10,000 Israelis demand end to rocket attacks

Around 10,000 Israelis poured into downtown Tel Aviv late Thursday, calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all. It was the first major demonstration in Israel since the country went to war against Hamas on July 8, launching a punishing air campaign followed by a ground offensive designed to stop rocket attacks and destroy attack tunnels. Organisers said the rally united people across Israel's often bitter divides of left and right-wing, as well as religious and secular Jewish communities. Alon Davidi, mayor of the southern town of Sderot, told the rally there must be a solution -- be it political or military -- to what he called 14 years of rocket attacks. ‘I have full confidence in the government and in the army, but at the same time I ask as mayor of Sderot that they put an end to this situation once and for all,’ Davidi said. ‘Finish the job!’ he said. ‘This is a universal principle. We want to live in peace,’ he added, according to AFP.