Thousands once again protested against Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government in several Israeli cities. They called for new elections and a hostage agreement with Hamas. Apparently there were riots in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated against the government of right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to media reports, demonstrators in Tel Aviv were demanding an early election and increased efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by the militant Islamist Hamas. There were also protests in other cities, including Jerusalem and Haifa.
According to police reports, riots broke out in Tel Aviv and, according to media reports, 16 people were arrested. Some demonstrators blocked the motorway ring around the city. Police used water cannons against demonstrators, who lit fires and blocked both lanes with trucks and sit-ins.
In Jerusalem, hundreds of participants in a protest reportedly broke through a barrier near Netanyahu’s official residence.
“Don’t come home without a deal”
A former hostage said at the demonstration in Tel Aviv directed at Netanyahu: “Bring her home!” The head of government must give the Israeli negotiating team a “broad mandate” in talks on an agreement to release the hostages in return for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and a release of Palestinian prisoners, demanded the woman, whose husband is still held in the Gaza Strip. “Don’t come home without a deal, bring our loved ones back.”
A former military intelligence chief, Amos Malka, called on Netanyahu to resign, according to the ynet news site. “The government is sacrificing the hostages, isolating Israel and strengthening Hamas,” he said at a demonstration in Caesarea, where Netanyahu has a private villa.
Several demos planned for the coming week
The families of the hostages called for people to protest in front of the parliament building in Jerusalem at their weekly demonstration. Several large rallies are planned from Sunday onwards and will last for several days.
Shira Elbag, whose 19-year-old daughter Liri was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip during the militant Islamist Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, called on her compatriots in an emotional speech to increase pressure on Netanyahu. “It’s time to go out and fight against indifference and for life,” she said. “I now ask you to take to the streets with us and say with a unified and clear voice: ‘Bring her home now!'”
According to Israeli reports, at least 1,160 people were killed and 250 others were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip in the attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel. According to information, 130 of them are still in the control of Hamas. 33 of them are now said to be dead.