Internal Troubles Heighten In Israel Amid War With Hamas As Thousands Hold Anti-Govt Protests, Call For New Elections

Israel Hamas War Latest Update: The decades-old Israel Palestine Conflict turned into a full-fledged Israel Hamas War when the terrorist organisation fired 5000 rockets from Gaza on Israel on October 7, 2023. For the last nearly nine months, the war has been raging on, killing thousands of people in both countries and causing mass destruction which will take decades to be restored. It seems that the ongoing war is now giving rise to internal problems as thousands of people in Israel have been protesting against the current Netanyahu-government, demanding new elections and also return of hostages held in Gaza by the Hamas organisation. The anti-government protests have been going on for quite some time and are only intensifying with time.

Anti-Govt Protests Rise In Israel Amid War With Gaza

As mentioned earlier, tens of thousands of people held anti-government protests in several parts of Israel on Saturday night, calling for new elections and the return of hostages held in Gaza, The Times of Israel reported. On Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, David Grossman, one of Israel’s best-known authors, urged the people of Israel to fill the streets with demonstrations and fight for their country in a poem he read to protesters. He read, “There’s someone and something to fight for. For such a gift, from life, we will nevermore receive… Now’s the time to rise, to live. To be a people or not to be. To be people or not to be… All hangs by a thread.”

Israelis Demand Re-Elections, Call Netanyahu ‘Worst, Most Failed PM’

Former Shin Bet chief, Yuval Diskin called Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the worst and most failed prime minister in the history of the state.” Diskin, who served as Shin Bet intelligence agency chief from 2005 to 2011, demanded elections at the earliest possible opportunity. “For many weeks, I rejected requests to join the protests. Something deep inside me told me that it wasn’t time yet, that maybe it wasn’t right to change governments during a war, and that unity was the most important thing,” The Times of Israel quoted Diskin as saying.

He further added, “But I find myself amazed, every day, by the government’s uselessness, the failed management of the war, the lie of ‘total victory,’ the total evasion of responsibility, the destruction of our strategic relations with the United States, and perhaps most of all, missing every opportunity to return our kidnapped brothers and sisters, who continue to languish in Hamas captivity in Gaza.”

Thousands Call For End To Fighting In Gaza In Largest-Ever Protest Since Oct 7

People staged a protest on King George Street, outside Beit Jabotinsky, home to the ruling Likud party’s headquarters. Some protesters held signs demanding early elections, and others held banners calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza. After the main rally ended, several protesters stayed and blocked the road, burning tyres. Mounted police personnel moved in to disperse the crowd, clearing the road and arresting three protesters, The Times of Israel reported.

In video footage, police could be seen riding into the crowds, moving protesters aside with their horses. Several people seemed to be pushed around by police, while other protesters attempted to stop police from hurting those being pushed. The protesters included Labor lawmaker Gilad Kariv, who shouted that mounted police to move aside from the sidewalks and warned that their deployment was illegal. Meanwhile, thousands of people held a protest outside Israel PM Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street in what organisers termed the largest Saturday night protest there since October 7, The Times of Israel report.

Release Of Hostages Demanded, Govt Accused Of Abandoning Northern Communities

Protesters led by family members of hostages held by Hamas marched down King George Street, demanding an immediate deal and early polls. The protesters accused Netanyahu’s government of abandoning Israel’s embattled northern communities, some 60,000 of whose residents have been displaced for more than eight months due to Hezbollah fire. After the marchers reached their destination outside Netanyahu’s residence, they participated in a joint rally organized by the local branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and the city’s anti-government movement, Safeguarding our Shared Home. In addition, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum held rallies across the country, including addresses by hostages whom Hamas released from captivity in November. It is believed that 116 people held hostage by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, not all of them are alive.

(Inputs from ANI)