Anti-government protesters start ‘week of resistance’ with Saturday rallies

Sunday will be ‘day of disruption’ with protests and rallies across the country demanding hostage deal and new elections, culminating outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home

Anti-government protesters march to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem, July 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Anti-government protesters march to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem, July 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Anti-government protesters were set to flock to Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square and to events throughout the country Saturday in weekly protests calling for a hostage deal and new elections.

The main Tel Aviv rally was set to begin at 8 p.m. and would be dedicated to the mothers of hostages being held in Gaza.

Protests groups have said Saturday’s rally will kick off a “week of resistance,” with Sunday, July 7 being a day of protests and disruptions to mark nine months since the October 7 attacks and the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

According to a schedule sent out by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the protest would begin with a featured video of Almog Meir Jan, who was rescued from Gaza by special forces last month.

The video would be followed by various speakers including released hostage Danielle Aloni, Meir Jan’s mother Orit, the mother of Tal Haimi who was killed by Hamas and whose body is held in Gaza, and the mothers of four other hostages still being held in Gaza.

Saturday night protests have in recent weeks been marked by violent clashes between demonstrators and police, with protesters injured by police water canons and arrests made.

Protesters demonstrate for a hostage deal and end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, in Jerusalem’s Paris Square on June 29, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Beginning with a protest in the southern Kibbutz Or HaNer at 6 a.m., Sunday’s protest schedule features rallies and protests at key intersections and major highways across the country.

The day was set to culminate with a march from Jerusalem’s Sacher Park to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, where a rally would be held demanding he step down and set new elections.

Sunday will mark nine months since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, sparking a war with Israel.

It is believed that 116 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive. Recent days have seen Israeli officials express cautious optimism that indirect negotiations with Hamas for the release of hostages may be making progress.

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