The Hostage and Missing Families Forum has postponed a large protest originally scheduled for next Sunday in order not to disrupt ongoing ceasefire and hostage exchange negotiations, the group announced on Tuesday, according to Ynet.
"Instead of the massive demonstration planned for Hostages Square on Sunday, the families' headquarters will carry out field actions across the country calling for a comprehensive and immediate agreement," the group was reported as saying.
"If this agreement is also sabotaged by the prime minister, the people of Israel will again go out in droves to the streets, until all 50 hostages are returned. We are fed up with sabotage, foot-dragging, and survival considerations," they reportedly added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the nationwide strikes in support of the hostages in Hamas captivity on Sunday were delaying their release and preventing the war from coming to an end.
Netanyahu’s statements were made at the government security cabinet meeting that took place amid the strikes. They also echoed the various criticisms from coalition MKs, who slammed the protest, with many claiming that the demonstrations were aiding the Hamas terror group by dividing the country.
Netanyahu claimed that the protests were “hardening Hamas’s position and delaying the release of our hostages.”
Sunday's protest reached nearly half a million in attendance
Earlier this week, nearly half a million Israelis gathered in Hostages Square and the surrounding streets of Tel Aviv in a mass demonstration to demand the immediate release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and a comprehensive deal to end the war.
The mass rally came after a day of nationwide strikes and road blockages, with businesses across the country shuttered in solidarity with the hostages' families.
Keshet Neev contributed to this report.