Residents of the north, bereaved families, and relatives of hostages protested outside the Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, calling for continued pressure on Hamas and against a deal with Hezbollah.
The northerners call for total war in the north: "We're not going back to the north without security and without victory." Some evacuees lay down on the road in sleeping bags and declared: "We have no home, we have been left stranded in the street."
Minister Silman encouraged the protesters: "It's amazing to see everyone fighting for the victory of the State of Israel. We are all one people, fighting to defeat our enemies on all fronts and to bring the hostages home."
Rita Ben Yair, a resident of Shlomi, told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: "We will not allow ourselves to return to the north with agreements. You will see us here every day. We demand that the capabilities of Hezbollah be dismantled, moved beyond the Litani, and that a significant step be taken against them."
The bereaved father Itzik Bonzel said: "We call upon all the ministers and the Prime Minister to continue, only with force and power can we win. Continue with the assassinations, assassinate them one by one, both in the north and in the south, do not stop."
Tzvika Mor, father of Eitan Mor, who arrived at the demonstration with his family, said: "The deal currently being presented in the media will leave Eitan and dozens of other hostages in Gaza. The mushroom clouds we saw yesterday in Gaza are clouds of strength and power that will weaken the enemy. Through real military pressure, we will bring a better deal that will bring all the hostages home."
Matan Jerafi, head of the mission department at the Im Tirtzu movement, said: "We congratulate the Prime Minister and the security establishment on the elimination of Deif, hoping it will prove successful. Hamas's inability to respond from Gaza to assassination attempts proves there is no substitute for control on the ground. This is precisely the moment to shift into high gear, complete the takeover of the Strip, and eliminate all Hamas leaders. This is the message that will be understood well even in the bunkers in Beirut. Only military pressure will defeat Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, only military pressure will return the hostages."
Yehoshua Shani, father of Uri Mordechai, may he rest in peace, and one of the founders of the Valor Forum, said: "We came this morning to the government meeting to remind the Prime Minister and the ministers why we went to war. We went to war to eliminate the enemy, and the deal currently being discussed is a reckless deal that will sentence the remaining hostages to death and put all Israeli citizens at risk. This will be a very problematic message for our enemies, so we demand from here that the Israeli government give the order to continue the eliminations, to topple Hamas, and to say no to a reckless deal. We need to return the residents of the north and the south to their homes and eliminate Hamas down to the very last terrorist. We call on the government to press on the gas, order the IDF to continue fighting, conduct significant eliminations, and eliminate Hamas!"