Israeli students walk out of class to call for release of hostages

Hundreds of Israeli students walked out of school Wednesday to call for an immediate deal to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza strip as there appears to be progress in ceasefire talks.

From Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, students headed for central junctions, blocking roads and holding signs with the faces of the captives remaining in Gaza after 14 months of war.

There are 100 hostages in Gaza, a third of whom Israel’s government says are dead. Hamas militants dragged them to Gaza in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war.

At the high school in central Israel attended by hostages Naama Levy and Guy Illouz, who Israel’s military says was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, students crammed the auditorium with signs reading “Bring them Home Now.”

In Tel Aviv, high school students chanted “Their time is up. There’s a deal on the table.”