Thousands protest in Israel amid anger at
Netanyahu over hostages held in Gaza
Demonstrators call for deal to bring hostages home as
well as elections and PM’s resignation as Israeli troops advance on Rafah
Jason Burke
in Jerusalem
Sun 12 May
2024 16.57 CEST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/12/israel-protest-gaza-hostages-netanyahu
Thousands
of Israelis joined protests over the weekend calling for a deal to bring home
hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, early elections and the immediate
resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.
The large
protests come amid renewed fighting in Gaza, where Israeli troops have advanced
for the first time towards the centre of Rafah, the territory’s southernmost
city, and also launched operations in several northern areas which have
previously seen fierce clashes.
There have
been weekly demonstrations in Israel since soon after the beginning of the war
last October, which was triggered by Hamas’s attack into Israel in which 1,200
died, mainly civilians, and around 250 were taken hostage. Support for the war
remains strong, but there is fierce criticism of Netanyahu’s coalition
government, which includes far-right ministers.
In the
northern city of Haifa, protesters marched behind a banner reading “May every
Israeli parent remember they put their child’s life in the hands of Netanyahu,
who fails them,” while hundreds gathered outside the prime minister’s private
home in Caesarea, 25 miles (40km) away.
Hopes of a
ceasefire deal that would have freed at least some of the 132 hostages thought
to be held in Gaza rose briefly last week when Hamas accepted a deal proposed
by mediators, but were dashed when Netanyahu rejected the terms.
Family
members of the hostages, carrying pictures of their loved ones, joined large
protests in Tel Aviv.
Itai
Svirsky, whose cousin was abducted and killed in captivity, according to
Israeli authorities, told protesters that “even those who managed to survive
this long will no longer be among the living”. Officials say between 30 and 50
of the hostages may now be dead.
The French
public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy spoke too, saying the survival of a
hostage was “the highest form of existence”.
Hamas said
on Saturday that the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell had died after
being wounded in an Israeli airstrike a month ago, but provided no evidence.
The Israeli military did not offer any comment.
Elsewhere
in Tel Aviv, police dispersed anti-government protesters, some waving Israeli
flags, with water cannon and arrested several people. The major highway from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was blocked for about an hour. Other protests took place
across Israel.
Though
hostage campaigners and anti-government protests often share objectives, they
remain separate movements. Some relatives of hostages favour a tough stance and
support the government – a view with widespread backing among Jewish Israelis,
polls show.
Prof Vered
Vinitzky-Seroussi, a sociologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said:
“The very fact that Netanyahu and some of his fans have made [the hostage
crisis] something we argue about is unbearable. This is the most basic
commitment a state has to its citizens. What happened on October 7 undermined
the basic assumptions of many Israelis. Where was the army? where was the
state?”
The
protests came ahead of Memorial Day in Israel, which commemorates casualties of
the country’s wars, including soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks.
The Times
of Israel newspaper described a “dark year”, with the combined toll of the
October attacks and Israel’s subsequent military losses in the war in Gaza the
highest for 50 years.
“Too many
people were killed on that day because of a colossal misjudgment,” said Ruby
Chen, whose son, Itay, was killed in the Hamas attack in October. “People who
made the misjudgment need to pay, from the prime minister down.”
Many Israelis say no one has taken responsibility for
the failures that allowed militants to break through Gaza’s $1.1bn perimeter
fence and hunt down civilians in their homes or at a music festival for hours
before the army arrived in sufficient strength to protect survivors.
A small
number of senior military and intelligence leaders have resigned but Netanyahu
has stopped short of accepting responsibility, saying he will answer tough
questions after the war.
In a recent
poll in the Ma’ariv newspaper, more than half of respondents said Netanyahu,
who could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted in ongoing corruption
trials, had prioritised his own political survival over the fate of the
hostages. However, 44% said Netanyahu was right to reject the most recent
ceasefire deal with Hamas, against 41% who favoured an agreement.
Some
families have asked that ministers do not attend Memorial Day ceremonies, which
will take place at military cemeteries across the country on Sunday and Monday.
“This is an
event that the failing leadership and the failing security apparatus led us to.
Respect the families’ request: Don’t come,” Eyal Eshel, whose daughter, Roni,
was killed at an army base stormed by Hamas militants in October, told Israeli
Channel 12.
The
official ceremony on Monday night marking the beginning of Independence Day
celebrations has been toned down. In a break with tradition, the ceremony will
be pre-recorded without a live audience, and there will be no fireworks.
Be’eri, a
kibbutz close to Gaza which suffered very heavy losses in the October attack,
refused an invitation to send its security team to light a torch at the
ceremony because “torch ceremony will be about heroism only, without referring
to the tragedy and neglect that meant [whole communities] were left to their
fate by the state”.
The war in
Gaza has lasted longer than many expected, and the decisive victory over Hamas
that Netanyahu has repeatedly promised appears elusive. More than 35,000
Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the conflict,
nearly 2m have been displaced and much of Gaza has been devastated. Eighty
hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a
shortlived ceasefire in November.
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