Israel's war with Hamas militants hit its nine-month mark on Sunday, with Israeli protesters blocking highways across the country, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a truce and hostage-release deal or step down.

The nationwide "disruption day" began at 6:29 am to correspond to the start of Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that started the war.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas militants on that day, Israeli forces have rescued seven of them alive. Another 105, including 80 Israelis, were freed during the war's only truce, which lasted one week in November.

In response to the October 7 attack, Israel's military offensive has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza-based health authorities.

'Enough is enough'

"Enough is enough," said Orly Nativ, a 57-year-old social worker from Tel Aviv who joined the flag-wielding demonstrators.

"The government doesn't care what the people think, and they don't do anything to bring back our sisters and brothers from Gaza," Nativ said.

Large protests, also demanding elections, have taken place across Israel's commercial hub every Saturday night, with smaller ones throughout the country.

Earlier, at a separate rally for the hostages, relatives made emotional appeals for a deal to bring home their missing loved ones.

"Our message to the government is very simple. There is a deal on the table. Take it," said Yehuda Cohen, father of kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen.

In Jerusalem, police stepped up security around Netanyahu's residence before a planned rally there.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose post is largely ceremonial, said on social media platform X that an "absolute majority supports a hostage deal. The state's duty is to return them."

Operation continues

Nine months into the war in Gaza, families continued to face forced displacement, massive destruction and constant fear, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on X, on Sunday.

"Essential supplies are lacking, the (summer) heat is unbearable, (and) diseases are spreading," the UNRWA added.

In a statement on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its operational activities continued throughout the Gaza Strip.

Over the past day in the area of Shejaiya in northern Gaza, IDF troops "eliminated several terrorists, dismantled terror infrastructure sites and located numerous weapons," it said, adding that its troops are continuing a targeted, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.

It noted that the troops also conducted an operation upon intelligence against the Khan Younis municipality building, which it said was used by Hamas for terrorist activities.

Also on Sunday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant affirmed that the IDF will maintain its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if a ceasefire agreement is reached in Gaza.

Gallant said the conflict in Gaza and on the northern border with Hezbollah are "two separate sectors," clarifying that Israel would not be bound by development in Gaza unless Hezbollah also reached an agreement with Israel. 

Truce talks to restart

Any Gaza ceasefire deal must allow Israel to resume fighting until its objectives are met, Netanyahu said on Sunday, as talks over a U.S. plan aimed at ending the nine-month-old war were expected to restart.

Five days after Hamas accepted a key part of the plan, two officials from the Palestinian militant group said the group was awaiting Israel's response to its latest proposal.

Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement. Instead, it said it would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, a Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

As international mediators prepare for upcoming talks in Cairo to advance negotiations, Netanyahu outlined five non-negotiable conditions to end the nine-month conflict. He emphasized that any agreement must permit Israel to continue its operations in Gaza "until all the goals of the war have been met."

Netanyahu also insisted that the deal must prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt and prohibit the return of "thousands of armed Hamas militants" to northern Gaza.

Addressing the issue of hostages, Netanyahu pledged to secure the release of as many hostages as possible from Gaza, where over 100 individuals are still held captive, some feared dead.

(With input from agencies)