From the Liveblog of
Friday, May 3, 2024
Protesters outside Gantz’s house call for National Unity to leave government if there’s no hostage deal
Anti-government protesters are gathering for the second week in a row outside the home of National Unity chair Benny Gantz, calling on him to leave the government in the absence of a deal to free over 100 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza since October 7.
One protester waves an Israeli flag with two red stripes and a red Star of David instead of blue and others hold “Exit” signs, representing their demand for Gantz to quit the government.
Another sign raised at the protest shows US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz, with the respective titles “The Good, the Bad and the Nada.”
According to a statement from the Israeli Pro-Democracy Movement, the demonstrators accuse the government of “a series of failures – starting with the kidnapping of IDF soldiers and civilians by Hamas on October 7.”
They also accuse the government of neglecting Israelis displaced in the north and the south of the country, and “the lack of a decisive strategy against Hamas despite the heavy cost in human lives and damage to the Israeli home front.”
The protesters reiterate their call for Gantz and his National Unity party to withdraw from the wartime government “led by Netanyahu and [far-right minister Itamar] Ben Gvir” in the absence of a deal to free the hostages.
It is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
