Pro-hostage deal protesters block Route 6 as families rally outside PM’s residence

Pro-hostage deal protesters set up a mock Shabbat table and block traffic on Route 6, near the Elyakin Interchange in the north, as families of captives hold Sabbath services and rally outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.

Ynet quotes the protesters on Route 6 as saying: “There will be no Shabbat meal anywhere in the country until everyone’s back and the war ends.”

שלושים איש החליטו עכשיו לחסום את כביש שש באזור מחלף אליקים, "למען החטופים". שוב נהגים אקראיים סופגים בריונות לא לגיטימית. אסור למשטרת ישראל לאפשר את זה pic.twitter.com/2npzksxiXP

— Akiva Novick (@akivanovick) August 22, 2025

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum cites the hostage families outside the Prime Minister’s Residence as saying: “Netanyahu — leave the Shabbat table and move to the negotiating table.”

Photos from the Forum of a Shabbat table set up outside Netanyahu’s residence shows pictures of remaining hostages placed on seats around a table set for a meal of pita slices and canned beans — the food given the captives in Gaza.

Yael Adar, mother of slain captive Tamir Adar, assails Netanyahu in a speech outside the premier’s residence for approving the new Gaza City offensive rather than moving forward on a ceasefire-hostage deal.

“Instead of heading south for meetings on conquering Gaza, you should go up to Jerusalem to convene the cabinet, and say one thing — ‘I’m sending a negotiating team, and [they’re] not coming home until there is a deal to bring back all the hostages,” she says.