Israel came to a virtual standstill on Sunday as tens of thousands of demonstrators backed a nationwide “People’s Strike” organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Protesters gathered at more than 350 sites and blocked key arteries including Highway 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the Ayalon expressway and Highways 4 and 6, demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner-exchange deal that would secure the release of Israelis still held in the enclave. Participation extended beyond street protests. Municipalities, technology firms and hundreds of small businesses shut their doors, while the Histadrut federation said it would protect employees who walked off the job even though it did not formally join the strike. Flight and court schedules were curtailed and public transport was disrupted in several cities. Police deployed thousands of officers nationwide, reporting at least one arrest in Rehovot and clashes with demonstrators on Begin Street in Jerusalem. Families say the government must act quickly to bring home the roughly 49 hostages the army says remain in Gaza, 22 months after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. Relatives of captives announced plans to camp near the Gaza border from Monday to escalate pressure. President Isaac Herzog visited Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, urging international leaders to press Hamas, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the protests a gift to the militant group. The strike intensifies domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his cabinet prepares for a promised assault on Gaza City aimed at dismantling Hamas. With the war claiming more than 61,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza health officials, and drawing increasing criticism at home and abroad, Sunday’s mobilisation is the largest civilian shutdown since fighting began and signals growing impatience with the government’s military-first strategy.