‘Deal now!’: Protesters block traffic in Tel Aviv, demanding government secure release of Gaza hostages

Protesters block traffic on Tel Aviv's Begin Road, calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, September 24, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Adar Eyal)
Protesters block traffic on Tel Aviv's Begin Road, calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, September 24, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Adar Eyal)

Dozens of anti-government protesters gather for the daily rally at Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, calling for the government to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has canceled its weekly protest in Tel Aviv this week, citing security concerns as fighting escalates between the Israeli military and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

The group’s main rally on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street, calling for a deal with the Hamas terror group to secure the release of the captives in Gaza, has been held alongside parallel protests across the country every Saturday evening for almost a year, since Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages during their October 7 attack on southern Israel.

The protesters block traffic while banging drums and carrying signs reading “Deal now!” and photos of hostages, marking 356 days of their captivity.

Earlier, Yarden Gonen, whose younger sister Romi Gonen, 24, who was shot and kidnapped while trying to escape the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, called for the unconditional release of all of the 97 hostages still held by Hamas.

“Anyone from the international community who really supports a ceasefire must understand that they must seek to release all the hostages unconditionally,” she says during a virtual meeting hosted by the Hostages Forum. “We cannot do this alone. We need the help of the international community. We need the help of the world. If everyone places pressure on the Hamas terror organization – Everything will look different!”

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