PBehind a black, red and white banner that read “Netanyahu endangers Israel’s security,” thousands of people marched through the city’s streets on their way to Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, where the protest will end.
“Time is running out: there is an agreement on the table!” is one of the slogans spread by the anti-government Black Flags movement on its digital channels during the march.
The movement accuses the prime minister of “abandoning the north” of the country and demands that Netanyahu reach a pact with Hamas that guarantees the safe return of the 120 hostages still in Gaza (116 of whom were kidnapped in the Islamist attacks of October 7, in which around 1,200 people died).
Also in Tel Aviv, the Israeli pro-democracy movement called for a demonstration in which hundreds of people marched to the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense.
Tonight, the prime minister will meet with his cabinet to assess the proposal by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement, in which the organization claims to have adopted a more “flexible” position in talks with Israel on the points of the agreement on which the two parties are in conflict.
“Today, and I say this cautiously, we are closer than ever” to an agreement, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the hostages’ families, according to Channel 12, Israel’s most popular television station.
Alongside the protests in Jerusalem, the Black Flags called for another march in the coastal city of Caesarea in the north of the country, where the other private residence of the prime minister and leader of the right-wing Likud party is located.
Israeli daily Haaretz also reported on an anti-war demonstration in Haifa, also on the north coast, where four people were arrested after police declared the gathering illegal.
Protesters also called for early elections in the country, an option increasingly demanded by Israelis, according to a mid-June poll by the Maariv daily, which put the number of people wanting to go to the polls at 57%.
Alongside the call for elections, protesters are demanding the return of thousands of Israelis evacuated both in the south (near the Gaza border) and in the north (along the border with Lebanon), where more than 60,000 people continue to live in hotels and other state-funded accommodation following increased hostilities with the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.
At the heart of today’s protests is the demand for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that would allow the return of hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.
Of the 251 kidnapped on October 7, 116 remain in captivity, at least 40 of whom are dead, according to Israel – more than 70, according to Hamas – while four other hostages have been held for years, including two who died.
Read Also: Gaza death toll surpasses 38,000
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2592761/israel-milhares-manifestam-se-contra-netanyahu-e-exigem-acordo-com-hamas
