Israelis rally for end to Gaza war and release of captives

Israeli police arrested at least 22 protesters on Sunday as nationwide demonstrations and strikes called for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of captives.

Demonstrators blocked several roads in Tel Aviv, including the highway connecting the city with Jerusalem. Activists set tyres on fire and caused traffic jams, while protest organisers and the main campaign group representing the families of captives called for a general strike on Sunday.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that protesters would "shut down the country today (Sunday) with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war".

Forty-nine Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. 

Their faces were displayed across a large banner unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called "Hostage Square", a focal point for protests.

Footage from AFP also showed a protest in Beeri, a kibbutz near Gaza that came under fire during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October 2023, which led to the capture of hundreds of Israelis.

The demonstrations came days after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to fully occupy Gaza City.

Israeli government ministers condemned the demonstrations, saying they played into the hands of Hamas.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that public pressure to secure a ceasefire agreement effectively "buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future".

Culture Minister Miki Zohar described the blocking of roads and other forms of direct action as a "reward to the enemy".

The protests came as Israeli forces continue to pound the Gaza Strip.

At least seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza in the last few hours.

Four civilians were killed and others wounded when an Israeli air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Elsewhere in the south, three Palestinians waiting to collect aid were killed and others wounded by Israeli gunfire in Rafah. 

Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 61,897 people in Gaza, most of them women and children. A further 155,660 have been wounded.