The protest comes as a response to the government’s decision to expand the operations in the Gaza Strip and Netanyahu’s order to “occupy the strip.”
Demonstrators gathered on one of Israel’s main highways following reports of the government’s decision to expand the operations in the Gaza Strip and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considering “to occupy the strip.”
“We will not agree to expand the fighting at the expense of the lives of our starving brothers and sisters,” said protesting groups and added: “The entire nation is losing its mind after the horror videos of Rom and Evyatar starving and tortured – and the cabinet met to sentence the kidnapped to death.”
The protest blocks the Ayalon South Highway in Tel Aviv, with people marching with signs and several fires ignited in the vicinity.
Police and firefighters were deployed to the protest, with security officials warning that if the area is not evacuated, they’ll use force to disperse the gathering.
Protesters gather at the Ayalon Highway. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
One of the protesters was arrested by the police and taken to the Lev Tel Aviv police station in the city center.
Protest in Tel Aviv asks for the end of the war
“An overwhelming majority of the public is demanding an end to this bloody war and the return of our brothers and sisters home. But the will of the people does not interest the most detached and cruel government in the history of the country,” said an official statement.
“We will not allow you to shed any more blood of soldiers and kidnapped people for crazy messianic delusions of occupying Gaza. This nightmare cannot continue. End the war, get out of Gaza, and bring everyone home – immediately.”
Israeli media outlets reported that the protest aims to march towards the north, in the direction of Tel Aviv, while blocking the flow of traffic.