Israeli Women in Tel Aviv Protest Gaza Conflict, Highlighting Palestinian Civilian Toll
In Tel Aviv, Israeli women are leading protests against the war with Hamas, highlighting the civilian toll in Gaza, especially the deaths of Palestinian children. The movement, sparked by recent airstrikes killing hundreds of children, involves displaying photos of victims and lighting mourning candles. Despite initial police restrictions, public backlash led to the lifting of bans on protest materials. The protests are part of a broader dissent movement in Israel, urging an end to the conflict and drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen over 51,000 Palestinian deaths since October 2023.
Key Updates
04/21 09:03
Israeli Women in Tel Aviv Protest Gaza Conflict, Highlighting Palestinian Civilian Toll
In Tel Aviv, Israeli women are leading protests against the war with Hamas, highlighting the civilian toll in Gaza, especially the deaths of Palestinian children. The movement, sparked by recent airstrikes killing hundreds of children, involves displaying photos of victims and lighting mourning candles. Despite initial police restrictions, public backlash led to the lifting of bans on protest materials. The protests are part of a broader dissent movement in Israel, urging an end to the conflict and drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen over 51,000 Palestinian deaths since October 2023.
A Silent Protest with Loud Implications
On a recent Saturday night in downtown Tel Aviv, amid chants demanding the return of Israeli hostages and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a group of about 200 protesters stood silently on the protest’s periphery. They held photos of Palestinian children killed in recent Israeli airstrikes and lit shiva candles — a traditional Jewish symbol of mourning.
The protest was organized by a small group of Israeli women, including a lawyer, a clinical psychologist, and a community organizer, who had connected online and at previous demonstrations. Their goal was to humanize the Palestinian victims of the war, whose stories have been largely absent from Israeli media coverage.
“We wanted to bring faces to the people who for many Israelis are just numbers,” said Amit Shilo, a 30-year-old lawyer and one of the protest’s organizers. “And encourage them to stretch their empathy beyond the Israeli collective.”
From Grief to Action
The women were galvanized into action by a series of Israeli airstrikes in March 2025 that killed hundreds of children in Gaza. According to UNICEF, at least 130 children were killed in a single round of strikes on March 18. By the end of the month, the death toll had risen to 322 children, with more than 600 injured. Since the war began in October 2023, over 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza, according to U.N. agencies.
One image that particularly moved the organizers was of Naya Kareem Abu Daff, a 5-year-old girl with pigtails and large brown eyes, killed in a March 19 strike in Gaza City. Alma Beck, a 36-year-old activist, posted the photo on Instagram. Shilo saw it and immediately reached out. Together with Adi Argov, a 59-year-old retired psychologist who runs a website tracking casualties in Gaza and the West Bank, they printed the names and photos of the victims to bring to the next protest.
Their first demonstration drew about 10 people. But as passersby stopped to ask questions and express support, the group quickly grew. Within weeks, their numbers swelled to 200, and their WhatsApp group for coordinating actions expanded rapidly.
Police Restrictions and Public Backlash
The protests have not gone unnoticed by authorities. Ahead of a scheduled demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israeli police initially banned the display of photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza, as well as signs using the word “genocide” or referencing hostages. The ban, reported by Haaretz, was met with swift public backlash.
The joint Jewish-Arab movement “Standing Together,” which helped organize the protest, said the police later rescinded the restrictions. “We will not be silenced!” the group declared on social media. Alon-Lee Green, co-director of the movement, announced a nationwide campaign featuring billboards with images of children killed in Gaza.
Breaking the Silence
For much of the war, which began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023 — killing about 1,200 people and abducting 251 — the Israeli public discourse has focused almost exclusively on Israeli suffering. The mainstream media has offered limited coverage of the Palestinian civilian toll, and many Israelis have been reluctant to engage with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“This war is a war of denial,” said Argov. “But one day people will have to realize what we — the children of Holocaust survivors — have done, and to face ourselves.”
The women’s protest has begun to shift that narrative. As they stood with photos of children like 15-year-old Omar al-Jamasi, who was found with a will in his pocket, and 12-year-old Misk Mohamed Thaher, who posed flashing a peace sign with her sister before being killed in a strike, other demonstrators paused, took photos, and asked questions.
“Who are they?” one protester asked. “Arabs?” The question, while simplistic, signaled a potential opening — a willingness to see the victims not as faceless enemies, but as human beings.
A Growing Movement
The women’s protest is part of a broader wave of dissent. In recent weeks, thousands of Israelis — including military veterans, reservists, academics, and former diplomats — have signed letters urging the government to end the war. Nearly 1,000 air force reservists and retirees warned that continued fighting would lead to more deaths of hostages, soldiers, and civilians.
“People are becoming more emboldened, especially as it becomes more mainstream to speak out,” said Max Kresch, a reservist who refused to continue serving after being deployed to Israel’s northern border. While it remains taboo for soldiers to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Kresch believes that growing public dissent is giving others the courage to speak up.
The Human Cost
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, most of them women and children. The Israeli military has also been accused of killing over 150 emergency responders and more than 1,000 health workers, often while they were on duty. A recent Israeli military investigation into the killing of 15 Palestinian medics found “professional failures” but no criminal wrongdoing. The military rarely investigates such incidents, and no outside investigations are currently underway.
Jonathan Whittall, interim head of the U.N. humanitarian office in Gaza, responded to the findings by emphasizing the need for accountability. “Too many civilians, including aid workers, have been killed in Gaza. Their stories have not all made the headlines,” he said.
A Light in the Darkness
For Argov and her fellow protesters, the growing support has been both surprising and deeply moving. “It felt like there was a light in the darkness,” she said. “Like we were finally standing with humanity.”
Their protest may be small in numbers compared to the broader anti-war movement focused on returning hostages, but its impact is significant. By putting faces to the statistics and mourning the dead on both sides, these women are challenging a deeply entrenched narrative — and, perhaps, opening a path toward empathy and accountability.
