September 2024 Israel hostage deal protests | |
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Part of the 2024 Israeli protests | |
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Date | 1 September 2024 – present (4 months, 4 weeks and 2 days) |
Location | Israel |
Caused by | Recovery of six dead hostages |
Methods | Protests, strike action |
Casualties | |
Injuries | 7 |
Arrested | 125 |
On 1 September 2024, protests began in Israel after the Israel Defense Forces stated it had recovered six dead hostages taken by Hamas during its attack on Israel in October 2023, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin. [1] At least 4 were Injured and 36 were arrested. [2] [3] [4]
On 7 October 2023, Hamas mounted an attack on Israel, abducting an estimated 251 people from the country, as well as killing 1,180 more. Since then, protests have been held in the country demanding the return of the hostages from Gaza. [2] The first protest was held on 14 October 2023, in Tel Aviv criticizing the handling of the war by the Israeli government. [5] [6] Continued perceived inaction by the Israeli government on the issue caused additional rallies, and international rallies were held to mark the six-month anniversary and call for the return of hostages. [7]
On 1 September 2024, the Israel Defense Forces stated that six hostages taken by Hamas, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, had been found dead in a tunnel underneath Rafah. A forensic examination by the Israel Ministry of Health determined that the hostages had been shot several days prior. Hamas accused Israel of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement, allowing the hostages to be killed. [8] Hamas claimed that the hostages were killed due to Israeli air strikes. [9]
Shortly after the announcement about the deaths multiple large protests broke out across Israel. Many protestors pointed out their concern that the hostages had survived 11 months in captivity, and that three of the six deceased recovered had been on list of releasable hostages under rejected hostage deals. [10]
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, over 700,000 Israelis protested across the country, including 550,000 in Tel Aviv. [4] The demonstrations were the largest anti-government protest in Israel since the start of the Israel–Hamas war 11 months prior. [11] [12] [13]
Protesters marched from Dizengoff Street to the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces with six prop coffins throughout the city, symbolizing the six bodies recovered. [1] [14] Among the protesters were Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David and Kibbutz Movement secretary general Lior Simcha. [14] The major Ayalon Highway was blocked by protesters for three hours, who also threw objects at the road, lit bonfires, and launched fireworks. Israeli Police responded by throwing at least four stun grenades and shooting foam from water cannons at the crowd, lightly hurting several people, including MK Naama Lazimi. [15] Twenty-nine people were arrested in Tel Aviv for disorderly conduct, vandalism, and attacks against police officers. [4]
Thousands of people in Jerusalem protested outside of the Prime Minister's Office while a cabinet meeting was scheduled, blowing whistles and trumpets while demanding for a ceasefire deal. [16] Streets were also blocked. [17] [18] Israeli Police used skunk against hundreds of people who had gathered outside of the city's main entrance. [19] Thousands of protesters with coffins veiled in the Israeli flag demonstrated outside of Netanyahu's residence in central Jerusalem, chanting "Deal. Now". Several protesters were arrested following clashes that broke out after the coffins were taken by police. [3] [20]
Two people were arrested at a September 1, 2024, demonstration in Haifa for lighting torches, and two people were injured at a September 7, 2024, demonstration in Haifa after police threw them over barbed wire. [21] [22]
Demonstrators gathered outside the Washington, D.C. residence of Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog to seek an end to the war. [23]
Histadrut, Israel's largest trade union, announced a one-day strike for 2 September. [1] The strike ended sooner than originally planned due to labor court ruling against it.
According to CNN, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "worried" about the protests. [24] On 2 September, Netanyahu issued a rare apology directed at the families of the six deceased hostages, but continued that he would not stop the use of military force in the Philadelphi Corridor. He also claimed to be working continuously in an effort to bring the remaining hostages back to Israel, but that if Israel caved now it would send a message that Hamas would just need to kill remaining hostages for leverage. [25]
On 2 September, while speaking with reporters US President Joe Biden blamed both Netanyahu and Hamas for the absence of a hostage deal before a meeting with members of his negotiating team. [25]
Events in the year 2004 in Palestine.
The 2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip was a military operation carried out in the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces starting on 14 November 2012, following rocket attacks on Israeli territory launched from Gaza during the preceding days.
Gaza-Israel clashes began on 11 November 2018, when a botched Israeli covert operation carried out in the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip killed seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli soldier. Exchanges of fire lasted for two more days, until a cease fire was achieved with Egyptian mediation. Some minor incidents and protests followed some two weeks after the cease fire, with decreasing intensity.
The following lists events in the year 2019 in Israel.
A rocket strike occurred on March 14, 2019, when two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv. The incident was the first rocket strike against Tel Aviv in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict since the 2014 Gaza war.
Events in the year 2021 in Israel.
The 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, sometimes called the Unity Intifada, was a major outbreak of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict that mainly commenced on 10 May 2021, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It was marked by protests and police riot control, rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The crisis was triggered on 6 May, when Palestinians in East Jerusalem began protesting over an anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Under international law, the area, effectively annexed by Israel in 1980, is a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank; On 7 May, according to Israel's Channel 12, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police forces, who then stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. The crisis prompted protests around the world as well as official reactions from world leaders.
The following is a timeline of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2021, including the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.
Events in the year 2022 in Israel.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Revital "Tally" Gotliv is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is currently a member of the Knesset for the Likud.
On 7 October 2023, as part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel at the beginning of the Gaza war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people. Almost half of the hostages are foreign nationals or have multiple citizenships, and some hostages were Negev Bedouins. The precise ratio of soldiers and civilians among the captives is unknown. The captives are likely being held in different locations in the Gaza Strip.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
The Israeli government's response to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel has multiple aspects, including a military response leading to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. In October, the Knesset approved a war cabinet in Israel, adding National Unity ministers and altering the government; Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz froze non-war legislation, establishing a war cabinet with military authority.
As a result of the Gaza war, nationwide protests have occurred across Israel, including rallies, demonstrations, campaigns, and vigils. These demonstrations occurred as part of broader war-related protests occurring worldwide. Israelis domestically and abroad have primarily called for the return of hostages held by Hamas.
Events in the year 2024 in Palestine.
The 2024 Israeli protests are a series of demonstrations, instances of civil disorder, and riots against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, primarily sparked by the Israel–Hamas war and the hostage crisis. The protests aim to pressure Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire and reach a hostage deal. The protests began sporadically at the onset of the war but have grown significantly in size and intensity, culminating in massive gatherings across various Israeli cities.
A proposed armistice and hostages/prisoners exchange to end the Gaza war was agreed to by Israel and Hamas on 15 January 2025, and came into effect on 19 January. The proposal was first drafted by mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar, accepted by Hamas on 5 May 2024 and presented by U.S. president Joe Biden on 31 May. By January 2025, a similar proposal had been agreed to by both Israel and Hamas. The proposal is a serial initiative in three stages, beginning with a six-week ceasefire, the release of all Israelis being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for some of the Palestinians being held by Israel, a permanent ceasefire, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and a reconstruction process lasting from three to five years.
On 1 October 2024, two Hamas gunmen carried out an attack in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel. Seven civilians were killed, and seventeen others were injured. The attack ended when the gunmen were shot dead by an armed civilian and a security guard.
Events of the year 2025 in Israel.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said at the time the six captives were killed in Israeli air strikes. The Israeli military says they were shot dead.