Hostage protester assaulted by motorcyclist in Tel Aviv

A 73-year-old protester was attacked by a motorcyclist this evening during a demonstration for the hostages, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The demonstrator had been blocking Begin Road alongside other protesters outside the military complex, as participants read aloud the names of the remaining Hamas-held hostages in Gaza.

According to Hebrew reports, the demonstrator was repeatedly punched by the assailant, a younger man wearing tzitzit, who drove off after the beating.

The wounded protester tells Haaretz that he had been walking with signs between the cars on the road when the assailant came up to him on his motorcycle.

“I stopped him, he told me to move, I said I wouldn’t move, he got off the scooter. I told him not to touch me. He started punching me — I didn’t understand what was happening,” he recounts to the Hebrew daily.

Police tell The Times of Israel that officers in the Yarkon region are investigating the incident and have not yet arrested any suspects.