Five injured as car rams into anti-regime demonstration in Tel Aviv

A car has rammed into a crowd of demonstrators against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist cabinet in Tel Aviv, leaving five people injured.

The incident took place on Saturday night as an estimated 45,000 protesters flocked to the Namir Road in Tel Aviv to demand Netanyahu’s resignation for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and to exchange prisoners on both sides.

Video footage circulating on Israeli social media showed a woman in the passenger seat of a white car angrily arguing with anti-Netanyahu demonstrators, while police officers were attempting to guide the crowd and allow the car to leave the area.

The car is seen aggressively maneuvering through the protesters before abruptly accelerating into the crowd and running down several people.

“The driver briefly got out of his car to curse the protesters before being waved on by police. He then suddenly tore through the crowd with his car, hitting five people, including a 50-year-old woman,” Israeli media reports said.

Police said the driver ignored the request to stop and was arrested shortly after the incident, with authorities investigating the motive behind his actions and the passenger's involvement.

The driver was later identified as a former soccer player and coach.

Netanyahu 'responsible' for car-ramming: Lapid

The harrowing incident drew widespread condemnation from the Israeli regime’s politicians and officials, with opposition leader Yair Lapid saying Netanyahu was responsible for the violence and that the car-ramming attack was “the direct result of the rising incitement” from his cabinet.

Lapid reaffirmed the opposition's commitment to protesting until the release of more than 100 detainees in Gaza and the ousting of the current cabinet, stressing, “They will not deter us or stop us from protesting.”

Saturday’s protest in Tel Aviv, which comes in continuation of months-long mass rallies demanding Netanyahu’s removal, dragged on until around midnight before it was dispersed.

Police arrested four protesters and one protester, an elderly man, was knocked down by a police horse.

Thousands of protesters call for Netanyahu's removal in Tel Aviv, al-Quds

Israel

Among the protesters were the families of those detained by Hamas during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupied territories on October 7, 2023.

The Palestinian resistance movement detained 253 people during the operation. The regime says 132 are still in Gaza, of whom 104 are thought to be alive.

Hamas demands the release of hundreds of prisoners held in Israeli jails in return for 40 Israel detainees, in addition to a permanent ceasefire in the besieged territory.

Netanyahu, however, has so far refused to accept the deal.

More than 180 days into the war, the illegal entity has claimed the lives of 33,173 Palestinians in Gaza and injured 75,815 others, mostly women and children.

Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

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