Mass anti-regime rallies sweep Israeli-occupied territories with one million protesters

More than one million people poured into the streets of the occupied territories on Sunday in a massive show of defiance against the Israeli regime for its handling of the Gaza war, amid intensified attacks on Gaza City to forcibly displace tens of thousands of starving Palestinians again.

Despite a heavy police presence, demonstrators rallied across major occupied cities, including Tel Aviv, demanding an end to the war and a deal for the release of 50 captives held in Gaza by resistance groups.

Organizers reported that almost 500,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv for the mass rally, marking one of the largest protest movements since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.

Protesters blocked roads, set tires on fire, and clashed with the police throughout the day across the Israeli-occupied cities.

Media reports indicated that Israeli police made dozens of arrests and used water cannons on protesters who gathered for the demonstrations.

The mass rallies were a part of a one-day “popular strike“ to protest against the Israeli military’s continued genocidal war in Gaza, and were organized by the associations of relatives and friends of the captives.

Numerous businesses and municipalities went on strike as a show of solidarity. Schools, businesses, public transport, restaurants, and cafes also closed. The two major theatres in Tel Aviv also halted their performances.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also participated in the strike.

Lapid told protesters in a video posted on X that the strikes are meant to tell the Israeli cabinet that the captives are not “pawns … sacrifice[d] for the sake of the war effort.”

Israelis stage anti-regime rallies calling for end to Gaza war

Israeli protesters stage anti-regime rallies, calling for an end to the zionist forces

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat and consul general in New York, also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a lack of accountability and continuing the war for his political survival.

“Most prime ministers would have resigned after October 7th … He is not just another prime minister. He cares only about his survival,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, also slammed the Israeli regime for “attacking the families” of the captives while “bearing responsibility for the captivity of their children by Hamas for nearly two years.”

The protests infuriated Israeli cabinet ministers who lashed out at the demonstrators for “playing into the hands of Hamas.”

The protests took place days after the Israeli regime’s war cabinet approved fresh plans to occupy Gaza City, 22 months into a war that has created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

The genocidal war has devastated the Gaza Strip and left much of its population on the brink of an Israeli-imposed famine.

Since launching the war, the Israeli forces have killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to official figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry.

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