Half a million Israelis gathered on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv alone to protest against the government. The demonstrators are demanding the quickest possible acceptance of a ceasefire with Hamas, which would free the hostages imprisoned in the Gaza Strip - organizers said.

Israelis were plunged into grief and anger after the military said six hostages were killed by their captors in Gaza just as troops were closing in on their location.

Unfortunately, many people repeat the narrative that in fact we are the ones preventing a deal. But this is not the truth. It is a lie. We have never stopped a deal that was on the table,” said IDF Gen.