From the Liveblog of
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Protesters gather nationwide to call for hostage deal, new elections
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
In cities and towns across Israel, protesters gather to demand a deal for the remaining 120 hostages in Gaza, after news of the successful rescue of four hostages earlier in the day.
In Haifa, Caesarea, Beersheba and Hod Hasharon, protesters call for new elections and a hostage deal.
Several dozen people gather in the desert town of Mizpe Ramon, while thousands march up north in Haifa. A convoy of tractors rolls down to Karkur Junction in the north, where protesters also sit on the street to block traffic, before being shoved by police officers off the road.
At Amiad Junction in the north, protesters block traffic with bales of hay and other crops as residents, evacuated from the region for the last eight months, protest against the government, asking when will they be able to return home.
Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, tens of thousands gather at Democracy Square, where one of the speakers calling on the government to make a deal is Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of Yoram Metzger, one of the four hostages killed by Hamas in Gaza.
Artist Zeev Engelmayer, who has been drawing pictures of hostages, October 7 victims and others affected by the Hamas onslaught, stands in Tel Aviv holding up his etching of Noa Argamani, who was rescued by IDF forces earlier in the day.
