Activists, bereaved parents urge major protest next week calling for end to Gaza war

A panel of bereaved parents, former security personnel, a hostage mother and a soldier mother hold a press conference calling on Israelis to join their call to end the war in Gaza and stage a major protest next week.

Major General (Res.) Noam Tibon, who went to save his son and son’s family on October 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, says that after three more soldiers were killed on Monday, the government continued its politicking in the Knesset.

“The soldiers are being sent to Gaza because of political considerations,” says Tibon. “We’re here to say in a clear voice, we have to finish this war in Gaza and bring back all the hostages in one deal. Soldiers are dealing with a bloody, guerilla war in Gaza. Another soldier committed suicide yesterday. The heart breaks and we have to take care of them. The army is stretched to its limits.”

Tibon calls on Israelis to join the struggle, and a major protest is being planned for Thursday evening, July 24, in Tel Aviv.

His words are echoed by former Beit Shean mayor Rafi Ben Sheetrit, whose son, Alroy Ben Sheetrit, was killed fighting in the battle on Nahal Oz on October 7.

Bat El, the mother of a combat officer who has been fighting in Gaza for nearly two years, speaks emotionally and forcefully about the effects on soldiers as they fight in Israel’s longest war to date.

“They’re being sent again and again to the battlefield, without hope, just seeing the deaths of dozens of comrades,” says Bat El. “They’re dealing with trauma and injuries.”

She says that it is weakening the army to push these soldiers to their limits, and the soldiers don’t know what they are still doing in Gaza.

“They see things that most of the nation has never experienced,” says Bat El. “It falls on too-young shoulders.”

Hostage mother Einav Zangauker, whose son, Matan, is one of the living hostages, calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fulfill his promise to her to bring back her son, and also calls on Israelis to join the protest.

Bereaved parent Elchanan Danino, whose son, Or Danino, was one of the six hostages killed in Gaza in August 2024, notes that most of the hostages who have been recently released came back because of agreements between Israel and Hamas.

He credits US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he calls a fellow bereaved father, with those releases.

“Witkoff knows how many hostages were killed in Gaza under army pressure,” says Danino, opening his jacket to show a photo of his son, Or.