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[global times reporter zhang xiaoya] after the israeli defense forces announced that the bodies of six detainees were found in rafah, southern gaza, large-scale protests broke out in israel. according to cnn, an organization called the "hostage and missing families forum" told cnn on september 1 local time that at least 700,000 people in many parts of israel participated in the protests held that day, of which about 550,000 protesters were in tel aviv. they called on the israeli government to reach a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible to release all detainees. israeli officials revealed that prime minister netanyahu expressed "concern" about the large-scale protests.

on september 1, local time, in tel aviv, israel, protesters called for a ceasefire agreement to be reached as soon as possible so that all detained persons could be released. photo from foreign media

according to cnn, after the bodies of the six detained people were found, public anger was high, and hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of tel aviv on the 1st. the organizers of the protest said that the crowd gathered in tel aviv was an "endless sea of ​​protesters", and they also said that this was the largest protest in the city since the first round of israeli-palestinian conflict broke out on october 7 last year.

according to cnn, a large crowd gathered near the israel defense forces headquarters in tel aviv. many people waved israeli flags and held posters with photos of gaza detainees. the protesters shouted "we will not abandon them" and repeatedly shouted the names of the six dead detainees.

on september 1, local time, protesters gathered in tel aviv, israel. photo from foreign media

the report said that protest organizers estimated that the number of protesters in tel aviv earlier that day was about 300,000. another "hostage and missing families forum" revealed that at least 700,000 people participated in protests held in many places in israel that day. cnn said it could not independently verify these figures and asked the israeli police to provide relevant data.

an israeli official told cnn that prime minister benjamin netanyahu is "concerned" about the massive protests taking place in israel, as critics accuse him of not prioritizing the release of detainees.

according to xinhua news agency, the israeli defense forces issued a statement on september 1 saying that the israeli army found the bodies of six israeli detainees in an underground tunnel in the southern city of rafah in the gaza strip. it was initially estimated that they died a day ago. the israeli army statement said that before the discovery of the six bodies, israeli soldiers did not clash with the armed personnel of the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas) in the underground tunnel, but the two sides fought fiercely on the ground in the area where the tunnel was located.

according to the times of israel and other media reports, netanyahu later delivered a video speech, saying he was "shocked" by the news. according to reuters, izzat rashiq, a senior member of hamas, said that israel, which refused to reach a ceasefire agreement, should be held responsible for the deaths of the six detainees.