Police in the United States detained six relatives of Israelis held in Gaza who protested during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, according to US and Israeli media reports and a group representing the captives.
Five people were detained and escorted out of the gallery on Wednesday after they stood up wearing matching T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Seal the deal”, in a call for the Israeli leader to negotiate a deal to free their loved ones, US media outlet Axios reported.
Another protester was removed after repeatedly shouting “1,400 deaths!” during Netanyahu’s 52-minute speech, reported Huffington Post.
Capitol Police spokeswoman Brianna Burch told Axios that the individuals were taken into custody because they violated a statute prohibiting demonstrations inside the US Capitol.
“Disrupting the Congress and demonstrating in the Congressional Buildings is against the law,” Burch said in a statement.
Our officers just reported that the final number of arrests in the House Galleries was a total of six people for D.C. Code §10-503.16(b)(2), Unlawful Conduct.
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) July 24, 2024
Ahead of the event, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson had warned charges could be brought against anyone causing “disturbances”.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing relatives of Israelis taken captive on October 7, named five of the detained protesters as Michael Levy, Alon Gat, Gil Dickmann, Carmit Palty Katzir and Leat Corinne.
The Capitol Police identified the sixth as Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of captive Abraham Munder.
The protesters were later released after several Jewish senators lobbied on their behalf, according to the forum.
‘Continue to fight’
In a joint statement, five of the protesters slammed their detention and said they would keep raising their voices on behalf of the captives.
“No matter what, we will continue to fight for those who cannot: our family members being held captive in Gaza,” they said.
Mor, who was invited to the address by US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, called his arrest “ludicrous” and lambasted Netanyahu for failing to prioritise the captives.
“He’s [Netanyahu’s] not answering the people he’s responsible for,” Mor told Huffington Post after his release.
Omar, who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, said Mor had shown “bravery to call out Netanyahu’s genocide”.
His views echo “the sentiment shared by millions of Americans who want to see a permanent ceasefire and an end to this genocide funded by our tax dollars,” said Omar.
In a separate statement on her decision not to attend the address, Omar called Netanyahu’s invitation “shameful” and “damaging” to the US’s “standing at home and abroad”.
Rep. Omar’s Statement on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Address to Congress: pic.twitter.com/Fu70LBObKS
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) July 24, 2024
Many of the captives’ relatives and supporters have been holding regular protests against Netanyahu’s government in Israel, calling on him to end the war and bring them home.
On Thursday, Israel’s military announced it had recovered the bodies of five more captives in the war-battered enclave.
In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the discovery “provides their families with important closure and eternal rest for the murdered”.
“It is Israel’s duty to return all the murdered for honourable burial and all living hostages for rehabilitation,” it said.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health has said more than 39,000 people have been killed and 90,257 injured since the current conflict erupted.
The death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is estimated at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.
