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Anti-Netanyahu Protesters Clash with Israeli Police

People protest on a day of strike and resistance, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX
People protest on a day of strike and resistance, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX
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Anti-Netanyahu Protesters Clash with Israeli Police

People protest on a day of strike and resistance, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX
People protest on a day of strike and resistance, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX

Israeli police deployed a water cannon and made several arrests on Thursday as protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared for a third consecutive day.

Thousands of Israelis have joined anti-Netanyahu demonstrations with opponents of the move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar joining forces with protesters angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.

"We're very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship," Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. "They're abandoning our hostages, they're neglecting all the important things for this country."

On Thursday, police and demonstrators clashed as hundreds marched along the road leading to the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons, Reuters reported.

Protests were planned later outside the Kirya military headquarters complex in Tel Aviv.

A day earlier there were angry confrontations between protesters and counter-demonstrators, highlighting divisions that have deepened since Netanyahu returned to power at the head of a right-wing coalition at the end of 2022.

Even before the war in Gaza, tens of thousands of Israelis were joining regular demonstrations protesting at a government drive to curb the power of the judiciary that critics saw as an assault on Israeli democracy but which the government said was needed to limit judicial overreach.

Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during its assault on Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.

Israel's cabinet is expected to meet on Friday to formally approve the dismissal of Bar, who has clashed with Netanyahu over a corruption investigation against aides in his office that the prime minister has called a politically motivated attack.

 

 

 

 

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Congo M23 Rebels Say They Will Withdraw from Seized Town to Support Peace Push

Abandoned military helmets that belonged to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) are seen at Goma airport after the town was seized by the M23 rebels, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
Abandoned military helmets that belonged to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) are seen at Goma airport after the town was seized by the M23 rebels, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Congo M23 Rebels Say They Will Withdraw from Seized Town to Support Peace Push

Abandoned military helmets that belonged to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) are seen at Goma airport after the town was seized by the M23 rebels, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)
Abandoned military helmets that belonged to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) are seen at Goma airport after the town was seized by the M23 rebels, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staging an offensive in east Congo said on Saturday they would withdraw forces from the seized town of Walikale in support of peace efforts, having previously said they were leaving troops there as they pushed on to the capital.

The government said it hoped the move would be translated into concrete action, after M23 this week pulled out of planned talks with Congolese authorities at the last minute due to EU sanctions on some of its leaders and Rwandan officials.

It would have been their first direct engagement with Congo's government after President Felix Tshisekedi reversed his longstanding refusal to speak to the rebels.

The Congo River Alliance, which includes M23, said in a statement on Saturday that it had "decided to reposition its forces" from Walikale and surrounding areas that M23 took control of this week.

This decision was in line with a ceasefire declared in February and in support of peace initiatives, it said in a statement that was greeted with skepticism by army officers.

A senior member of the alliance who did not wish to be named said repositioning meant withdrawing to "give peace a chance". The source declined to say where M23 rebels would withdraw to.

"We are asking for Walikale and surroundings to remain demilitarized," the source said. "If the FARDC (Congo's army) and their allies come back, this means they want to relaunch hostilities."

Foreign Affairs Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner told reporters: "We are going to see whether M23 will withdraw from Walikale and whether M23 will give priority to dialogue and peace ... So we hope that this will be translated into concrete action."

PEACE EFFORTS

Congo's army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An army officer said he was skeptical about the announced withdrawal. Another officer said M23 was advancing towards Mubi, another town in the area, after the army and pro-government militia bombed Walikale's airport and cut off some of M23's road access.

"They now have a provision problem," said the second officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They will not withdraw. They will move in front of (Walikale) and behind it."

A M23 officer told Walikale residents on Thursday they were leaving a small group of soldiers there to provide security, while other soldiers "continue all the way to Kinshasa".

Walikale is the furthest west the rebels have reached in an unprecedented advance that has already overrun eastern Congo's two largest cities since January.

Its capture put the rebels within 400 km (250 miles) of Kisangani, the country's fourth-biggest city with a bustling port at the Congo River's farthest navigable point upstream of the capital Kinshasa, some 1,500 km (930 miles) away.

There have been several attempts to resolve the spiraling conflict, rooted in the fallout from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches, including several ceasefires that were violated and regional summits to open up dialogue.

Congo, the United Nations and Western governments say Rwanda has been providing arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda denies this, saying its military has been acting in self-defense against Congo's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the genocide.

The M23 alliance leader Corneille Naanga on Friday dismissed a joint call for an immediate ceasefire by Congo and Rwanda and reiterated demands for direct talks with Kinshasa, saying it was the only way to resolve the conflict.