Tents for the families of detainees in Gaza during their sit-in in front of the Knesset (Reuters)

Families of detainees in Gaza boycotted a plenary session of the Knesset on Wednesday and demanded an immediate exchange deal to return all prisoners detained in Gaza. This came a day after confrontations broke out during protests in front of the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The families of the prisoners who were in the Knesset session painted their hands yellow, which they took as a symbol of their protest, and chanted slogans demanding the immediate return of the prisoners. They were joined by a number of opposition party representatives.

Relatives of Israeli prisoners and detainees announced their sit-in inside the Knesset, and this coincided with the last day of the Knesset’s General Assembly meetings before it left for a two-month holiday.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid addressed a call to the demonstrators and asked them to uphold the law, and called on the police to preserve the safety of the demonstrators. He said, "The demonstrators are the families of the kidnapped people whom you abandoned and who became inside Hamas tunnels during your reign."

Woes to Israel

Lapid added that the continuation of the Israeli government after the attack of last October 7 until now “is bringing woes to Israel for generations.” He added that there is no other country in the world in which this government would have remained in power on October 8. .

Yesterday, clashes broke out between Israeli police and demonstrators, including family members of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

The demonstrators stormed barriers set up by police around Netanyahu's house, while security forces used violence to disperse the demonstrators. The police announced the arrest of 5 demonstrators and the injury of a policeman during the confrontations.

Haaretz newspaper quoted an official in the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet as saying that he informed police officials that yesterday’s protests at Netanyahu’s house could have ended with the shooting of demonstrators, and he considered that what happened crossed red lines.

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted Shin Bet head Ronen Bar as saying that last night's demonstrations "are moving in a worrying direction, and may lead to dangerous situations that should not be reached."

Ronen stressed that "there is a clear line between legitimate protest and violent and illegal protest that may harm public security."

For his part, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that he warned the Shin Bet last week against disregarding Netanyahu's security, and considered that the storming of thousands around Netanyahu's house without the Shin Bet's intervention was "unacceptable."

The protesters responded

On the other hand, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the demonstrators said - in a statement - that they have the right to protest against a government that is destroying Israel.

The statement added that the presence of demonstrators in the streets is the way to express their “bleeding” pain, stressing that they will not stop screaming and demanding elections in the face of a government that “does not see its citizens.” The demonstrators stressed that their methods of demonstration are not violent and will never be so, as they put it.

For 3 days, the city of Jerusalem has witnessed massive protests demanding that Netanyahu's government step down, hold early elections, and conclude an agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to return Israeli prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

The opposition and protesters say that Netanyahu is following policies that serve his personal interests, especially continuing in power, and that he has failed to achieve the goals of the war on Gaza, by returning prisoners and eliminating Hamas.

Netanyahu refuses to hold early elections, claiming that they would paralyze the state and could freeze prisoner release negotiations for 8 months.

Source: Al Jazeera