Thousands of Israeli people gathered in central Tel Aviv to call on the government to end the war against Gaza and ensure the immediate release of Israeli captives held in the surrounded Palestinian enclave.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that in Tel Aviv, a forum of hostages and missing families, an Israeli campaign group held a weekly rally in the "Hostage Square" on Saturday, while another demonstration of captive families was being held outside Israel's military headquarters.
Another type of anti-government protest has also occurred in Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
Israel's Times reported that Shai Mozes' parents were captured and released in a separate exchange deal, saying to the crowd during protests in Habima Forum: "The real enemy of Israel is not Hamas, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is destroying Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."
Netanyahu's critics in Israel accused the Prime Minister of expanding war for his personal and political survival.
Haaretz also reported that protests were expected at other cities including Jerusalem, Haifa and Bernheba, as well as dozens of other locations and intersections across Israel.
The hostages and missing families forum criticized the move in a statement after Netanyahu announced an expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip on Monday, saying the plan was "sacrificing" people still in Palestinian territory.
Hamas releases video of two Israeli prisoners living in Gaza
Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, one of whom called for an end to the 19-month war.
Israeli media identified the couple as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana in an undated video.
A three-minute video released by Hamas' Qassam Brigade shows one of the prisoners identified by the media as Bohbot, 36, who was obviously weak and lying on the floor on the blanket.
Ohana, 24, spoke in the video in Hebrew, urging the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and ensure that all remaining prisoners were released.
Both Bobert and Ohana were kidnapped by the festival’s ruins during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.