Netanyahu criticises protests in Israel against his handling of Gaza war

Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised massive street protests against his handling of the Gaza war, and failure to secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages, suggesting demonstrators were giving comfort to Hamas’s position in negotiations.

The Israeli prime minister made his comments against the backdrop of the largest protests in almost two years of war, with estimates that upwards of 400,000 people joined marches across Israel on Sunday.

“The people who are calling today for the war’s end without Hamas’s defeat are not only toughening Hamas’s stance and distancing our hostages’ release, they are also ensuring that the atrocities of October 7 will recur time and again, and that our sons and daughters will have to fight time and again in an endless war...