People have begun to gather at Habima Square in Tel Aviv ahead of this evening’s protests calling for elections to replace the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Demonstrators chant: “We won’t form a government of racists, we won’t form a government of criminals.”
A contingent from the Pink Front, an Israeli activist group, leads a chant with drums, singing: “The High Court protects all of us,” apparently referring to the government’s currently frozen judicial overhaul efforts that would curtail the High Court’s power.
The main protest and speeches begin at 6:30 p.m.(local time).
About 240 people were taken captive by Hamas fighters as they launched an unprecedented attack into southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.
Israel responded with a devastating bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, which has displaced more than 80 percent of the population and reduced much of the territory to rubble. Palestinian officials say at least 25,700 people have been killed and more than 63,000 wounded in the Israeli assault.
Following lengthy negotiations led by Qatar and the US, more than 100 of those captured were freed in late November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as Israel and Hamas observed a weeklong truce.
The Gulf state remains involved in talks aimed at securing a new deal for the release of roughly 130 captives still being held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
