Hostage families have demanded the Israeli government negotiate a deal to release those still in captivity in Gaza as protests shut down roads across the country.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has meanwhile joined calls for a general strike to "shut down the economy" and force Benjamin Netanyahu to act.

The demands come amid rising public anger after six hostages were discovered dead in Gaza, having reportedly been murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before Israeli forces reached their location.

Marches and protests against the Israeli government have sprung up across the Jewish state, with many spontaneous and largely uncoordinated.

Blocking traffic and holding giant yellow ribbons at a junction in central Israel, one protestor said: “We have to stop our routine, to stop the country until the hostages come home."

Other demonstrators in Ra'anana halted cars on Highway Four, which runs the length of Israel, while outside Ben Gurion University in the Negev, a group of activists stood in the road and held a banner with photos of hostages that read: “Look them in the eyes”.

In Rehovot, a sit-in blocking traffic lasted for four hours until police began dragging protestors from the road.

In Tel Aviv, high school students marched through the streets chanting: "Stop the world, the children are still there [in Gaza]. Stop the world and bring everyone back."

The Hostages Families Forum, which has organised protests since October 7 calling for a hostage deal, called on unions and large companies to shut down Israel to force the government's hand.

They said: "The national leadership has abandoned the hostages, and it is the time of social, economic, and local leadership to stand by the hostage families, by the public, and by the values of solidarity and mutual responsibility.”

Israel's Business Forum, which represents the leaders of 200 of Israel's largest companies, backed the hostage families, saying they would hold a meeting on Sunday evening to decide their next steps.

They said the public should, "not stand by considering the daily loss of life and abandonment of the hostages to their deaths when, according to all security bodies, they could have been saved."

Demonstrators block traffic at the Pil Junction in Tel Aviv (Photo: Eitan Slonim)

According to Hebrew language media, Histadrut  (the General Organisation of Workers) chairman Arnon Bar-David will meet the hostage families later on Sunday.

Several restaurants have said that they will close early at six pm to protest the government's failure to reach a deal with Hamas.

Lapid also backed a general strike and demanded a special Knesset session to discuss a ceasefire-hostage deal.

The Yesh Atid leader called on “the Histadrut and the employers and the local authorities to shut down the economy,” arguing that “the country is collapsing” and “cannot go on like this”.

He said: “They were alive. Netanyahu and the death cabinet decided not to save them. There are still live hostages there, a deal can still be made.

Netanyahu is attempting to preserve “the coalition with [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir over the lives of our children,” he said.

“I call on every citizen whose heart is broken this morning to come at seven [pm] to Begin [Road in Tel Aviv] to demonstrate with us.”

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the government should agree to surrender control over the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt, to secure a deal.

“The cabinet must gather immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” he said.

“We must bring back the hostages that are still being held by Hamas.”

Others defended the government's strategy, however.

Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said critics of the government’s approach were repeating “Hamas propaganda”.

“Unfortunately, I see the disturbing statements from the left, which accuse the Israeli government of murdering the hostages,” he said. 

“To be clear: The terrorist organisation Hamas, and only Hamas, killed the hostages...

“Those who demand the release of thousands of terrorists and giving Hamas control of the Philadelphi Corridor are intentionally abandoning the security of Israel’s citizens. The blood of those murdered next shall be on his hands.”