Protesters gathered on Tel Aviv’s Havima Square and adjacent streets on Thursday to demand “war and return” of Israeli prisoners of war in Gaza.
Some of them had signs that they condemned Israel for the war crimes and genocide in Gaza, and urged soldiers to refuse to participate in the war.
Others were seen holding photographs of hungry Palestinian children, with one indication that they were “opposed to crimes against humanity.”
In Haifa, police arrested 24 protesters in anti-war demonstrations in the city’s German colony. Officers were filmed in an attempt to disband the protesters, tearing the signs apart just minutes after the protest began.
Officers then began working on the protesters on the ground, handcuffed them and transported them to police vans.
Video from the protest scene shows one handcuffed demonstrator screaming that officers baved several female protesters inside the van.
The protests are one of several anti-war demonstrations organized by Arab residents of Haifa amid ongoing genocide in Gaza, and often see mass arrests.
Israel launched a genocide war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Critics are increasingly denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what they describe as a pattern of prioritizing his personal political survival in the ongoing corruption investigation that extends the war with Gaza.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Netanyahu has faced a growing domestic and international criticism to resist meaningful concessions, particularly in negotiations, including ceasefires and prisoner exchanges.
The continued military attacks in Gaza are linked to his desire to project strength and sort out the coalition’s hardliners despite calls from international allies and domestic critics, despite calls to shift focus on diplomacy and exhaustion.
However, the retired Israeli major openly acknowledged Israel’s military weaknesses and strategic setback this week as the regime is stuck in Gaza amid continuing conflict with Hamas resistance fighters.
Major General Yitzhak Blik, a former senior officer in the Israeli military, wrote in the opened of the Israeli news website Altz Sheba, “The painful truth reflected in senior officers is that to speak from the record from the general, Israel was not prepared for the “Iron Sword” war.”
Brick continued, “The Israeli regime has already suffered strategic losses from its campaign against Hamas.”
Polls over the past few months have also shown a significant drop in Netanyahu’s approval rate. Large-scale protests, including bereaved families and military reserves, occur weekly.
Many settlers now openly accused Netanyahu of holding Netanyahu hostage to his political ambitions, with slogans like “Go home now!” and “Bibi is a problem, not a solution, but resonates in Tel Aviv and Arkudos.
Brick also criticized Israeli leaders, saying, “Israel remains wandered into the Gaza Strip, but its leadership has failed to prepare its army for the next potentially far more dangerous conflict.”
rhm/