MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Protests against the Gaza war are common in Israel. Every weekend, protesters demand a ceasefire deal and the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks in 2023. But now a new group of protesters is trying to draw attention to the children killed in Gaza. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS BEATING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Every Saturday night, throngs of protesters march down a main street banging on drums and chanting. But last weekend, they fell quiet as they streamed past another group of protesters who've brought something new to the Israeli debate over the war in Gaza. They're holding photos of children smiling. This new protest group says these are the children killed by the Israeli military in Gaza. Orit Ben David (ph) holds the photo of a young kid named Tahrir (ph) killed this March.
ORIT BEN DAVID: Most of the people in Israel do not know how many children were killed in Gaza. And I think it's a shame.
ESTRIN: The latest count by Gaza health officials is that more than 16,000 children have been killed. The total death toll they report exceeds 52,000. Their photos are rarely seen in Israel. Here, images of the war feature the faces of Israelis, the hostages still in Gaza, and young soldiers killed there. One Israeli marching in support of the hostages wipes away tears. Her name is Miri Hiller.
MIRI HILLER: When I see the picture of the children in Gaza, I cannot ignore it. (Crying) When they're standing here, and I see their faces, it's very hard because we don't want to harm the children in Gaza.
ESTRIN: Her husband, Guy Hiller, says Israel is fighting a very different war more than a year and a half since the Hamas attack.
GUY HILLER: We stop to defend ourselves. We are now avenging. It's a revenge.
M HILLER: It's a revenge now.
G HILLER: It's just a revenge against the...
M HILLER: Now this war has to stop.
ESTRIN: When Israel broke a ceasefire in March, it launched airstrikes in Gaza, killing more than a hundred and seventy children, according to Gaza's civil defense group. That prompted this new protest. Organizer Neora Shem (ph).
NEORA SHEM: I printed some photos in black and white in my home printer, and we came here, and we stood. And there were - like, we were about 20 people.
ESTRIN: As their numbers grew, the family of a hostage in Gaza objected to their presence. Israeli police issued a ban against protesters holding pictures of children from Gaza. After an outcry, police dropped the ban. The new protest group now draws several hundred people holding photos of children killed in Gaza.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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