TEHRAN - The Israeli cabinet is struggling to cope with unrelenting domestic pressure over its handling of the Gaza war, as the regime’s brutal onslaught on the besieged Palestinian territory enters its seventh month.

Israeli protesters thronged the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities like Jerusalem and Haifa over the weekend to vent their anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inability to get the remaining captives freed.  

Organizers said the protest in Tel Aviv had drawn 100,000 people, where police forcibly dispersed the crowd.

Confrontations took place between Israeli forces and protesters in the capital. 

Several anti-Netanyahu protesters were injured after a car rammed into the crowd.  In the wake of an ensuing hit-and-run incident, several protesters were also arrested. 

 “Police, police who exactly are you guarding?”, and “Ben-Gvir is a terrorist”, protesters chanted, referring to Israel’s minister of national security, according to Israeli media. 

Chanting slogans and holding banners, the demonstrators also demanded a captive deal, Netanyahu’s resignation, and early elections. 
“You’ve failed,” one poster read. “Impeachment now,” read another.

Call for ceasefire

The rallies came after the Israeli army recovered the body of a 47-year-old captive. Elad Katzir appeared alive in a video released in January.

Katzir's sister blamed Israeli officials for her brother's death, saying he would have returned alive had they agreed a new truce deal [with Hamas].

"Our leadership is cowardly and driven by political consideration, which is why this deal has not happened yet," Carmit Palty Katzir said. 

She added, "Prime Minister, war cabinet, and coalition members: Look at yourself in the mirror and say if your hands didn't spill blood."

He was among 253 Israelis and foreigners who were taken captive when Hamas carried out a military operation in southern Israel on October 7 during which more than 1,100 were killed. 

Hamas released over 100 captives following a weeklong truce in late November.

Israel says 129 captives are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead. The Israeli army has also recovered 12 bodies including that of Elad Katzir. 

Some of the captives lost their lives during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. 

The strikes, which began following Hamas’s military operation, have left more than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza dead. This includes more than 14,000 children and about 9,220 women. Netanyahu launched the Gaza war with the stated goals of bringing back captives and destroying Hamas. He has vowed to continue the war until total victory over Hamas, a dream which has so far remained elusive.  

Families of the captives were among those who took part at the weekend’s rallies which were the largest since Israel declared war on Gaza on October 7.

They urged the Netanyahu cabinet to focus on captive retrieval than any military or security objectives.

One of the female captives who was freed in November demanded that Israeli authorities “take responsibility” and put more effort into releasing other captives who are held in Gaza.  

Political gaps

The weekend rallies also threw a spotlight on widening political gaps among Israeli officials. 

Former Israeli prime minister and current opposition leader Yair Lapid was among protesters in Jerusalem. 

Speaking to crowds, he accused the Netanyahu government of inciting the hit-and-run incident in Tel Aviv and ignoring the existence of the families of captives. 

"We will not be deterred and will not be made to stop protesting until the hostages are returned and this terrible government falls," Lapid said. 

A protest movement said just before the incident Transportation Minister Miri Regev had accused the protesters of wanting to murder Netanyahu, which drew a reaction from war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

"Comparing the protesters to our enemies and accusing them of wanting to assassinate the prime minister shows a lack of national responsibility," Gantz said.  

Protests like the ones that took place at the weekend have become a regular occurrence in Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel over the past six months. But rising violence and widening gaps among Israeli officials indicate that the regime’s warmongering policy in Gaza has miserably failed.