Israeli protesters block highways and demand ceasefire – nine months after the war began

Nine months after the start of the Gaza war, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country on Sunday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urging a ceasefire to release scores of hostages held by Hamas.

The demonstrations come as long-running efforts for a ceasefire gained momentum last week after Hamas dropped a key demand for Israeli commitment to ending the war. The militant group still seeks a permanent ceasefire, while Netanyahu has vowed to fight on until Hamas is destroyed.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.

Sunday’s “day of unrest” began at 6:29 a.m., the same time Hamas fighters fired the first rockets into Israel in the first attack. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated in front of the homes of government ministers.

Near the border with the Gaza Strip, Israeli demonstrators released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to commemorate their killed and kidnapped fellow citizens.

Hannah Golan said she had come to protest against our government’s “devastating neglect of our communities.” She added: “It has been nine months since that dark day and still no one in our government is taking responsibility.”

About 120 hostages remain held after more than 100 were released under a ceasefire agreement in November. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and there are fears that number will rise as the war continues.

The US has rallied the world behind a proposal for a gradual ceasefire in which Hamas would release remaining prisoners in return for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Hamas wants guarantees from mediators that the war will end, while Israel wants the freedom to resume fighting if talks on the release of the last hostages drag on.

Netanyahu also said Israel remains determined to destroy Hamas’ military and political power and will resume the war after a pause to release the hostages.

Israel continues to battle enclaves of Palestinian militants throughout the Gaza Strip after heavy bombings and ground operations in recent months devastated the territory’s major cities and displaced most of its 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.

Palestinian authorities said at least nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Sunday. Six people were killed in an attack on a house in the central town of Zawaida, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital. Another attack hit a house west of Gaza City, killing three more people, according to the Civil Defense, a Hamas government aid agency.

Also on Sunday morning, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it fired dozens of missiles toward northern Israel, hitting areas more than 30 kilometers from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, Israel’s national rescue service reported. The shelling came after an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah militant on Saturday.

After the war in Gaza broke out, Hezbollah began launching rocket and mortar attacks. The scale and severity of the attacks, as well as Israeli counterattacks, have increased in recent weeks, raising fears of a full-scale war that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border.

Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have stepped up efforts over the past week to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will stop its attacks if there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas’ compromise on Saturday could lead to the first pause in fighting since November and pave the way for further talks, although all sides still warned that an agreement was not yet guaranteed.

Washington’s phased agreement would begin with a “complete and comprehensive” six-week ceasefire, during which elderly, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow displaced people to return to their homes in northern Gaza.

War-weary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were pessimistic after previous instances had suggested that both sides were close to reaching an agreement.

“We have lived through nine months of suffering,” said Heba Radi, a displaced Palestinian. “The ceasefire has become a distant dream.”

The mother of six spoke from her tent in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where she has sought shelter since the children fled their home in Gaza City.

“Every day we tell ourselves, tomorrow (there will be a ceasefire),” she said, “and tomorrow will be better. And when tomorrow comes, they say (the negotiations) have been postponed.”

The war has caused widespread damage in Gaza. Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order have limited humanitarian aid, leading to widespread hunger and famine. The UN’s top court has concluded that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – a charge that Israel strongly denies.