Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night time in one of many largest demonstrations towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities since October, when the Hamas-led assault on Israel ignited a struggle.
Tel Aviv has been the scene of weekly demonstrations calling on the federal government to strike a cease-fire deal to free the hostages who’ve been held in Gaza since October. Those protests have been rising in dimension because the struggle has dragged on and anger at Mr. Netanyahu’s authorities has mounted.
On Saturday night time, the sounds of whistles, horns and drums crammed the air together with chants from the crowds, video from The Associated Press confirmed. Protesters waved flags and carried footage of the Israeli hostages with indicators studying “Hostage deal now.” Other banners made clear the anger directed at Mr. Netanyahu over the plight of the hostages, with one studying “Replace him, save them.”
“We demand our government to sign a deal now, no matter what is the cost,” Lee Hoffmann Agiv, who attended the protest, instructed The A.P. “It’s a life or death situation — we will not forgive our government if another hostage dies in captivity.”
As the night time wore on, some scuffles broke out. The police mentioned that whereas the demonstration was largely peaceable, “several hundred protesters” had violated public order by lighting bonfires, blocking a freeway and confronting the police. Officers used a water cannon to disperse some protesters from a freeway and made 16 arrests, in accordance with the police.