Thousands of Israeli protesters demand deal to release captives, end war on Gaza

More than 60,000 Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv demanding an end to the war on Gaza and a captive exchange deal.

Speaking at the rally, Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli captive Matan Zangauker, accused the Israeli government of thwarting the process for a deal.

"Israel is setting unrealistic conditions and without real feasibility. We will not return our children if the Israeli government doesn't put a real proposal on the table," Haaretz reported Zangauker saying.

"If, instead of putting a comprehensive agreement on the table, the Israeli government decides to expand the military operation, it will issue a death sentence to the living hostages and exhume the dead," she said, adding that "we must force the government into a comprehensive agreement to end the war."

A demonstrator speaks on a megaphone during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli captives. — A demonstrator speaks on a megaphone during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli captives, outside the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on 2 August, 2025. (AFP)