Thousands of Israelis take to streets to demand hostage swap deal, dismissal of Netanyahu gov't

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday in several areas in the country, demanding a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions and dismissal of the government led by Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that thousands of Israelis in several areas, including Tel Aviv, Netanya, Haifa, and the Qiryat Tivon junction, called for the release of hostages in Gaza, the holding of early elections, and the dismissal of the Netanyahu government.

Nearly 37,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli forces since October last year, most of them women and children, and almost 85,200 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul