(Jerusalem) “You will have neither day nor night” in peace: thousands of Israelis, including many relatives of hostages held in Gaza, demonstrated again Tuesday evening in Jerusalem to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign , accused of having “betrayed” popular trust.
“You are leading a campaign against me, against the hostage families, you have turned against us. You call us “traitors” when YOU are the traitor, a traitor to your people, to your voters, to the State of Israel,” Einav Zangauker shouted into the microphone.
His son Matan has been held in the Gaza Strip since the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, which sparked a war in the Gaza Strip.
“You are responsible for October 7 in every possible way, you are an obstacle to an agreement on the hostages, you leave us no choice, you must give way. And we will continue to pursue you and you will have neither day nor night, as long as my son Matan has neither day nor night,” she said in front of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) in front of demonstrators gathered to the 4e evening since Saturday.
Former Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak subsequently called for “elections now!” »: “the entry into Rafah (of the army, promised by the government, editor’s note) will occur in a few weeks, but the elimination of Hamas in a few months, and by then all the hostages will return in coffins” , he warned, judging that “even if the release of the hostages implies a cease-fire, Hamas can be crushed”.
After weeks of demonstrations every Saturday in Tel Aviv, the anti-government camps and hostage families have joined forces to shout their anger every evening since Sunday in front of the Knesset.
Some even spend the night there in tents.
Nurit Steinfeld, a 72-year-old retiree, knits with others a red (for anger) and white (for peace) scarf, also a symbol of endless waiting. Objective: knit 70 km, like the distance between Gaza and the Knesset. They are now 30 km away.
“It’s a way for us to express ourselves in these very difficult times,” she explained, with the “feeling that this country might not exist for very long, because we feel threatened by from the outside, but especially from the inside, with half of the country supporting a government that I consider criminal, corrupt.”
“Many of us feel held hostage […]. On both sides they don’t listen to us, they prefer to kill each other,” she added.