TEHRAN- As the initial shock among Israelis of the al-Aqsa Storm Operation is fading away, many are turning against their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Widespread Israeli public anger was on full display as Israeli protesters demonstrated outside Netanyahu's residence in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) demanding the Israeli leader be held accountable for the failures that led to last month's deadly attack by Hamas on Israeli military bases and settlements around the besieged Gaza Strip.

Among those who participated in the protests were the family members of those being detained by Hamas who are demanding cabinet exchange the 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners being held in the regime's jails in exchange for their family members, who include Israeli troops and settlers. 

The protests, which coincided with a poll that shows more than three-quarters of Israelis want Netanyahu to immediately step down, are another sign underlining the growing Israeli public fury at their political and military leaders.

The survey conducted by the regime's Channel 13 Television showed that 76% of Israelis want Netanyahu, now serving a record sixth term as prime minister, to resign and 64% saying the regime should hold an election immediately after the war.

When asked who is most at fault for the Hamas attack, 44% of Israelis blamed Netanyahu, while 33% put the blame on the military chief of staff and senior military officials while 5% blamed the Israeli minister of war, according to the poll.
Netanyahu was already under fire and a deeply divisive leader before Hamas' retaliatory operation, amid massive weekly protests for nine months that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets over his deeply controversial so-called judicial overhaul to avoid a prison sentence over corruption charges. 

Now, the anger has increased significantly as crowds of protesters pushed through police barriers around Netanyahu's home in occupied al-Quds, chanting "Jail now!", in reference to the PM and "ceasefire now" in reference to the war on Gaza, where calls are mounting for the detainees being held by Hamas to be brought back.

Hostages being held by the Palestinian resistance have always been a deeply sensitive issue among the Israelis. A previous Palestinian resistance operation in 2006 that captured one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was met with massive outrage in Israel.

Demonstrations have also been staged in a number of other settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories, with at least eight major protests in various areas. 

Tens of thousands demonstrated In Tel Aviv, waving flags and holding photographs of some of the captives in Gaza and posters with slogans reading "Release the hostages now at all costs" while crowds chanted, "Bring them home now".
Adding to the Israeli public anger, so far Netanyahu has not accepted personal responsibility for the failures that allowed the surprise October 7 retaliatory operation, which saw hundreds of Hamas resistance fighters storm into southern Israeli military bases and settlements killing hundreds of Israeli troops and hundreds of settlers as well as taking at least 240 hostage.

The rising Israeli anger against their political and military leadership is in stark contrast to the mood in the Gaza Strip. 

Despite being under an unprecedented Israeli blockade that has seen very low supplies of water, food, medicine, and urgent basic needs entering the Gaza Strip, and despite the unprecedented and unseen bombardment by Israeli warplanes, reports say the masses are supporting the resistance forces fighting the occupiers.
Also, considering the fact that the Israeli bombs have fallen on civilian sites and residential homes, killing thousands of women and children and injuring thousands of others, the strong public backing for the resistance has made the mood in Gaza quite unique. 

As Israel faces an internal crisis amid its brutal war on Gaza, not a single protest, rally or complaint has been reported by the residents of Gaza against Hamas, which was elected to power in January 2006 after winning more seats than the West Bank-based Fatah party.

A recent survey also revealed that Palestinians favor the resistance over the Ramallah-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid the expanding Israeli war in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. 

Essentially, Hamas not only represents the Gaza Strip but is a fabric of the Gaza population, and its residents back the Palestinian resistance represented by Hamas and other factions. 
A countless number of verified clips that have gone viral on social media shows women and children in the aftermath of Israel's indiscriminate airstrikes, that kill all their family members, standing defiant whilst vowing their love and support for the Palestinian resistance as well as their unflinching position to sacrifice their lives and the lives of their loved ones for the Gaza Strip and Hamas. 

One video shows a woman, who lost almost all her family members? after an Israeli airstrike leveled their five-story building, being asked what message she wants to deliver to the world, directs her answer to the Arab countries who have stayed silent and laments their soft stance and inaction toward the massacre in Gaza, while at the same time vowing to resist the invading Israeli forces.

She asks those silent in the Arab world, "Where are you? when the smell of dead bodies fills the roads of Gaza?... enjoy your sleep".

The woman added that nobody was armed in the residential block she lived in and that everyone was asleep when it was bombed.

Among the many other popular clips in reports by regional news media outlets, a child who has lost his father and other family members following an Israeli airstrike, makes a remarkable statement vowing to join the next generation of freedom fighters that resist Israeli aggression and occupation. 

The invading Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip is facing both external and internal crises, whilst the defenders of the land, particularly Hamas, have the backing of the people in the coastal enclave, despite the ruthless Israeli attacks against the civilian population.