Israeli Police Cracked Down On People Protesting Against The Government’s War On Gaza

Thousands of people in Israel participated in a massive protest over the weekend of May 11 and 12 in several cities, urging the government to secure a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, calling for early elections and demanding prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately resign.

The protests come after Israel began its full-blown invasion of Rafah and said it had taken "operational control" of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, killing at least 35 Palestinians and injuring 129 others in the first 24 hours.

Large protests erupted in Tel Aviv on Saturday, May 11, with family members and relatives of hostages holding pictures of their loved ones and demanding all hostages are safely returned.

Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans but were later dispersed by police, who used water cannons to break up the crowd and also arrested at least three people.

Hundreds of people also gathered and protested outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea, while in Jerusalem, demonstrators chanted slogans against the prime minister outside his official residence and accused him of not taking enough measures to ensure the safe release of hostages in their weekly demonstration.

Elsewhere, in Haifa, protesters carried out a rally, with one placard reading, “May every Israeli parent remember they put their child’s life in the hands of Netanyahu, who fails them.”

“It’s very clear that the Israeli government is totally bankrupt ideologically. They have no idea [what] they’re doing. It’s clear that they’re not trying to rescue any of the hostages, they’re not trying to end the war, as far as I can tell,” Dani Schrire, a demonstrator in Tel Aviv, told Reuters.

“Soon, even those who managed to survive this long will no longer be among the living. They must be saved now,” one protester, Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai Svirsky was abducted during the Oct. 7 attack and killed in captivity, according to Israeli authorities.

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