MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. /TASS/. Israeli law enforcers detained 15 people after a mass rally in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday night, the police press service said.

According to the statement, the detainees decided to stay on city streets even after the gathering was declared to be over, violating the public order and trying to block traffic. They laid bonfires on roadways, failed to obey police orders and even clashed with law enforcers.

"The right to protest and express opinions freely does not imply the permission to start fires, block major roads, break through police cordons and infringe upon other people’s right to move freely," the police said. "Any attempt to use protest as an excuse for violating the public order deserves condemnation."

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets all over the country on Saturday night demanding that the government immediately secure the release of Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip by consenting to preconditions set by radical Palestinian movement HAMAS.

The largest rally traditionally took place in Tel Aviv, where thousands of protestors flocked to streets adjacent to the city’s government district. They demanded that the government urgently conclude a ceasefire deal, allowing to bring the Israeli hostages back home.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip. According to Israel, the deal enabled the release of 110 hostages. According to Israel’s latest calculations, radicals still hold up 101 people in captivity somewhere in the Gaza Strip.