Israeli police break up rally in Tel Aviv protesting war on Gaza

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police on Tuesday evening broke up a rally in Tel Aviv protesting the ongoing war on Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Haaretz daily reported that the police aggressively dispersed the rally under the claim that it "harms the feelings of the public."

Claiming the small gathering was "illegal," police officers were seen confiscating a banner saying "Stop the Massacre" in Gaza.

The Walla news website also reported that the Israeli police preemptively blocked an anti-war rally in Haifa, northern Israel that was set for Saturday.

The rally was called by Israeli human rights groups including the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, a leftist rights group, to demand a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoners swap deal, according to Walla.

Recent weeks have seen growing calls in Israel for an end to the war on Gaza after it has gone on for three months without achieving any of its goals, mainly the defeat of Palestinian group Hamas.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv said killed 1,200 people.

At least 24,285 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,154 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

According to the UN, 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​ in Ankara