Israeli protesters have set fire to several cars and recycling bins near prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the occupied al-Quds as furious calls mount for a deal with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on the release of captives in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The tensions flared up on Wednesday as the protesters rallied near Netanyahu’s residence and blocked the roads and streets nearby, setting ablaze cars, tires, and recycling bins.
The Israelis also cordoned off areas in the vicinity of the regime’s parliament — Knesset — in the occupied al-Quds, demanding the exchange of prisoners and captives with the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups.
The protesters blasted Netanyahu’s planned invasion of Gaza City as a “threat” to the lives of Israeli captives held in the besieged territory since the onset of the regime’s genocide of Palestinians on October 7, 2023.
Hebrew-language sources reported that Israelis were staging a sit-in at the regime’s “National Library” building in the occupied al-Quds to protest the prime minister’s plans to continue the war and the failure to conclude a prisoner exchange agreement.
Israel’s Channel 12 TV also reported that the regime’s police had arrested 13 demonstrators on the roof of the library building as part of a crackdown on widespread anti-Netanyahu protests.
In January, a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas led to the release of several captives and Palestinian abductees held illegally in Israeli jails.
However, the Israeli regime refused to extend the deal as initially planned, choosing instead to intensify its military assaults on Gaza by shattering the 2-month deal.
Dozens of the captives have already been killed in Israel’s indiscriminate and relentless bombardment of the Palestinian territory, and now, the Israeli-imposed starvation is taking its toll on them, too.
The Israeli aggression continues unabated despite calls from the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israel’s barbaric onslaught on the Strip has since October 2023 killed 63,633 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 160,914 others.
Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for and presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the besieged territory.