The World Today
MADRID, 17 (EUROPA PRESS)
Israeli police reported Sunday that a total of 25 people have been arrested across the country as part of protests demanding that the government halt its expansion of its offensive on the Gaza Strip and reach an agreement to release hostages held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
"Freedom of protest and expression is not the freedom to set fires, to harm the freedom of movement of many, or to disturb public order," the Israeli police recalled in a brief message posted on social media.
Dozens of people blocked the Ayalon Highway leading to Tel Aviv this Sunday with pickets. Similar protests also occurred on Jerusalem's Begin Highway, forcing police to deploy a water cannon to disperse the demonstrators.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered at Hostages' Square in Tel Aviv, where Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged everyone to "do everything possible" to ensure the return of the hostages held in Gaza to their loved ones.
Protests have also taken place, to a lesser extent, at the homes of key government ministers, including Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Education Minister Yoav Kisch in Jerusalem.
Israel's leading universities, dozens of organizations, and some 70 local authorities are supporting the informal strike called for this Sunday by the families of those held hostage and killed during the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to occupy Gaza City and the camps in the center of the enclave has been harshly criticized by family members who consider the operation a death sentence for the approximately 20 hostages still alive.
