Protesters outside Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's home demand his resignation

(Patria) - Police detained protesters outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, amid widespread anger over failures that led to last month's deadly Hamas attack on communities around the Gaza Strip.

Waving blue and white Israeli flags and chanting "Prison now!", hundreds of people pushed through police barriers around Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, Reuters reported.

The protest, which coincided with a poll showing more than three-quarters of Israelis believe Netanyahu should resign, underscored the growing public anger towards political and security leaders.

Netanyahu has so far not accepted personal responsibility for the failures that enabled the surprise attack in which hundreds of Hamas attackers stormed southern Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking at least 240 hostages.

As the initial shock wore off, public anger grew, with many families of hostages held in Gaza fiercely criticizing the government's response and calling for their relatives to be brought home.

In Tel Aviv, thousands demonstrated, waving flags and holding photos of some of the captives in Gaza and signs with slogans like "Free the hostages now at any cost", as the crowd chanted "bring them home now".

Ofri Bibas-Levy, whose brother, along with four-year-old son Ariel and ten-month-old son Kfir, was taken hostage by Hamas, told Reuters she came to show support for her family. "We don't know where they are, we don't know what condition they are in. I don't know if Kfir is getting food, I don't know if Ariel is getting enough food. He is a very small baby," Bibas-Levy said.

Since the attack, Israel has launched an intense air and ground offensive in Gaza, killing more than 9,000 people, Gaza health authorities say, turning large areas of the enclave into rubble. Even before the war, Netanyahu was a divisive figure, battling corruption charges and pushing a plan to curb judicial powers that had sent hundreds of thousands of people into the streets.

On Saturday, an Israeli Channel 13 television poll showed 76% of Israelis believe Netanyahu, now serving a record sixth term as prime minister, should resign, and 64% said the country should hold elections immediately after the war.

When asked who was most to blame for the attack, 44% of Israelis blamed Netanyahu, while 33% blamed the chief of staff and senior army officials, and 5% blamed the defense minister.