THOUSANDS of protesters descended on “Fort Netanyahu” as Israel’s prime minister addressed the United States Congress on Wednesday.
The far-right Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that he was only interested in a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, disarms and releases all hostages it is holding.
But Mr Netanyahu said that Israel would continue to fight indefinitely until it destroys the group’s military capabilities and brings home all hostages.
“Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home,” he said. “That’s what total victory means. And we will settle for nothing less.”
Critics have said that Mr Netanyahu’s vow of total victory is unrealistic, as Hamas has repeatedly regrouped in areas that the Israeli military has withdrawn from.
Meanwhile thousands of protesters in the US capitol have continued to demand an immediate ceasefire.
Protesters climbed the flagpoles outside Washington’s Union Station on Wednesday afternoon and replaced the US flags with Palestinian flags.
Across the street from Union Station, Jewish Americans gathered for a prayer service led by T’ruah, an organisation of rabbis calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Rabbi Bill Plevan, of New York, said that he believed prayer could be a catalyst for peace.
“We’re here to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress,” he said. “We’re here to say we don’t stand by his policies. As American Jews, we don’t support this war.”
Protesters said police wearing riot gear launched “an unprovoked attack,” against them.
The People’s Forum education director Layan Fuleihan and a main organiser of the march who was herself pepper-sprayed, said: “As soon as this mass assembly began to march towards Congress, police attacked.”
She accused the police of unleashing “pepper spray on people” exercising their First Amendment rights to protest.
Brian Becker, national director of the Answer Coalition who was also pepper-sprayed by police, said: “All of downtown Washington, DC was converted into ‘Fort Netanyahu,’ with massive fences and barricades blocking all the surrounding streets so as to deprive the people of their right to protest near the war criminal’s whereabouts.”
At least four people were reportedly arrested during the brutal police clampdown.
Capitol Police said in a post on X that some members of the crowd had become “violent” and had “failed to obey” orders to move back from the police line.
The police said they deployed “pepper spray toward anyone trying to break the law and cross that line.”
