A nationwide general strike got underway on Sunday morning, August 17, as tens of thousands protested the far-right government’s decision to expand the genocidal war in Gaza with a campaign to occupy Gaza City, rather than sign a deal to return the hostages.
Several major highways across the country are also being blocked by demonstrators taking part in a nationwide strike. Protesters blocked Highway 1 near Jerusalem, Anava Junction and Latrun Junction, the main Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as part of the “People’s Strike” calling for the immediate release of the hostages.
Protesters also blocked roads across central, northern and southern Israel. Zo Haderekh website reported road closures on Highway 20, Highway 75 in Nahalal in both directions, Highway 4 at Raanana Junction, Highway 6 in several locations and Highway 443 at Shilat Junction Demonstrations were also reported at Yakum Bridge along the coastal road, Dror Bridge on Highway 4, Smariya Junction on the coastal road, and junctions at Zikhron Ya’akov and Karkur, with hundreds carrying images of the hostages and calling for an end to the war. Seven protesters were reportedly arrested after police tried to clear them from the road on Highway 20. On Highway 4, demonstrators blocked the road with burning tires.
Protesters blocking Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv during the “People’s Strike”, August 17, 2025 (Photo: Erik Marmor/Flash90)
In addition, police use water cannon to disperse protesters on Jerusalem major highway. The marchers, blocked Begin Boulevard to traffic, set out from Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus this morning. Organizers intentionally kept the march’s destination under wraps, telling protesters to “follow the drummers” without elaborating. The drummers suddenly pivoted in the first few minutes of the demonstration, and the police declared the protest illegal. Dozens of protesters were detained on Sunday morning across Israel.
Hundreds of activists also demonstrated in front of the homes of several ministers, including Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Idit Silman, Knesset chairman Amir Ohana Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and Gila Gamliel, who posted last week an AI video of Gaza after it is occupied, and its Palestinian residents leave via “voluntary emigration.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich condemns today’s nationwide strike for the release end the war as a “bad and damaging campaign” that he says serves the interests of the Hamas. He is one of multiple members of the right-wing governing coalition to condemn the strike, which was called by families of hostages in protest of the government’s plans to occupy Gaza City. Culture Minister Miki Zohar said that the disruption of civilians’ lives is a “prize to the enemy, who sees the pictures this morning and revels in joy.” Heritage Minister Amichay Elitayahu said that the demonstrators are “degenerates” whose acts are like another “dose of oxygen to Hamas.” Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky also condemns the protests. “The riots supporting Hamas are kicking off,” he posts. “Jews, Israelis who are torching the state in an attempt to prevent the destruction of Hamas.”
The hostage’s forum said on Saturday night that it was preparing for nearly one million people to pass through Hostages Square in Tel Aviv throughout the day, and tens of thousands to join activities at 300 other sites across Israel. Solidarity marches representing workers in several branches will be held in Tel Aviv throughout the day, including a doctors’ march at 9 a.m., and a students’ march at 5 p.m. Convoys of cars will set out from across Israel at 4 p.m. to converge in Tel Aviv for the evening rally.
A host of events and protests have been planned for areas outside of Tel Aviv as well, from Gome Junction, near the Lebanese frontier in northern Israel, to a protest outside the Mul Hayam shopping mall in Eilat at the Red Sea – all the way in the south of Israel.
On Saturday evening tens of thousands protested for an Israel-Hamas agreement to end the war in Gaza. As on previous weeks, a central rally was held at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, alongside a demonstration outside the Israeli Defense Ministry. A silent vigil will also take place in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of participants hold signs displaying the names and photos of children from Gaza who have been killed during the war. Additional protests were held in Jerusalem, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, and at several intersections and locations across the country.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, says at a protest held Saturdaym that the nationwide strike is “only the beginning.” “One of the things I learned in this struggle is that the government is afraid of public pressure,” Zangauker told the crowd. “Tomorrow is just the beginning,” she vowed. “We are done waiting for Netanyahu to end the war when it is politically convenient for him.” She makes the remarks at the rally on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road in front of the army’s headquarters.
On Friday, police brutally removed the deputy mayor of a major Arab town in northern Israel during an anti-war demonstration. Footage released by the municipality of Umm al-Fahm shows several police officers assaulting Nasser Agbariya, while calls are heard, saying he is the deputy mayor. Police said the demonstration was “unlawful,” adding that they arrested three people “who waved signs and chanted slogans condemning Israel and its actions in the war in Gaza, which could disrupt public order.” Police also arrested 12 demonstrators against war and starvation in Haifa on Thursday evening.
Several demonstrations against war and in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza were held in Arab cities across Israel on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, among them in Kufr Yassif, Tamra, Rahat, Lod, Kufr Kara, Abu Gosh and Kabul in the Western Galilee.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32927
