faced with difficult choices between the choice of life and good, or war, hunger, death and evil. We have to choose life,” emotional shoham told the crowd. “I call the Israeli government, on behalf of the people of Israel, met here today, to arrest war.”

Noam Tibon, a retired major-general who personally saved members of the Hamas attackers on October 7, 2023, said war had “a viable security objective”.

“It became a political war, managed by a failed government which made our children die while adopting a shameful law in Dodging,” he said, referring to a bill granting expanded military exemptions to Hared Orthodox students Yeshiva.

The FDI is “sinking deeper into the Gaza bleeding marsh,” said Tibon.

Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is detained hostage in Gaza, said that his son had chosen to serve in a tan unity from “Zionism and love of the earth”, but now “the country he loves so does not defend him”.

She accused the government of putting pressure on partial hostage agreements that could leave her son.

Raphi Ben-Shitrit, whose son Elroi was killed on October 7, told the crowd that the extension of the war threatened “the future of the Zionist company”. To put an end to war, he said, was not a sign of weakness but the reflection of “the sacred character of life, the heroism of the Jewish spirit and the strength of the Israeli spirit”.

A group of left -wing demonstrators held Perscards accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and calling on soldiers to refuse service. Not far from them, others held banners identifying themselves with “worthy religious Zionism”.

“There is a feeling more and more than every day soldiers die for no apparent reason,” said Yehuda Mirsky, an American-Israeli who had made the trip of Jerusalem, where he is a religious activist and scholarly thought.

He added that even if the first famine relationships in Gaza were once considered “questionable”, he now seemed clear that Israel had assumed roles in Gaza, he could not support. Like Tibon, Mirsky cited ultra-Orthodox exemptions as proof that Netanyahu extended war for political ends.

But as much as Rieck was encouraged by the size of the demonstration, he deplored that the manifestation is below past mass movements. He lacked the sustained momentum of the 2023 judicial overhaul demonstrations, he said, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets week after week, and he did not approve the magnitude of the anti-war rally rally from the 80s, when more than 400,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv after the massacres of Sabra and Shatila during the Lebanon war.

“We don’t yet see a critical mass,” said Rieck. “And look around you here in Tel Aviv – everywhere else, people continue as usual.”