1/21/2024–|Last updated: 1/21/202403:38 AM (Mecca time)
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand the return of prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip and the holding of early elections to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The demonstrators marched in Habima Square, some carrying banners criticizing Netanyahu with slogans such as “The Face of Evil” and “Elections Now.”
Demonstrators also gathered in Haifa and outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, demanding the return of the prisoners.
Avi Lolo Shamirez, the father of prisoner Alon Shamirez, whom Israeli forces announced was killed “accidentally” in Gaza, said that Netanyahu’s government is heading towards disaster.
“The way things are going now, all the hostages will die. It is not too late to free them,” he added.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition is under increasing criticism from his political opponents because of his handling of the course of the war and the prisoner file.
Demonstrator Yael Niv said that Israel urgently needs a new government to correct the country’s course.
Another 50-year-old demonstrator stressed that “the messianic elements in our government” pose a great danger to Israel, while distributing posters calling for the return of detainees.
She added, “Hamas will not be eliminated through war and escalation of violence.”
In turn, demonstrator Dor Endov, who works as a lawyer, said that the war must be stopped and the prisoners returned, adding that Netanyahu “really wants this war to continue.”
He continued, “We lost the war last October 7 when these people were kidnapped. We want our families and the kidnapped people to return to their homes.”
Another demonstrator, Yair Katz (69 years old), in reference to Netanyahu, asserted that “everyone in the country, except for his toxic coalition, knows that his decisions are not made for the good of the country, and that he is only trying to stay in power… We all want him to resign.” “.
Extreme pressure
It is noteworthy that Netanyahu is facing intense pressure to recover the detainees who were kidnapped on October 7, then transferred to the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging a devastating war that it says aims to eliminate the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the rest of the Palestinian factions.
Of the approximately 250 detainees, about 100 were released during a temporary humanitarian truce at the end of last November, while 132 remain in Gaza, of whom 27 prisoners died without their bodies being returned, according to Israeli data.