‘Why are they still in Gaza?’: At least 400,000 expected as mass hostage rally begins in Tel Aviv

TEL AVIV – Thousands gather on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street, outside the IDF headquarters, for the weekly protest to demand a hostages-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

An organizer says 400,000 people are present or set to arrive and asks the crowd to make room for thousands still to come. The tight mass of people causes disruptions in cellular reception.

The weekly protest comes after hostage-deal rallies were held daily since Sunday, when the army announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages who had been executed by Hamas just days earlier.

The Sunday night protest, held 12 hours after the IDF announcement, drew some 300,000 protesters, and a general labor strike was called the following day.

As upbeat, anti-establishment Israeli rock music plays before the scheduled speeches, protesters shout the regular chants: “Why are they still in Gaza,” “Stop the world and save everyone,” “An agreement that’s not signed murders everyone.”

Featured speakers are set to include freed hostages Andrey Kozlov and Danielle Aloni.

Near the stage, a large flag of the Yesh Atid opposition party is set up and then taken down at an organizer’s demand: “We don’t want political parties here,” he says.

The Hostages Families Forum shares a live feed of the protest.

https://www.youtube.com/live/UE1SS8ndoYI