TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have been left up the creek without a paddle amid rising public anger over his handling of the Gaza war.

Netanyahu has been under growing pressure from the Israeli public and officials since the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise military operation in southern Israel more than 6 months ago. 

On October 7, Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. More than 1,100 people were killed during the operation and about 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive.     
The resistance movement freed more than 100 captives following a weeklong truce in November last year. 

Israel says 129 captives are still in Gaza including nearly three dozen believed to be no longer alive. Some of them have died during Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army has also recovered the bodies of 12 captives. 

Over the past months, Israelis have thronged cities to express their anger at Netanyahu’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack and secure the release of the remaining captives. 

At the weekend, tens of thousands of people once again hit the streets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities.

The protesters asked the Israeli cabinet to call off the Gaza war that was launched following Hamas’s military operation. They also called for a ceasefire deal to have the captives released. The demonstrators further demanded early elections and Netanyahu’s resignation. 

Einav Zangauker, whose son is held in Gaza, denounced Netanyahu in a notably bitter language. 

Speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv, Zangauker blamed Netanyahu for being “responsible for the abandonment of the hostages in Gaza.” 

 “They could already have been at home, but you torpedoed the deal,” Zangauker said. 

Some other family members of the captives, who participated in the protest in Tel Aviv, accused the Israeli prime minister of “sabotaging” a deal for the release of captives. 

Protesters, who had gathered outside Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem, also made a blistering attack on him.

“I dreamed about sitting with my brother at the Passover Seder table. Benjamin Netanyahu, you shattered this dream by blocking the deal from going through, out of your personal interests and empty slogans about total victory,” the brother of one of the captives said. 

Anat Arbel, a reservist in the Israeli army who holds the rank of major, came down hard on Netanyahu.

 “This government is fighting us,” he said. 

A protest leader also accused Netanyahu of stifling rallies. 

The largest anti-Netanyahu protest was held a week ago in Tel Aviv, which according to organizers, drew 100,000 people. The rally turned violent as several people were injured in a ramming when a driver plowed his vehicle through the demonstrators. 

In addition to public pressure on Netanyahu to reach a truce deal with Hamas, Israeli opposition figures have accused him of prolonging the war in favor of his political interests.

Netanyahu has failed to achieve “total victory” over Hamas and crush the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. Hence, he seeks to continue the war to gloss over his regime’s military failures. 

The number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s six-month war on Gaza has surpassed 33,700. The death toll is likely much higher, with an estimated 8,000 bodies believed to have been buried under the rubble of the buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes. 

Israel continues the war of genocide in Gaza through unwavering military support provided by the U.S. and some other Western countries.

Not only Israel but also Washington and some of its European allies are complicit in the massacres of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.