Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, with tens of thousands more demonstrating across the country in the largest protests since October 7.
The demonstrations, fueled by pain and anger, called for a ceasefire deal in exchange for hostages after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six hostages executed by Hamas.
Organizers estimated that around 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv, with an additional 200,000 participating in protests nationwide. The Crowd Solutions firm estimated approximately 280,000 attendees at the Tel Aviv demonstration, making it the largest rally in nearly 18 months. Police did not release official numbers.
The Tel Aviv protest began with a march from Dizengoff Street to the Begin Gate of the IDF headquarters, where participants carried six symbolic coffins representing the six recovered bodies.
The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27, were found in a tunnel in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. Autopsies revealed they had been shot multiple times in the head and body at close range between Thursday and Friday morning.
News of their murders, following nearly 11 months of captivity, triggered a wave of national grief and anger, much of it directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of delaying a hostage deal for political reasons.
