Israelis demand swap deal, early elections amid Netanyahu's Gaza invasion
Demonstrations with thousands protesting in cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa, calling for a prisoner swap with Gaza and early elections amid criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
![People hold placards and the Israeli flag as they gather during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on July 20, 2024. / Photo: AFP People hold placards and the Israeli flag as they gather during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on July 20, 2024. / Photo: AFP](https://images-cdn.trtworld.com/trtworld/w664/h374/q70/20456134_0-526-5472-3081.jpeg)
People hold placards and the Israeli flag as they gather during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on July 20, 2024. / Photo: AFP
Demonstrations were held on Saturday in several cities in Israel to demand a prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza and early elections, according to media reports.
Thousands protested across the nation, including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Caesarea to insist on a deal that would lead to the release of hostages in Gaza, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
In Tel Aviv, demonstrators held banners accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “not caring about the lives of hostages held in Gaza.”
At the Horev Junction in Haifa, hundreds demonstrated with a banner that read: “No forgiveness for negligence,” said the newspaper.
Israel estimates around 120 Israelis are held by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in Gaza.
#BREAKING
— El'Gido (@Elg1do) July 20, 2024
🇮🇱 Clashes between Israeli settlers demanding a prisoner deal and others opposing it in occupied Tel Aviv in the large protest currently taking place against the Netanyahu government pic.twitter.com/NtmRYxfo6I
Israel's Gaza war
For months, efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a hostage exchange and ceasefire have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of a demand to halt hostilities by Hamas.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
More than 38,900 Palestinians have since been killed by the Israeli forces, mostly women and children, and over 89,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.