Thousands of Israelis took to the streets again on Saturday to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government.
This comes as there is no sign of a let-up in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza almost six months in.
In Tel Aviv, demonstrators demanded early elections, as well as the release of the remaining hostages held by the Palestinian extremist organisation, Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Protests also took place in other cities, including Jerusalem and Haifa.In Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters broke through a barrier near Netanyahu’s official residence.
Opponents of the government are planning major demonstrations in Jerusalem from Sunday onwards, which are to last for several days.
They also plan to demand the resignation of the government.
A former hostage, whose husband is still being held in Gaza, addressed the demonstration in Tel Aviv, calling on Netanyahu to “Bring them home!”
The woman called on the premier to give the Israeli negotiating team a “broad mandate” in talks on an agreement to release the remaining hostages in return for a ceasefire and a release of Palestinian prisoners.
“Don’t come home without a deal, bring our loved ones back,” she said.
The ongoing Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre committed by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in southern Israel on October 7.
They killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took some 250 more hostage.
Israel responded by targeting densely populated Gaza with massive airstrikes and launching a ground operation in the sealed-off coastal area at the end of October.
More than 32,500 Palestinians are said to have been killed as a result so far, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels, due to the very limited amounts of aid reaching the civilian population.
Some 110 hostages were released in exchange for some 400 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as part of a temporary truce agreement brokered by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt in November.
However, efforts to facilitate another ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages have stalled repeatedly.
