Thousands of Israelis take to the streets in one of the largest anti-Netanyahu protests in the country

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in several cities across the country this Saturday to protest against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on him to resign and reach an agreement for the release of hostages from the Gaza Strip. According to local media, these are the largest protests so far.

Demonstrations in cities such as Tel Aviv, Haifa, Caesarea and Jerusalem were preceded by a week of protests, featuring violent brawls, injured civilians and the use of water cannons by law enforcement.

At the renamed Democracy Square in Tel Aviv, also the site of massive protests against judicial reform, protesters listened to relatives of hostages in front of the Defense Ministry at the Kirya military base this Saturday.

Yifat Calderon, a cousin of hostage Ofer Calderon (53), wondered how it was possible that the Israeli government would see fit to declare a military defeat of Hamas in the coming weeks if the hostages remained captive. “How can they claim victory when the hostages are still in their (Hamas) power?” Calderon asked, according to local media.

Dani Elgarat, the brother of detainee Itzik Elgarat, accused Netanyahu of putting his political survival and personal gain before the lives of the 116 hostages since March in Tel Aviv. “You chose to sacrifice the lives of our loved ones for your political survival. Soon, you will know us all because we will all become the mourning families of the hostages,” Elgarat said, according to the newspaper Haaretz, referring to a recent meeting the prime minister had with some of the families.

In the north, near Netanyahu’s second residence in Caesarea, hundreds of protesters accused the prime minister of being responsible for the lack of security and subsequent abandonment of civilians near Gaza, and demanded early elections.

Some protesters carried balloons bearing the number 20 and signs bearing the faces of a hostage and soldier at an observation post near Gaza Naama Levi, who is still in captivity and turns 20 today.

More than eight and a half months after the Hamas attack on October 7, 116 Israeli hostages remain in captivity and of them, US intelligence estimates that only 50 are alive, as revealed by The Wall Street Journal a few days ago.

A single cease-fire agreement in November saw the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

After recovering seven lifeless bodies from Gaza in recent weeks, Israeli forces on June 8 released four live hostages in a rescue operation, bringing the death toll to nearly 270 Gazans. Israel has killed more than 150 people in Gaza in recent days. The number of people killed by Israeli forces since October 7 has risen to more than 35,000.