The protests – which took place across Israel – saw furious locals demonstrate en masse for an end to the conflict in Gaza ahead of Netanyahu’s planned escalation
Thousands of furious Israelis have demanded Benjamin Netanyahu end his war on Gaza ahead of the leader’s controversial upcoming operation to claim Gaza City.
Netanyahu, 75, has been accused of plunging residents of the strip into mass starvation with tactical blockades, causing the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) accused of killing desperate men, women and children clawing at the aid that makes its way through. Despite forging ahead with the approval of much of the country at first, Israelis growing tired of the conflict have descended on major population centres as Netanyahu prepares to enter the conflict’s next stage.
Striking new images from Israel show campaigners, among them former hostages, demanding an end to the war and the release of all those in Hamas captivity from the government’s doorstep. It comes after furious Bob Geldof issued a desperate plea on Sky News to save babies in Gaza.
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Pictures from Tel Aviv show groups of protesters, numbering in their thousands, descending on the Israeli capital during the major demonstrations.
The legions of people can be seen hefting massive placards, many sporting images of Israeli hostages like Evyatar David, who was recently featured in a video released by Hamas. Emaciated-looking Mr David, 24, was kidnapped by the group from the Nova music festival, and his appearance in the video ignited fresh calls for hostages to be rescued.
Some demonstrators donned masks of Donald Trump and shockingly held signs with a US flag motif reading “END IT” while demanding the hostages’ release.
Others wore performative chains and draped themselves in the Israeli flag, and some groups were seen dragging large flags sporting the images of remaining hostages outside the Israeli Prime Minister’s office. Also among the crowd were soldiers, including Max Kresch, who marched with a sign reading “I refused”.
He told the BBC the group was “refusing” to continue serving the Israeli government. He said: “We’re over 350 soldiers who served during the war and were refusing to continue to serve in Netanyahu’s political war.”
The massive protests rocked Tel Aviv and multiple other population centres, including Haifa, on Saturday, just a few days after Netanyahu announced plans to escalate the conflict. The Israeli PM sparked international outcry after he announced his government would embark on a plan with five “principles”.
Those “principles” include eliminating Hamas, returning all Israeli hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, taking complete security control of the territory, and creating what the government has called “an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.
Israel has embarked on the plan as Gaza remains in the grips of a humanitarian crisis, with 100 children now estimated to have killed of starvation. Several countries and the UN have condemned the move, and the major operation does not yet have a start date.