Protesters, who gathered along the Ayalon Highway, held up a large banner reading: "Netanyahu is undermining the will of the people - Return everyone, get out of Gaza," referring to the Israeli prisoners who have remained in the Strip since the outbreak of the war.
They also carried a banner in English addressed to US President Donald Trump, which read: “President Trump: Bring them back from hell.”
Protesters held up pictures of several prisoners and chanted slogans demanding their release, amid ongoing pressure from the prisoners' families on the Israeli government to reach a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.
Public opinion polls show that a majority of Israelis support a prisoner release agreement, even if the exchange involves ending the war on Gaza.
Israel estimates it is holding 50 detainees in Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive. More than 10,800 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Since July 6, indirect negotiations have been underway in Doha between Hamas and Israel in a renewed attempt to reach a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement.
Over the course of approximately 20 months, several rounds of indirect negotiations were held between Israel and Hamas to halt the war and exchange prisoners. Two partial agreements were reached during these negotiations, the first in November 2023 and the second in January 2025. However, Netanyahu evaded completing the latter agreement and resumed the war of extermination on March 18.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of extermination in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The US-backed genocide left more than 198,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
