Once again, thousands of Israelis have called for early elections and an agreement with Hamas to release Israeli hostages. Clashes with police broke out in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s private home in Jerusalem.
Thousands of people protested against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. In front of the Knesset building, the Israeli parliament, they demanded early elections and an agreement to release Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization, the Times of Israel reported. The demonstrators carried Israeli flags and chanted slogans against the government.
“Given the extremism that this government stands for and its lack of insight into its failure, it must return its mandate to the people,” said activist Schikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the protest movement.
Every weekend, tens of thousands of people demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the government and its Gaza policy. On Monday, the demonstrators moved to Jerusalem. They marched from the parliament building to Netanyahu’s private residence. There they clashed with the police. At least three people were injured and eight others were arrested on Monday evening, reported the newspaper “Haaretz”. According to reports from “The Times of Israel”, the police used water cannon to break up the protests.
Accusations against Netanyahu
“We have come to demonstrate again, for the 50th time, we are here, in Tel Aviv, everywhere,” said demonstrator Dror Katzman. The aim is to “get rid of this corrupt government that does not release the hostages, that is waging the war in a clumsy manner and is responsible for the worst, worst terrorist attack on us since the Holocaust.”
Netanyahu is increasingly facing criticism for the failure to reach a hostage agreement. Many Israelis accuse the government of having lost control of the war. The prime minister is primarily concerned with political interests.
Netanyahu denies the allegations and blames Hamas’s intransigence for the stagnation of the indirect negotiations. Recently, the intensity of the protests and demonstrations against the government has increased.
Government representatives: “Dozens of hostages alive”
According to Israeli sources, Hamas killed 1,194 people in its brutal attack on Israel on October 7 and took 251 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Some of them have since been released, others have been liberated, and many are presumed dead.
But “dozens of hostages are certainly still alive,” said a senior Israeli government official involved in negotiations with Hamas. “We cannot leave them there much longer, they will die,” the negotiator, who asked not to be identified, told AFP.
War Cabinet dissolved
On Monday, Netanyahu dissolved his six-member war cabinet, according to a government official. Following the withdrawal of opposition leader Benny Gantz, decisions about the war in the Gaza Strip would now be made by the security cabinet, said his spokesman David Mencer.
The war cabinet was a “prerequisite” for Gantz to join a unity government, government spokesman Mencer told journalists. “With Mr. Gantz’s departure from the government, the cabinet is no longer necessary.”
In addition to Netanyahu and Gantz, the war cabinet also included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, who acted as an observer, announced his resignation together with Gantz.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel has been conducting massive military operations in the Gaza Strip since October. According to figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 37,340 people have been killed so far.