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‘Hamas Is Coming’: Anti-Israel, Anti-US Protests Erupt in Washington, DC With Netanyahu in Town
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel rallies have erupted across Washington, DC this week in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the city and speech to a joint session of the US Congress.
Outside of Union Station, rioters vandalized numerous statues and landmarks, including The Freedom Bell, which is a replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The phrase “Hamas is coming,” written in all capital letters, was spray-painted on a monument, along with an upside-down red triangle, a symbol used by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas when attacking Israeli targets.
“These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas — a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza — is unacceptable and has no place in our country,” US Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) posted on Twitter/X on Wednesday as images of the protests began to emerge.
These images are deeply disturbing. The glorification of Hamas – a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza – is unacceptable and has no place in our country. https://t.co/WWf0mwniPJ
— Senator Jacky Rosen (@SenJackyRosen) July 24, 2024
“F—k Israel” was also spray-painted at various spots in the US capital city.
Meanwhile, video emerged on social media showing rioters attacking police officers and burning American flags. They also tore down the American flag in front of Union Station and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. They subsequently set the American flag on fire.
Anti Israel protesters burn the American flags they removed from flag posts at Union Station in DC https://t.co/C7eeionfhI pic.twitter.com/Q8OcYSHvKO
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) July 24, 2024
On Wednesday night, a group of Republican lawmakers — including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) — visited the spot where the American flag was burned and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
The protests, which were sponsored by more than 15 organizations, had an explicitly pro-Hamas message.
Anti-Israel demonstrators protest, on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of the US Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Seth Herald
Posters handed out by the US Palestinian Community Network read, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied. #AlAqsaFlood,” referring to the name Hamas gave to its Oct. 7 attack, in which it led some 3,000 Palestinian terrorists in murdering 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages during an onslaught across southern Israel. The poster also includes a photo of armed men on a type of military vehicle.
A number of Hamas flags were also seen at the protests. One woman, waving a Hamas flag, dressed as Abu Obeida, the alias of the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, with a red keffiyeh covering her face, a green headband, and a military jacket.
Another person, waving a black flag that has the words of the Islamic creed known as the Shahada on it — traditionally understood to be the flag under which the Muslim prophet Muhammad began his conquests — held a separate sign reading, “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the ‘Final Solution.’” The poster included a large bomb being exploded in the middle of an Israeli flag.
Just seen on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/dGiGxpQufz
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) July 24, 2024
Earlier this week, protesters gathered outside of the Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu was staying while in Washington.
Video emerged of one person screaming, “Jewish motherf—kers. We’re gonna kill all of you. We’re gonna burn you. Allahu Akbar. Hamas!” When the same man later saw a person with an Israeli flag, he confronted him, saying, “Jewish coward motherf—ker!”
The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) released a video on Instagram saying protesters released maggots and crickets into the hotel where Netanyahu was staying. “BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS REPORTEDLY RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONIST’S WAR TABLE!” it wrote.
“Mealworms and maggots (not talking about Netanyahu) were reportedly left on their banquet tables, and crickets were released on multiple floors of the hotel,” PYM continued. “Fire alarms were triggered for over 30 minutes on multiple floors to ensure that there will be no rest before Netanyahu and Congress disgrace themselves in front of the world for failing to achieve any of their military and political objectives.”
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) lambasted the demonstrators and called on US authorities to do more in response to what appeared to be outright hatred of both Jews and the Jewish state.
“These mobs were not pro anything; they were just filled with violent hate and rage, and many seemed to have a bloodlust for anything Jewish or Israeli,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa said in a statement. “They crossed all lines and now it is the responsibility of the US authorities to clamp down on them and take immediate and forceful action. Yesterday, the true face of terror in the US revealed itself.”
Roytman Dratwa argued the demonstrators’ actions show they are not pro-Palestinian but anti-American and anti-Western, adding, “Writing ‘Hamas is coming’ on an American national monument, is more than an idle threat; it is an aspiration, and they are openly calling for an Oct. 7-style massacre to take place in the US, inciting for genocide against Jews.”
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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