Protests in Israel Demand Ceasefire

Tel Aviv, Israel, January 6, 2024

Some 20,000 protesters rallied in Tel Aviv on January 6 at Habima Square, while smaller rallies were held in Haifa and outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea. The protestors raised the demand for immediate new national elections and for the government to make its priority the safe return of Israeli captives held by the Palestinian resistance. This stand is seen as a condemnation of the continuing Israeli genocidal aggression on Gaza.

The demonstration also received support from the tens of thousands who have been evacuated from their homes in areas near the Gaza Strip and the northern border with Lebanon and from relatives of people who were killed in the events which followed the initial Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Besides escalating its murderous campaign in Gaza and the West Bank and its attacks on Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, Israel continues to threaten war against Lebanon and the Hezbollah resistance movement.

Palestinian resistance movements are united in their stand that there will be no negotiations with Israel over the captives or anything else until there is a ceasefire and Israeli forces are withdrawn from Gaza, among other things.

The families of 13 Israeli civilians killed in Be'eri on October 7 are asking the Israeli military to investigate the cause of their deaths, Israeli media reported on January 7. The families are requesting the investigation due to the likelihood that most were deliberately killed on the orders of an Israeli general who ordered a tank to fire on a home where they were being held captive by fighters of Hamas' Qassam Brigades.

In a letter dated January 4 published in Israeli media, the families demanded the Israeli army "carry out an in-depth and transparent investigation of the decisions and the actions that led to this tragic outcome." Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, commander of the 99th Division who was at the scene, told the New York Times that at nightfall he told his soldiers: "The negotiations are over," and told a tank commander to "break in, even at the cost of civilian casualties." The tank fired two shells at the house, killing 12 of the captives and dozens of Hamas fighters. One other captive, Yizhak Sitton, had already been killed by Hamas, according to family members. The fourteenth captive, Hadas Dagan, was the only survivor.

The letter, addressed to Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, noted that "according to the evidence, the tank shells were fatal and killed many hostages in addition to the terrorists." The letter stated: "It is important to the bereaved families and to the public to understand the circumstances in which these decisions were made and to ensure that public trust, the values of the IDF, and the responsibility of command are maintained even in these difficult days."

This demand is deepening the crisis within Israel official circles which have no intention of submitting to limitations on their ability to act with impunity. Officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, have refused to investigate the events of October 7 even as more and more evidence surfaces, despite their efforts to suppress it, which negates the official narrative repeated ad nauseam by Israel, the U.S. and their supporters in Canada and western Europe.

Despite officials' refusal to respond to the families' request, on January 6 Herzi Halevi, the Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), announced the decision to form a committee to investigate the military failures leading to Hamas' devastating October 7 offensive, adding that the decision should have been made a long time ago, certainly not three months into the war. The government's January 6 cabinet meeting was reportedly spent discussing lashing out at the IDF chief of staff for initiating an investigation while the government is actively engaged in operations in Gaza.

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 3 - January 10, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54032.HTM

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