Thousands of protesters rallied in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, demanding an early end of the war in the Gaza Strip and resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
It has become a regular event in Tel Aviv and sometimes in Jerusalem for Israelis to gather in the streets and air their grievances about the war in Gaza.
Some demonstrators blame the Israeli government and Netanyahu for failing to prevent the Hamas attack on October 7 last year. Others are concerned that the Israeli army let them down.
Much of the focus is on the roughly 130 hostages that remain in captivity. There is a growing pressure for the government to do something to make a deal to somehow get them home.
"I really hope that peace can be found soon and the hostages can be released and it would be really nice if both sides could live together, and I can't see how that's going to happen at the moment. I'm pretty pessimistic," said a Tel Aviv resident.
"Ask Hamas to bring back the hostages. If they bring back the hostages, I think the Israeli government could stop the war," said another resident.
"Just bring them home, just bring the hostages home," said another resident.
In two opinion polls to mark six months of war, the Israeli government fared badly. Most people think not enough is being done to get the hostages released, and half of those asked are calling for an election.
In more bad news for Netanyahu, hawks in the government coalition are threatening to leave if a deal is made with Hamas.
Israelis protest against war in Gaza
Israelis protest against war in Gaza
Israelis protest against war in Gaza
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed and issued a joint statement on deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The statement pointed out that the two sides will promote the all-round development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era with head-of-state diplomacy in a leading role. The two sides will fully implement important consensuses reached by the two heads of state, continue to maintain close high-level exchanges, ensure the smooth operation of governmental, local and non-governmental exchange mechanisms, and actively explore new cooperation channels, it said.
The statement emphasized that the two sides are willing to continue to deepen cooperation in various fields in accordance with the principle of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, work closely together to jointly overcome external challenges and adverse factors, improve the efficiency of bilateral cooperation, and achieve stable, high-quality development of cooperation. Both sides are willing to work together to actively expand people-to-people cooperation, enhance the level of cooperation, and expand cooperation results, it said.
The statement pointed out that both sides believe that people of all countries share a common future, and no country should seek its own security at the expense of the security of other countries. Both sides expressed concern about the practical challenges to international and regional security and pointed out that in the current geopolitical context, it is necessary to explore the establishment of a sustainable security system in Eurasia based on the principle of equal and indivisible security.
Xi, Putin sign, issue joint statement on deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for new era
