Dressed in a wedding dress, white veil in her hair, Ilana Gritzewsky has just organized her fictitious wedding in front of one hundred people, in Tel Aviv. His partner is always captive in Gaza. “Matán, love, if you hadn’t been kidnapped, we could have already been married,” he said in a microphone.
The couple had been kidnapped by Hamas at home during the October 7 attacks in Israel. It was released a month later. He stayed hostage.
“Our world collapsed, you are not there to hug me and I can’t be there to give you strength,” the trembling voice continues.
Battery, slogans and tapes
Throughout the day, this Sunday, August 17, thousands of protesters gathered in the streets of Tel Aviv to the rhythm of the battery and the slogans.
Many have brought pieces of tape to their shirts with the number 681 written to the scoreboard, which represents the number of days since the hostages were removed. All claim the return of the Israeli captives and the end of the war in Gaza.
If some were at 8 am in the face of the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, others paralyzed the axes of the road and the main places of the city.
“We must not forget”
Gathered until the night in the square called “Place des otages”, the Israelis have signs, banners and flags, and chained the speeches.
“Today is a special day, because we have to continue living our daily lives, but at the same time we should not forget and normalize what has really been happening for 681 days,” says a resident flag, Israeli on the shoulder.
Apart from the demonstrations, the arrests took place in the streets of the city. Israeli police had announced that they are preparing for “reinforced” demonstrations.
“Thousands of police and soldiers from the border security forces will be deployed throughout the country and in several places throughout the day,” he warned the police in a statement, ensuring that “he will not tolerate any disorder in public order.”
A new offensive in Gaza
The demonstrations were organized regularly during the 22 months of war launched in the Gaza Strip for Hamas unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But this Sunday’s rally seems to be one of the most massive to date.
The mobilization was organized after the decision of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu, just over a week ago, to launch a new offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian territory, and to seize the city of Gaza and the neighboring camps.
This plan to take control of the most populated areas in Gaza, while humanitarian and UN agencies warn against imminent famine in the territory, has aroused international reprobation. In Israel, the feeling of urgency has increased even more for those who demand the end of the war in exchange for a negotiated agreement to free all hostages.
500,000 participants according to the organizers
In total, 500,000 people gathered in the streets of Tel Aviv, according to the organizers count. Beyond the fate of the 49 hostages still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli army, other concerns date back. “The whole country is destroying, our image in the world has changed completely, it is worse than ever, and that is enough,” says Nick, a 31 -year -old technological worker, with AFP.
Some are still worried about the fate of their own children enlisted in the Israeli army, and fear that they will soon be remembered to fight. “We hope and pray that our government can listen and listen to us,” she said Kaufman, who says she is “worried,” her two children work as officers.
“Like the Israelis, we do everything to serve and sacrifice for our country, provided that the government is at the service of citizens. In recent months, we have lost this link and this confidence in our government that seems to follow their own political motivations,” he said.
In the midst of this crowd, other inhabitants of Tel Aviv, however, support the government in such sensitive times. “Why do people manifest? Nobody knows where the hostages are. So they don’t show against Netanyahu. But to support hostages,” said Patrick Menache, a 69 -year real estate investor.
“Everyone is tired, hostages are tired, families are tired, the Palestinians are tired (…) must end. But the end of this war is first in the hands of Hamas,” he told AFP before concluding that “Netanyahu must end the war”, “and then he will have to leave, that is safe.”
Source: BFM TV
