(Jerusalem) Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Sunday evening to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the second demonstration in two days, with clashes with police, AFP journalists noted.
Police used water cannons to block a road blocked by angry protesters waving hundreds of Israeli flags and setting fires. “Election!” “, Netanyahu “must go!” and “Bring (the hostages) back now!” “, protesters shouted amid yellow smoke bombs, the color associated with hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Anger against the prime minister for governing the country has peaked since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, said Dana Rabfogel Shor, 44, of Tel Aviv.
“People are angry, they are tired, they want elections. They blame Bibi (Netanyahu) and the government, who say they are not responsible for anything,” he explained, holding a large photo of his distant cousin Itai Svirsky, who was killed on October 7.
“People are asking for the government to find a solution to free the hostages who are just dying! Hagai Levin, a doctor who is in touch with the families of the captives in the Gaza Strip, told AFP.
Photo by Ahmed Garabli, Agence France-Presse
Yellow smoke bombs – the color associated with hostages in the Gaza Strip – were set alight.
“The government must work to free them, if they can't do it, can someone else do it?”, he continued, “enough is enough, we need a government that works.”
“Bibi Netanyahu doesn't have what it takes for the job, he's been doing everything in recent years, he's dragging the country down, he needs to be replaced immediately,” said another demonstrator, Raphael Malinois.
The crowd included demonstrators demanding the release of the government and families of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. Their organizations have warned that they will take to the streets of Jerusalem every evening for the next few days to fight.
Photo by Ahmed Garabli, Agence France-Presse
Israeli police dispersed the demonstrators.
During Sunday's demonstration, Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a press conference. “The elections now, in the midst of war, will paralyze Israel for at least six months. They will paralyze negotiations to release our hostages. […]Hamas will be the first to welcome it,” he declared.
According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, the war was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 in Israel from the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mainly civilians.
According to Israel, about 250 people were kidnapped, of whom 130 are still hostages in Gaza, and 34 of them died.
In retaliation, Israel, along with the United States and the European Union, vowed to destroy Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, in an attack that killed 32,782 people, mostly women, men and children, according to the latest Hamas statement on Friday. Ministry of Health.
