At weekly Tel Aviv rally, reservist tells crowd: Government must do everything so we don’t have to fight anymore

Protesters rally at Habima Square for a weekly demonstration against the government, calling for a deal to end the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Itai Shteinmetz, 25, a reservist combat medic, tells the crowd, “We are demanded to go from 0-100 so many times, that we seem to have forgotten what it’s like to live in a proper country, in a country where the aim of a war is to stop fighting.”

“Our leadership thinks that we live here with the aim of fighting forever for their seats; they have it all wrong. Their job is to do everything they can so we don’t have to fight anymore,” he says.

Protesters at the square light a small bonfire on the street as others march onto the Begin Road hostage families’ protest following the demonstration here.

A handful of activists stand around the fire and yell: “A raised fist, everyone resists.”

Though there are several police officers in the area, none of them intervene to put out the fire or arrest protesters on the street, which is still open for traffic. One woman from the protesters puts out the fire with water from her bottle.