Many Israelis feel that freeing the hostages cannot happen if the government refuses to come to terms with Hamas and pursues its policy of trying to eliminate the group militarily.

More than 300 demonstrations are expected throughout the day as hostages families try to bring the nation to a standstill. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the nationwide strikes in support of the hostages in Hamas captivity on Sunday were delaying their release and preventing the war from coming to an end.

Hundreds of thousands of people shouted slogans and booed mentions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at nationwide protests across Israel about the Gaza war.