Demonstrations across Israel calling for hostage release and against the far-right government were held Saturday evening, Aug 10, in Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Haifa, Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat Amiad Junction, Kfar Saba, Beersheba, Rehovot, Nes Ziona and several other dozens of locations The protests drew tens of thousands of protesters clamoring for new elections and the release of hostages after a senior security official was quoted in Hebrew media saying the captives are running out of time.
In Karkur, near Hadera, protesters blocked the 65 road as police warned them to disperse or face arrest. Earlier Saturday, cops also cleared activists who held “protest picnics” outside the homes of far-right and racist coalition members.
“Stop the war, end the occupation,” Hadash and Communist Party of Israel leading members participated in an anti-war demonstration held Saturday evening at Kfar Yasif, Aug 10, 2024 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the rallies, Lishay Miran, whose husband Omri Miran was snatched from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, castigated racist settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for opposing a hostages-for-ceasefire agreement. “Yesterday you tweeted that it’s a ‘surrender deal. Do you consider it a surrender to bring home 115 human beings?” Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan and a prominent activist for the hostages’ release, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of letting the abductees languish in captivity to satisfy his far-right partners and stay in power. “The prime minister is profiteering off the hostages’ lives,” she said. Addressing Israel’s negotiating team, she added: “Don’t hesitate to clash with Netanyahu — look him straight in the eyes and don’t back down.”
Saturday night anti-government protesters outside the ruling Likud party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, blocked King George Street and locked themselves up in cages in a display of the prospect of an Israeli theocracy in 2025.
Amid police threats, Hadash and Communist Party of Israel leading members also participated in an anti-war demonstration held Saturday evening at Kfar Yasif, in the Western Galilee after the burial of Mikhael Samara in the Christian cemetery.
Samara, a 28-year-old Arab-Palestinian citizen of Israel, died yesterday of his wounds, days after being severely wounded by an Israeli air defense interceptor rocket responding to a Hezbollah drone. Samara studied chemistry in the Czech Republic and lived there. He arrived in the country to visit his family a few days earlier, his father is a member of the Hadash chapter in Kfar Yasif.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32043
