An anti-government protest in Tel Aviv ended in riots. According to the Israeli police press service, a total of 62 people were detained for public order violations.
Demonstrators gathered on Wednesday evening in central Tel Aviv near the local headquarters of the Likud party, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The action was timed to coincide with an important moment: 600 days of the war in Gaza, which began after the attack on Israel by radicals from the Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu's opponents, who are against his attitude towards the hostage negotiations and demanding the immediate release of all the hostages, brought a spotlight with them, which they used to shine a large Qatari flag on the party building, The Times of Israel reports. In Arabic and Hebrew, it read “Embassy of Qatar in Israel“. This was a reference to a scandalous investigation into Netanyahu's advisers suspected of having ties to the ruling circles of Qatar, with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.
Protesters blocked traffic on the streets adjacent to the Likud building, tried to start fires and clashed with law enforcement officers. A group of demonstrators managed to enter the building and tried to barricade themselves there. The police declared the protest, which turned into riots, illegal, forcibly took all the protesters out into the street and dispersed the rally. According to the organization's press service, two police officers were injured during the crowd dispersal, one of whom suffered a broken arm.
Source: tass.ru