Around 10,000 Israelis pour into downtown Tel Aviv, calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all.
Organizers say the rally united people across Israel’s often bitter divides of left and right, as well as religious and secular Jewish communities.
Israelis voice solidarity with residents of the south during a rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, Thursday, August 14, 2014 (screen capture: Channel 2)
Alon Davidi, mayor of the southern town of Sderot, tells the rally there must be a solution — be it political or military — to what he calls 14 years of rocket attacks.
“I have full confidence in the government and in the army, but at the same time I ask as mayor of Sderot that they put an end to this situation once and for all,” Davidi says.
“Finish the job!” he says. “This is a universal principle. We want to live in peace,” he adds.
Police tell AFP that around 10,000 people attended the rally in Rabin Square.
Members of the crowd wave Israeli flags and hold up banners calling for peace with the Palestinians and others scrawled with the words: “Occupy Gaza now!”
“We all came here to send the message that rocket fire on the south is not only a problem for the south but a problem for the rest of the country,” says Haim Yelin, head of the Eshkol regional council.
He thanks the military for launching the offensive.
“I hope they will transform the military victory into a political victory that will bring quiet to the whole country,” he says.
— AFP
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 14, 2014
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