Israeli police detained several protesters, including relatives hostage

Israeli police detained at least four people at a demonstration outside the Kirya military headquarters in Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, on Tuesday evening, the Times of Israel website reports. Among those detained were relatives of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. A number of other participants in the protest received fines.

The protesters wanted to appeal to the government to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas that would include the release of Israeli hostages. As part of the protest, they blocked some traffic arteries in the capital and thus slowed down traffic in the metropolis.

According to Israeli media, two of the detainees are relatives of the nine-year-old boy Ohad Mudnder-Zichria, who was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother and grandfather on October 7. Ohad and his mother and grandmother were released as part of Israel’s agreement with Hamas, but his grandfather remains in captivity.

“There are still 19 women in captivity and it’s been six months,” one of the protesters, Ayla Metzger, whose father is also still in captivity, told the media. “Soon we celebrate Pesach, the holiday of freedom. What kind of freedom are we talking about? They (the hostages) are going through an awful lot, just the thought hurts,” she added. She appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that it is his responsibility to rescue people held by terrorists.

The Israeli police knew about the protest in advance. In a statement, she wrote that the police officers had prepared for him in order to be able to maintain public order. However, she subsequently called it illegal. “The Israeli police acted with the required sensitivity and allowed the protest of the hostages’ relatives, even though it was not legal. However, some protesters decided to block traffic on the Ayalon highway, putting motorists and themselves at risk and grossly disrupting public order,” the statement said.

Opposition leader Jair Lapid responded to the police action. According to him, the Israeli government “should have shown much more compassion and sensitivity to the families of the hostages.” “They and their families have been abandoned, and their fight is the most justifiable it can be,” he wrote on X.