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Police officers use horses to take action against government opponents in Tel Aviv.
© Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/dpa
Thousands of people take to the streets in several Israeli cities.
They are demonstrating against Netanyahu and for a hostage deal.
Criticism of the current government is increasing.
Tel Aviv - Thousands of people demonstrated in several Israeli cities on Saturday evening for the release of hostages held by Hamas and against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I call on the most failed government in (Israel’s) history: resign!” shouted a reserve officer wounded in the Gaza war, speaking at the largest rally in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv.
Participants in the protest in Tel Aviv carried banners that read, in Netanyahu, “You are the leader!
You are to blame!".
A growing number of critics accuse the head of government of misgoverning the country before and after the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups on southern Israel on October 7th.
Critics accuse him of subordinating everything to his own political advantage when making important decisions.
Water cannons against government opponents
In Tel Aviv, a group of government opponents tried to block a highway.
The police used water cannons to drive the demonstrators away, the media reported.
There were further rallies on Saturday in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and in Caesarea in front of a private villa of Netanyahu.
The fate of more than 130 remaining hostages kidnapped by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip deeply affects Israeli society.
According to Israeli estimates, around 100 of them are still alive.
Indirect negotiations are currently underway with the Islamist Hamas to secure their release in return for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
105 of the original more than 250 people kidnapped were released in November during a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
dpa