Several rallies were held Saturday night, August 3, around Israel against the far-right government and calling for the release of hostages, with turnout lower than usual amid fears of a major attack by Iran and Hezbollah. The big anti-government protest that is held weekly at Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street was canceled this Saturday amid concerns of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah for the recent assassination of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Arabs and Jews march against the war in Gaza and occupation of the Palestinian territories in Umm el-Fahm, Saturday, August 3, 2024. Arabic and Hebrew on the large placard: “Stop the killing of children and women in Gaza” (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Thousands attended a rally near Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a statement published on Saturday afternoon called for supporters to take to the streets.
Protesters in the Tel Aviv rally marched from Hostages Square at Tel-Aviv Museum to the army Kirya headquarters’ eastern entrance on Begin Road. Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the Ayalon Highway, clashing with mounted police, and at least five protesters were arrested.
Einav Zanguaker, the mother of hostage Matan Zanguaker and a prominent activist for the captives’ release, said “[Director of the Mossad] David Barnea, [Director of the Israeli Security Service] Ronen Bar — stop cooperating with the criminal prime minister. His hands are awash in the blood of the victims, and if you continue — yours will be, too,” said Zangauker. “Tell the public what you tell us behind closed doors — that Netanyahu is not interested in a deal and doesn’t want the hostages home. He wants war.”
Thousands attended the rally outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, where former diplomat Eran Etzion argued that “the time has come for a deal, and the time has come for elections. He insisted that a hostage deal “has been ready” to be signed for a long time, but that Netanyahu was deliberately stalling negotiations for “political, personal and criminal reasons. He is stirring up a regional war with the worst imaginable starting circumstances”. Two protesters were detained near Paris Square in Jerusalem.
Demonstrations were also held outside Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s home in Amikam, near Hadera, and by the Jerusalem home of Shas party leader MK Aryeh Deri. Anti-government protesters also held protests in other locations, including outside Netanyahu’s Caesarea home. An impromptu protest was held in Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh, in central Israel’s Emek Hefer, against racist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Rallies took place also in Haifa, at Hemed Junction near Jerusalem and in the capital itself, in Hadera, at Amiad Junction in the Galilee and in Ness Ziona, Rehovot, Karkur Junction, Beer Sheva and other localities.
On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of Arabs and Jews attended an anti-war demonstration in Umm al-Fahm. The demonstration was organized by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel and sponsored by Peace Partnership, a broad coalition of dozens of organizations, movements, groups and parties, among them Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel. Protesters carried banners calling for and to the war in Gaza and opposing tortures faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails
“What is happening in Gaza has not happened anywhere else in the world and we have not seen anything like it,” said Umm el-Fahm Mayor Samir Mahamed. “This is a destructive war that the world is watching, live, without lifting a finger. It’s time for this war to stop and for world leaders to step up and stop it so that we can save what remains.”
Four people were arrested during the protest, including Adham Jabareen, an activist of the local popular committee, Mourid Fareed, head of the local chapter of the Communist Party and a member of the city council. Police also confiscated Palestinian flags during the protest and injured a peace activist, Yoav Ben-Naftali, 79, from kibbutz Metzer.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32027
