protests took to the streets across Israel on August 17, launching a national general strike with the support of families of hostages arrested by Hamas, and calling for a ceasefire to free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.
protests gathered in Israel's Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and on major highways around major cities to blockads despite the ongoing conflict.
At least 30 protests were arrested on August 17 after overflowing onto the road, some burning vehicles and tires on the road, causing clashes with police looking to reopen the roads.
The large-scale strike and protest in Israel was led by the October Council, a group of relatives of 251 kidnapped people and more than 1,200 people killed in Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The group has repeatedly expressed concern that the prolonged fighting in Gaza will endanger the lives of their relatives after more than 680 days in detention.
Hamas is said to be still holding about 50 hostages in Gaza, of which about 20 are believed to be alive.
The calls of the hostage's families have been responded to by hundreds of businesses, schools and local authorities. All have vowed to directly participate in the strikes, or allow employees to take time off work to participate in protests if they want to.
While Histadrut, Israel's main labor union, announced that it would not participate in the strike, union president Arnon Bar- David spoke at a protest on August 17 at Con Tinh Square in Tel Aviv with a message of solidarity.
The Confined Family Forum said nearly 500,000 people gathered at the Confined Square in Tel Aviv and surrounding streets to participate in a major protest demanding that the government reach a deal to rescue those detained in Gaza.
The police do not have any official estimates of the size of the crowd in the protest, which is considered one of the biggest since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out.
The forum also estimates that about 1 million people have taken part in dozens of protests across Israel throughout the day.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the protests on August 17 clearly showed that the majority of the people of the jewish state supported the end of the conflict with Hamas to rescue the remaining hostages.
Mr Herzog also called on the international community to press Hamas to reach a ceasefire after peace talks resumed last week.
The Israel-Hamas conflict is intensifying and escalating last week after Israeli lawmakers approved a plan to take control of Gaza City.
