Israeli police arrested 12 demonstrators in Tel Aviv on charges of “inciting riot” after they protested demanding a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, officials said on Saturday.
The police said in a statement that their forces detained 12 demonstrators for violating public order and blocking roads. The statement noted that some of the arrested protesters had set fires throughout the city.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in Kaplan Square in central Tel Aviv and other areas of the city, calling for a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas and early elections.
The protesters blocked vital streets, notably Begin Street adjacent to the Ministry of Defense headquarters in the city center.
According to official Palestinian sources, Israeli occupation authorities hold at least 9,100 Palestinians in their prisons, while the number of Israeli detainees in Gaza remains unclear due to Hamas’s refusal to reveal the figure “without a hefty price.”
Israeli media report between 240 and 253 Israeli prisoners, including three who were freed and 105 released by Hamas during a swap deal last November. The Palestinian movement mentions 70 others killed due to Israeli bombing.
A new round of indirect negotiations between Israeli occupation and Hamas is ongoing in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Egypt with U.S. participation, aiming to achieve a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal amid an ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The war on Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties, mostly children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN reports. This has led to Israel’s first appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide.”
