Thousands demand new elections
Clashes at demonstration against Netanyahu
18.06.2024, 08:26
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The opposition leader has left the war cabinet, and the prime minister has dissolved it completely: Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is under pressure. Demonstrators are again demanding his resignation and a hostage deal. But clashes are breaking out.
In Israel, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in the Gaza Strip and to demand early elections. On Monday evening, the demonstrators moved their protest to Jerusalem in front of the parliament and the prime minister’s residence. There were clashes with the police. The police reported nine arrests during the night, including for using violence against security officials. Some police officers were reportedly “slightly injured”.
“I am happy that people are taking action. And I hope that it continues,” said Yaacov Godo, whose son was killed in the massacre by the radical Islamist Hamas in Israel on October 7. “We must paralyze the country in order to overthrow the government,” he demanded. A retired engineer said Netanyahu was responsible “for what happened on October 7.” Every action by the prime minister contributes to the “destruction of Israel.” “Even if there is war now, every day that the war continues with him is a bad day,” stressed the 73-year-old.
After more than eight months of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is under massive domestic pressure. Last weekend, opposition leader Benny Gantz withdrew from the war cabinet formed after the major Hamas attack. On Monday, a government spokesman announced that the war cabinet had been dissolved.
Minute of silence for hostages
On the streets of Jerusalem, demonstrators armed with drums, horns and placards demanded not only new elections but also an agreement with Hamas on a ceasefire so that the remaining hostages could be returned to Israel. “Everyone! Now!” they shouted before observing a minute’s silence for those still held in the area. Some protesters wore T-shirts with slogans such as “Stop the war” and “We are all equal.” Tens of thousands of people have already taken part in similar demonstrations in Tel Aviv, the country’s largest city, in recent weeks.
In the massacre in Israel on October 7, Hamas and other Islamist groups killed 1,194 people and took 251 hostages to the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli sources. Some of them have since been released, others have been freed, and still others are presumed dead. But “dozens of hostages are certainly still alive,” said a senior Israeli government official involved in negotiations with Hamas on Monday. “We cannot leave them there much longer, they will die,” the negotiator, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.
In response to the Hamas massacre, 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.