Many Israelis feel that freeing the hostages cannot happen if the government refuses to come to terms with Hamas and pursues its policy of trying to eliminate the group militarily.

Israeli police made dozens of arrests on Sunday as tens of thousands of protesters demanding a deal to free hostages in Gaza aimed to shut down the country in one of the largest and fiercest protests in 22 months of war.

Israelis took to the streets on Sunday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand operations in the Gaza Strip rather than attempt to negotiate an end to the war under which Hamas would free its last hostages.