Thousands of Israelis staged a mass demonstration in Jerusalem Monday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza.

The demonstration began outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before making its way to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s personal residence. The protesters demanded the government negotiate with Hamas for a return of the remaining hostages who have been held by the Palestinian militant group since its deadly raid on southern Israel last October 7, as well as early parliamentary elections.

Reuters says some of the protesters broke off from the larger crowd and tried to break through police barricades. Security forces managed to push the protesters back, eventually using a water cannon to disperse the crowd.

The protests came hours after Netanyahu disbanded his war cabinet, a decision expected after Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, two centrist ex-generals, stepped down last week over disagreements with the prime minister over the direction of the war.

Gantz joined Netanyahu’s unity government in October at the start of the war and demanded the formation of the war cabinet.

The White House said Monday that the dissolution was an “internal” and “domestic” measure by Israel’s government, and the United States will continue to interact with Netanyahu.

At the State Department, spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a briefing that it is not for the U.S. to decide who should be in the government of Israel.

However, Miller added that Washington will publicly express disagreements on policies “that we think are unproductive, not only to the plight of the Palestinian people but also to Israel's security,” when asked if the U.S. is concerned about far-right voices in Israel’s decision making.

The U.S. had said it was worthwhile to have the war cabinet in place.