An anti-government protesters’ group continued to stand in defiance against the crackdown on anti-war voices, urging for a ceasefire.
Over several thousands of people assembled in Tel Aviv, voicing their calls for the release of Israeli and foreign nationals who are being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, these demonstrators criticized the Israeli government’s approach to the crisis.
A significant portion of Saturday’s protesters comprised friends and relatives of the captives, passionately demanding their immediate return.
“Mr. Prime Minister, cabinet members, do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza], do not talk at all. Just take action … bring them home now,” Noam Perry made an impassioned plea to the crowd at the protest, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
‘They ask us who our anger is directed at, and it is all of humanity… but mainly, those who are responsible for us, those who have a contract with us,’ declared Jack Levy, another protester.
During an attack on southern Israel on October 7, more than 240 individuals were abducted, including Israeli soldiers and civilians as well as foreigners. Authorities report that the attack resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
A few hundred Israeli left-wing activists, both Arab and Jewish, organized a separate demonstration near the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv. Their primary demand was for a ceasefire, despite facing continual suppression of anti-war voices and protests.
Across the globe, there has been increasing public and diplomatic pressure calling for a ceasefire to end the conflict.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected the notion of a ceasefire “without the return of our hostages.” Meanwhile, the United States has put forward the proposal for “humanitarian pauses” aimed at allowing civilians to evacuate and to facilitate aid delivery.
Since Israel initiated a series of airstrikes on October 7, followed by a devastating ground assault, more than 11,000 Palestinians, including over 4,500 children, have been killed in Gaza. The fighting has even reached some of Gaza City’s major hospitals.
In a statement on Saturday, Netanyahu dismissed the likelihood of the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing Gaza following the war against Hamas.
“There will have to be something else there,” he emphasized when questioned about the PA’s potential governance of Gaza post-war, adding, “There won’t be a civilian authority that educates their children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, to wipe out the state of Israel.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed last month that the PA should reclaim control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international entities potentially assuming an interim role.
