Israel : Thousands demand an exchange deal and early elections, and the police arrest demonstrators

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Thousands of people returned to demonstrate in several areas across Israel on Saturday evening, demanding the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and the holding of early elections, while the police arrested a number of demonstrators and dispersed dozens.

The police arrested two demonstrators in Kaplan Square in downtown Tel Aviv, on charges of inciting a riot and disrespecting the regime, according to Israeli Occupation Army Radio.

It also dispersed dozens of demonstrators after they set fires near a commercial complex in central Tel Aviv, on charges of "committing an illegal act."

Israeli Army Radio (official) reported that thousands gathered in Kaplan Square and other areas in Tel Aviv, including “Kidnappers Square” and in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters, to demand the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal (with Hamas).

Opposition leader Yair Lapid participated in two demonstrations in “Kidnappers Square” and in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters.

Lapid said, in a post on his page on the

The country is burning

In Jerusalem, thousands of Israeli demonstrators in Paris Square demanded concluding an exchange deal and holding early elections, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

In turn, the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" (privately) explained that thousands of Israelis demonstrated at the Karkur junction near the city of Haifa (north), to demand the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal and the replacement of the current government.

A number of demonstrators closed the intersection to traffic, and some of them at the Karkur intersection raised banners reading: “The country is burning,” and “The government has abandoned fighters and prisoners.”

In the city of Caesarea (north), near the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thousands of Israelis demonstrated to demand the conclusion of an immediate exchange deal. They also attacked the government and held it responsible for the lives of detainees in Gaza.

The demonstrators in Caesarea demanded the immediate dismissal of Netanyahu and his government, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

Other points in different parts of the country witnessed similar demonstrations in which hundreds of Israelis participated.

Earlier Saturday, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that negotiations with Hamas regarding reaching a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire will resume next week.

Over the course of two days, Cairo hosted the last negotiating round, before the delegations of Hamas and Israel left the Egyptian capital, on May 9, without announcing that an agreement had been reached, despite the movement’s acceptance at the time of a Qatari-Egyptian proposal regarding the exchange of prisoners and a ceasefire with Israel, which was... The latter rejected it and began a military operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, then took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing the next day.

Amid a stifling siege imposed by Israel on Gaza for 18 years, and an escalation of its violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, launched a surprise attack on military sites and settlements adjacent to the Strip on October 7, 2023, during which they captured about 239 people.

Later, the factions exchanged 105 of these detainees for many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, during a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted 7 days and ended in early December 2023.

While Tel Aviv says that 121 of these prisoners remain in the hands of the factions, the latter confirms that dozens of them were killed in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli war on Gaza left more than 116,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

Israel continues this war, ignoring a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop the fighting immediately, and orders from the Court of Justice to stop its attack on Rafah, and take immediate measures to prevent acts of “genocide” and “improve the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.​