The Hadash party on Thursday called on the public to join in demonstrations
throughout the country in opposition to Operation Pillar of Defense in
Gaza.
“Stop the killing, stop the bloodshed immediately,” the party’s MK
Dov Henin said.
“One bombing leads to another, leading to more and more
people being injured in Gaza and Israel. Another round of war... The cycle of
violence is not the solution but the problem,” he added.
Henin called on
the government to reach an “immediate cease-fire” and announce the opening of
“genuine negotiations and an agreement with the Palestinians.”
There were
demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem on Thursday night.
At the
rally in Tel Aviv, Hadash MK Muhammad Barakei said Jews and Arabs together were
calling for an end to the violence.
“We came here to say that wars do not
solve the conflict, only serve to add more bloodshed.
We hope to hear the
nation cry out against the right-wing government,” Barakei said.
Hundreds
attended the antiwar protest on King George Street in Tel Aviv, which was
interrupted when an air raid siren was sounded in the city for the first time
since 1991 during the First Gulf War. Two explosions were heard following the
siren, an hour after a rocket from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area
outside Rishon Lezion. There were no reports of injuries in either
strike.
The attacks mark the first time the center of the country was hit
during the current violence.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the
rocket.
“We have widened the range of the battle to reach Tel Aviv, and
what is coming will be greater,” the terrorist group said.