Former hostages rally for Gaza war to end as Israel mulls updated plan
Waving Israeli flags and holding portraits of hostages still held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, the protesters gathered outside Netanyahu's office under the slogan "We will bring them back" and called for an end to the war.
Sharon Cunio, whose husband David is still held in Gaza since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war, and Arbel Yehud were among the former hostages who attended the rally.
Yehud's partner Ariel -- David Cunio's brother -- is also still in captivity, one of 49 hostages in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
In Jerusalem, Cunio and Yehud held a banner with photos of their partners that read: "Bring back our loved ones."
Nearby, the Israeli cabinet met to discuss the ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
"The only way to bring the hostages home is to halt the war and end the suffering of the hostages and all those living through this terrible conflict -- including Gaza residents, soldiers, families, and all of us," protester Sharon Kangasa-Cohen, a historian, told AFP.
"If they retake Gaza or decide to reoccupy it militarily, the hostages' lives will be in even greater danger, and Israeli society as a whole will be threatened," she said.
Pepe Alalu, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem and a well-known figure of the city's left wing, said he came to the protest because "I simply couldn't stay away."
"We have to save the hostages," he said, adding that in his view, "Israel has lost its moral compass."
lba-mib/glp/ami
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
13 minutes ago
- New York Post
Israeli spy chief visiting Qatar to revive Gaza peace talks, officials say
The head of Israel's Mossad spy agency visited Qatar on Thursday to revive the cease-fire and hostage exchange talks with Hamas, officials said. David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani in hopes of restarting the peace talks, which were left frozen after Israel and the US exited Doha and accused Hamas of not negotiating in good faith, two officials with the Jewish state told Reuters. Barnea's trip comes as Hamas reportedly sent its own negotiation team to Cairo to try and revive the peace talks, with the terror group claiming it was open to ceding its power in Gaza, but not its weapons. Advertisement 4 David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani in hopes of restarting the peace talks, according to reports. AFP via Getty Images Hopes for a diplomatic end to the war, which has raged on for more than 21 months, were seemingly dashed last month after the US and Israel pulled out of the negotiating table, claiming Hamas showed 'a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire in Gaza.' The tension at the negotiating table stemmed from Hamas' refusal to give up its hold over the Gaza Strip and demilitarize, with Israel also rejecting any deal that would establish the groundwork for a full military withdrawal and permanent peace. Advertisement With the talks dead in the water, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans last week for a full military takeover of Gaza City, with the aim of pressuring the terror group to come back to the negotiating table. Hamas officials did just that on Thursday, with one official telling Reuters that the terrorist group was ready to relinquish governance on Gaza to a non-partisan committee. 4 Mossad Director David Barnea greets relatives of Israeli soldier Zvi Feldman, one of three Israeli soldiers who went missing during the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub, during his funeral in Holon military cemetery near Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 12, 2025. Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images Hamas, which bills itself as a resistance group, however, said it would not demilitarize until a Palestinian state is formally established. Advertisement Netanyahu has long rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, claiming that recognizing one would only reward Hamas and the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, where the militants killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. 4 Hopes for a diplomatic end to the war were seemingly dashed last month after the US and Israel pulled out of the negotiating table, claiming Hamas showed 'a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire in Gaza,' according to reports. AFP via Getty Images 4 Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, August 14, 2025. REUTERS Netanyahu has also indicated that the current cease-fire efforts are now all focused on securing a single, comprehensive deal to release all the remaining 50 hostages at once. Advertisement During his talks with Al-Thani, Barnea reinforced the idea that any 'partial deal is off the table,' a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel. With Post wires
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
What to Know About the Trump-Putin Summit in Alaska
US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin are set to have a historic summit in Alaska where they will try to make progress on ending the war in Ukraine. Bloomberg's Annmarie Hordern reports on what's at stake. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Israel announces a settlement that critics say will effectively sever the West Bank in two
MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank (AP) — Israel's far-right finance minister announced approval Thursday of contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a Palestinian state by effectively cutting the territory into two parts. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted that the construction, which is expected to receive final approval later this month, could thwart Palestinian statehood plans. It came as many countries, including Australia, Britain, France, and Canada say they will recognize a Palestinian state in September. The construction on a tract of land east of Jerusalem named E1 has been has been under consideration for more than two decades, and is especially controversial because it is one of the last geographic links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem. The two cities are 22 kilometers (14 miles) apart by air. But once an Israeli settlement is completed, it would require Palestinians traveling between cities to drive several kilometers (miles) out of their way and pass through multiple checkpoints. 'This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,' Smotrich said during a ceremony on Thursday. 'Anyone in the world who tries today to recognize a Palestinian state — will receive an answer from us on the ground,' he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not publicly comment on the plan on Thursday, but he has touted it in the past. Development in E1 was frozen for so long largely due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations. On Thursday, Smotrich praised President Donald Trump and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee as 'true friends of Israel as we have never had before.' The E1 plan is expected to receive final approval Aug. 20, capping off 20 years of bureaucratic wrangling. The planning committee on Aug. 6 rejected all of the petitions to stop the construction filed by rights groups and activists. While some bureaucratic steps remain, if the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year. The approval is a 'colonial, expansionist, and racist move,' Ahmed al Deek, the political adviser to the minister of Palestinian Foreign Affairs, told The Associated Press on Thursday. 'It falls within the framework of the extremist Israeli government's plans to undermine any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state on the ground, to fragment the West Bank, and to separate its southern part from the center and the north,' al Deek said. Rights groups also swiftly condemned the plan. Peace Now called it 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution' which is 'guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed.' The announcement comes as the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in an interview on Tuesday that he was 'very' attached to the vision of a Greater Israel. He did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of Arab countries. Israel's plans to expand settlements are part of an increasingly difficult reality for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the world's attention focuses on Gaza. There have been marked increases in settler attacks against Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns and checkpoints that choke freedom of movement. There also have been several Palestinian attacks on Israelis during the course of the war. More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Israel's government is dominated by religious and ultranationalist politicians with close ties to the settlement movement. Finance Minister Smotrich, previously a firebrand settler leader, has been granted cabinet-level authority over settlement policies and vowed to double the settler population in the West Bank. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three territories for a future independent state. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and claims it as part of its capital, which is not internationally recognized. It says the West Bank is disputed territory whose fate should be determined through negotiations, while Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Solve the daily Crossword
