Israel’s growing frustration over the war in Gaza explodes in nationwide
A drone view shows people protesting after families of hostages called for a nationwide strike to demand the return of all hostages and an end to the war in Gaza, in the area of the so-called Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Aug. 17, 2025.
Aviv Atlas | Reuters
Israeli police blasted crowds with water cannons and made dozens of arrests on Sunday as thousands of protesters demanding a deal to free hostages in Gaza aimed to shut down the country with a one-day strike that blocked roads and closed businesses.
Groups representing families of hostages organized the demonstrations as frustration grows in Israel over plans for a new military offensive in some of Gaza’s most populated areas, which many fear could further endanger the remaining hostages. Fifty hostages remain, and 20 of them are believed to still be alive.
“We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages,” protesters chanted in one of the largest and fiercest protests in 22 months of war. Even some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs now call for a deal to end the fighting.
Protesters gathered at dozens of places including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways. They blocked lanes and lit bonfires. Some restaurants and theaters closed in solidarity. Police said they arrested 38 people.
“The only way to bring (hostages) back is through a deal, all at once, without games,” former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Her boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still being held by Hamas.
One protester carried a photo of an emaciated Palestinian child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations but now appear more often as outrage grows over conditions there for civilians after more than 250 malnutrition-related deaths.
Netanyahu opposes leaving Hamas in power
An end to the conflict does not seem near. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing competing pressures, including the potential for mutiny within his coalition.
“Those who today call for an end to the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas’ position and delaying the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will be repeated,” Netanyahu said, referencing the Hamas-led attack in 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and sparked the war.
The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages earlier this year, far-right members of his cabinet threatened to topple Netanyahu’s government.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the demonstrations “a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas’ hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.”
The new offensive would require the call-up of thousands of reservists, another concern for many Israelis.
Another 17 aid-seekers killed in Gaza
Hospitals and witnesses in Gaza said Israeli forces killed at least 17 aid-seekers on Sunday, including nine awaiting U.N. aid trucks close to the Morag corridor.
Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away. He saw two people with gunshot wounds.
“It’s either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,” he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported distribution points that have become the main source of aid since they opened in May, said there was no gunfire “at or near” its sites, which are located in military-controlled areas.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions.
SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB: Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Hamdan Abu Eulya, who was shot dead by Israeli forces, during his funeral in Al Mughayyir near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Aug. 17, 2025.
Mohamad Torokman | Reuters
Israel’s air and ground war has displaced most of Gaza’s population and killed more than 61,900 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.
Two children and five adults died of malnutrition-related causes Sunday, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
The United Nations has warned that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Most aid has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after ending a ceasefire. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid…
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