Thousands of Israelis rally in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem demanding early elections

Thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the largest protests Israel has seen since the start of the war against Hamas, a significant challenge to the increasingly embattled leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The protesters demanded the government secure a ceasefire deal that would also free Israeli captives held by Hamas in Gaza and called for early elections, Al Jazeera reports.

Demonstrators claimed the Jerusalem protest was the biggest since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has faced widespread criticism over the security failure of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which 1,139 people were killed and about 250 others taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.

A truce between Israel and Hamas in November led to the release of more than 100 captives in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

A new round of talks on a ceasefire and captive-prisoner exchange was expected to start on March 31 in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, although Hamas said the group had not decided whether to send a delegation.

Mediators had hoped to secure a ceasefire before the start of Ramadan, but progress stalled and the Muslim holy month is more than half over.

“After six months, it seems like the government understands that Bibi Netanyahu is an obstacle,” demonstrator Einav Moses, whose father-in-law Gadi Moses is being held captive, told The Associated Press news agency. “Like he doesn’t really want to bring them back, that they have failed in this mission.”

The demonstrators also demanded new elections nearly two years ahead of schedule.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised Netanyahu at the demonstration, saying he was destroying Israel’s relations with the United States and leaving the captives to their fate.