‘Netanyahu, We Won’t Give You a Moment of Peace’: Protesters Block Tel Aviv Highway, Start a Fire
Israeli security forces disperse supporters and families of hostages held in Gaza as they block the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv, on Saturday.
Bar Peleg, Nir Hasson, Adi Hashmonai, Eden Solomon report in Haaretz
Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday night across Israel, calling for a deal to free Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza and for early elections.
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza, as well as activists calling for their immediate release, blocked the main highway in Tel Aviv and started a fire, urging the government to reach a deal with Hamas. Police arrested four protesters.
Some 2,000 people rallied outside the President’s Residence in Jerusalem and in the city of Caesarea a demonstration took place near Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home.
Hundreds of protesters in Haifa marched through the city, calling for Netanyahu’s impeachment and for the release of the hostages. Other demonstrations against the government took place in the southern cities of Be’er Sheva and Eilat and in the northern cities of Karkur and Carmiel.
The demonstrators who blocked the Tel Aviv highway, which included released hostages and family members of Israelis still held in Gaza, addressed Prime Minister Netanyahu: “You abandoned them on October 7, and you continue to abandon them for 127 days out of political considerations. If you don’t free them right now, we won’t let you off the hook and won’t give you a moment of peace. The hostages’ time is running out.”