JERUSALEM: Thousands of protesters massed in Jerusalem on Wednesday, chanting slogans against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who they accuse of undermining democracy and resuming Gaza strikes without regard for hostages.
Protesters shouted “You are the head, and you’re to blame” as well as “The blood is on your hands” at the demonstration near parliament, the largest to take place in Jerusalem for months.
The demonstration was organized by anti-Netanyahu opposition groups protesting the premier’s move to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
Following Netanyahu’s announcement to dismiss Bar, which threatened to trigger political crisis, Israel launched a wave of overnight strikes on Gaza, by far the deadliest since the start of a fragile ceasefire in January.
Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem.
“We hope all people from Israel will join this movement and we will not stop until we restore democracy and freedom for the hostages,” said Zeev Berar, 68, from Tel Aviv.
“At this rate we won’t have a country left, not a democratic one. It will be a dictatorship,” student Roni Sharon, 18, told AFP.
Some in the crowd brandished banners reading: “We are all hostages.”
Relatives of the hostages in the Gaza Strip have said the decision to resume strikes could “sacrifice” their loved ones.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The demonstrators in Jerusalem also accuse Netanyahu of using the war against Hamas to distract from domestic political concerns.
The prime minister has so far refused to set up a national commission of inquiry into Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, while his bid to dismiss Bar threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis.
Netanyahu’s government recently also moved to oust Israel’s attorney general and government judiciary adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, a fierce defendant of the judiciary’s independence.
A 2023 judicial reform project aimed at curbing the supreme court’s powers fractured the country and sparked major protests — before coming to an abrupt halt with Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“The last two years have been a nightmare for us,” said Yael Baron, 55, from the city of Modiin.
“I feel as though we are in the 99th minute and time is running out to save the country, the oxygen is running out for us, like democracy is running out.”
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Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem
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Thousands join anti-government rally in Jerusalem
- Relatives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza joined the rally outside the parliament in Jerusalem
US military transfers first 150 Daesh detainees from Syria to Iraq
- Transfer follows Syrian government forces taking control of Al-Hol camp from SDF
- US Central Command says up to 7,000 detainees could be transferred to Iraqi-controlled facilities
AL-HOL, Syria: The US military said Wednesday it has started transferring detainees from the Daesh group being held in northeastern Syria to secure facilities in Iraq.
The move came after Syrian government forces took control of a sprawling camp, housing thousands of mostly women and children, from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which withdrew as part of a ceasefire. Troops on Monday seized a prison in the northeastern town of Shaddadeh, where some Daesh detainees escaped and many were recaptured, state media reported.
The Kurdish-led SDF still controls more than a dozen detention facilities holding around 9,000 Daesh members.
US Central Command said the first transfer involved 150 Daesh members, who were taken from Syria’s northeastern province of Hassakah to “secure locations” in Iraq. The statement said that up to 7,000 detainees could be transferred to Iraqi-controlled facilities.
“Facilitating the orderly and secure transfer of Daesh detainees is critical to preventing a breakout that would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. He said the transfer was in coordination with regional partners, including Iraq.
US troops and their partner forces detained more than 300 Daesh operatives in Syria and killed over 20 last year, the US military said. An ambush last month by Daesh militants killed two US soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in Syria.
An Iraqi intelligence general told The Associated Press that an agreement was reached with the US to transfer 7,000 detainees from Syria to Iraq. He said that Iraqi authorities received the first batch of 144 detainees Wednesday night, after which they will be transferred in stages by aircraft to Iraqi prisons.
The general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the Daesh members who will be transferred to Iraq are of different nationalities. He said they include around 240 Tunisians, in addition to others from countries including Tajikistan and Kazakhstan and some Syrians.
“They will be interrogated and then put on trial. All of them are commanders in Daesh and are considered highly dangerous,” the general said. He added that in previous years, 3,194 Iraqi detainees and 47 French citizens have been transferred to Iraq.
Regional threat despite battle setbacks
The Daesh group was defeated in Iraq in 2017, and in Syria two years later, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries. The SDF played a major role in defeating Daesh.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, said in a statement on Tuesday that the SDF’s role as the primary anti-Daesh force “has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities.”
He added that the “recent developments show the US actively facilitating this transition, rather than prolonging a separate SDF role.”
Syria’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the transfer of detainees, calling it “an important step to strengthen security and stability.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a convoy of armored vehicles with government forces moved into the Al-Hol camp following two weeks of clashes with the SDF, which appeared closer to merging into the Syrian military, in accordance with government demands.
At its peak in 2019, some 73,000 people were living at Al-Hol. Their number has since declined with some countries repatriating their citizens.
The camp is still home to some 24,000, most of them women and children. They include about 14,500 Syrians and nearly 3,000 Iraqis. Some 6,500 others, many of them loyal Daesh supporters who came from around the world to join the extremist group, are separately held in a highly secured section of the camp.
The Syrian government and the SDF announced a new four-day truce on late Tuesday after a previous ceasefire broke down.
The move came after Syrian government forces took control of a sprawling camp, housing thousands of mostly women and children, from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which withdrew as part of a ceasefire. Troops on Monday seized a prison in the northeastern town of Shaddadeh, where some Daesh detainees escaped and many were recaptured, state media reported.
The Kurdish-led SDF still controls more than a dozen detention facilities holding around 9,000 Daesh members.
US Central Command said the first transfer involved 150 Daesh members, who were taken from Syria’s northeastern province of Hassakah to “secure locations” in Iraq. The statement said that up to 7,000 detainees could be transferred to Iraqi-controlled facilities.
“Facilitating the orderly and secure transfer of Daesh detainees is critical to preventing a breakout that would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. He said the transfer was in coordination with regional partners, including Iraq.
US troops and their partner forces detained more than 300 Daesh operatives in Syria and killed over 20 last year, the US military said. An ambush last month by Daesh militants killed two US soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in Syria.
An Iraqi intelligence general told The Associated Press that an agreement was reached with the US to transfer 7,000 detainees from Syria to Iraq. He said that Iraqi authorities received the first batch of 144 detainees Wednesday night, after which they will be transferred in stages by aircraft to Iraqi prisons.
The general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the Daesh members who will be transferred to Iraq are of different nationalities. He said they include around 240 Tunisians, in addition to others from countries including Tajikistan and Kazakhstan and some Syrians.
“They will be interrogated and then put on trial. All of them are commanders in Daesh and are considered highly dangerous,” the general said. He added that in previous years, 3,194 Iraqi detainees and 47 French citizens have been transferred to Iraq.
Regional threat despite battle setbacks
The Daesh group was defeated in Iraq in 2017, and in Syria two years later, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries. The SDF played a major role in defeating Daesh.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, said in a statement on Tuesday that the SDF’s role as the primary anti-Daesh force “has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities.”
He added that the “recent developments show the US actively facilitating this transition, rather than prolonging a separate SDF role.”
Syria’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the transfer of detainees, calling it “an important step to strengthen security and stability.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a convoy of armored vehicles with government forces moved into the Al-Hol camp following two weeks of clashes with the SDF, which appeared closer to merging into the Syrian military, in accordance with government demands.
At its peak in 2019, some 73,000 people were living at Al-Hol. Their number has since declined with some countries repatriating their citizens.
The camp is still home to some 24,000, most of them women and children. They include about 14,500 Syrians and nearly 3,000 Iraqis. Some 6,500 others, many of them loyal Daesh supporters who came from around the world to join the extremist group, are separately held in a highly secured section of the camp.
The Syrian government and the SDF announced a new four-day truce on late Tuesday after a previous ceasefire broke down.
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