JERUSALEM

Relatives of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza organized a protest over the weekend in the Kirya area of central Tel Aviv near the Ministry of Defense, blocking a road.

The families blocked the road for 241 seconds, symbolizing the number of hostages in Gaza.

Israel’s Channel 12 published footage showing the families holding banners and urging the government to make extra efforts to bring their relatives being held in the Gaza Strip back home.

Hundreds of protesters and families of Israeli hostages in Gaza gathered in front of the gate of the Ministry of Defense, demanding an "immediate plan to release the captives."

The protests have intensified following the killing of three Israeli hostages by Israeli forces in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 18,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli attacks, mostly of them women and children, and 51,000 injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while more than 130 hostages are still being held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio