Israel's growing frustration over the war in Gaza explodes in nationwide protests
Groups representing families of hostages organized the demonstrations as frustration grows in Israel over plans for a new military offensive in some of Gaza's most populated areas, which many fear could further endanger the remaining hostages. Fifty hostages remain, and 20 of them are believed to still be alive.
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The Province
41 minutes ago
- The Province
Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal
Published Aug 17, 2025 • 3 minute read The protests across Israel come more than a week after the government approved plans to expand the Gaza war Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP Tel Aviv (AFP) — Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The protests come more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory. The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 people were taken hostage. Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called Hostage Square — which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war. Demonstrators also blocked several roads in the city, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where demonstrators set tires on fire and caused traffic jams, according to local media footage. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Protest organisers called for a general strike to demand a hostage release deal. (Menahem Kahana/AFP) Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP Protest organizers and the main campaign group representing the families of hostages also called for a general strike on Sunday — the first day of the week in Israel. In Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, many businesses were shut. 'I think it's time to end the war. It's time to release all of the hostages. And it's time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East,' said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide, at a rally in Jerusalem. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group said in a statement that protesters would 'shut down the country today (Sunday) with one clear call: Bring back the 50 hostages, end the war'. Their toll includes a soldier killed in a 2014 war whose remains are held by Hamas. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The forum plans to set up a protest tent near the Gaza border, vowing to 'escalate our struggle and do everything possible to bring back our beloved ones'. 'If we don't bring them back now -– we will lose them forever.' 'Stay strong' Recent videos released by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad showing two weak and emaciated captives have heightened concern for the fate of the hostages. Egypt said in recent days mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce that would include hostage release, after the last round of talks in Qatar had ended without a breakthrough. Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza, said in a post on X addressing him: 'I hope you have access to the media somewhere in the tunnels, and that you will see how the people of Israel pause life today for you and for the hostages. Stay strong, just a little more.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv, Israeli President Issac Herzog said 'we want them back as soon as possible', calling for international pressure on Hamas. Some Israeli government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed Sunday's demonstrations. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried 'a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas'. He argued that public pressure to secure a deal effectively 'buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future'. Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said on X that blocking roads and disrupting daily life 'is a serious mistake and a reward to the enemy'. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israeli police beefed up forces, saying no 'public order disturbances' would be tolerated. Famine warning AFPTV footage showed protesters at a rally in Beeri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was one of the hardest-hit communities in the Hamas attack, and Israeli media reported protests in numerous locations across the country. The Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition. UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable. Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps News News
CTV News
43 minutes ago
- CTV News
Bolivia's presidential vote headed for first-ever runoff between centrist, right-wing candidates
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivians were headed for an unprecedented runoff presidential election following a vote Sunday in which a dark horse centrist, Senator Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, according to early results. Paz, a moderate who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition's push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former President Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, who finished second, on Oct. 19. With over 91% of the ballots counted Sunday, Paz had received 32.8% of the votes cast. Quiroga had 26.4%. Candidates needed to surpass 50%, or 40% with a 10-point margin of victory, to avoid a runoff. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- After a lackluster campaign overshadowed by a looming economic collapse, millions of Bolivians voted on Sunday for a new president and parliament in elections that could see a right-wing government elected for the first time in over two decades. The vote, which could spell the end of the Andean nation's long-dominant leftist party, is one of the most consequential for Bolivia in recent times -- and one of the most unpredictable. Ballot stations closed at 4 p.m. local time. Private exit polls, released as vote counting was still underway late Sunday, gave dark-horse centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz a surprise lead over the right-wing front-runners. In the run-up to Sunday, a remarkable 30% or so of voters remained undecided. Polls consistently showed the two leading right-wing candidates, multimillionaire business owner Samuel Doria Medina and former President Jorge Fernando 'Tuto' Quiroga, locked in a virtual dead heat. 'The economy is a disaster right now, so all I could bring myself to do was vote for change,' said Eileen Mirabal, a 30-year-old psychologist and Doria Medina supporter displaying her ink-stained thumb outside a polling station in the country's capital of La Paz. Voting is mandatory in Bolivia, where some 7.9 million Bolivians are eligible to vote. 'I have rarely, if ever, seen a situational tinderbox with as many sparks ready to ignite,' said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, founding partner of New York-based Aurora Macro Strategies firm. Bolivia could follow rightward trend The election marks a watershed moment for the Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party, whose founder, charismatic ex-President Evo Morales, rose to power as part of the 'pink tide' of leftist leaders that swept into office across Latin America during the commodities boom of the early 2000s. Now shattered by infighting, the party is battling for its survival in Sunday's elections. The outcome will determine whether Bolivia -- a nation of 12 million people with the largest lithium reserves on Earth -- follows a growing trend in Latin America, where right-wing leaders like Argentina's libertarian Javier Milei, Ecuador's strongman Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's conservative populist Nayib Bukele have surged in popularity. A right-wing government in Bolivia could trigger a major geopolitical realignment for a country now allied with Venezuela's socialist-inspired government and world powers such as China, Russia and Iran. Bolivians bitter as they vote for the `lesser evil' Bolivians waiting to vote at polling stations across La Paz, the country's capital, expressed confused, cynical and bitter emotions -- fed by an annual inflation rate of more than 16%, a scarcity of fuel and absence of hope for swift improvement. Several said they were voting for 'el menos peor,' the lesser evil. The right-wing opposition candidates bill the race as a chance to chart a new destiny for Bolivia. But both front-runners, Doria Medina and Quiroga, have served in past neoliberal governments and ran for president three times before -- losing at least twice to Morales. 'People were waiting for a new, popular candidate, and in this, the opposition failed us,' said Ronaldo Olorio, a 50-year-old farmer from the coca-growing Yungas region and former Morales supporter. 'My vote is one of anger, of discontent. I don't like Doria Medina or Quiroga. But I have to vote for one of the two.' An election day ban on the use of all but authorized vehicles left the normally bustling streets of La Paz and neighboring El Alto deserted on Sunday, reflecting the somber mood. The government also imposed a dry law forbidding the sale of alcohol and reported arresting hundreds of violators. Right-wing contenders vow to restore U.S. relations Doria Medina and Quiroga have praised the Trump administration and vowed to restore ties with the United States -- ruptured in 2008 when Morales expelled the American ambassador. They also have expressed interest in doing business with Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Bolivia, and called for foreign private companies to develop Bolivia's abundant natural resources. After storming to office in 2006, Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, nationalized the nation's oil and gas industry, using the profits to reduce poverty, expand infrastructure and improve the lives of the rural poor. After three consecutive presidential terms, as well as a contentious bid for an unprecedented fourth in 2019 that set off popular unrest and led to his ouster, Morales has been barred from this race by Bolivia's constitutional court. His ally-turned-rival, President Luis Arce, withdrew from the race due to his plummeting popularity and nominated a senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo, to be candidate for the MAS party. Del Castillo was heckled by angry voters Sunday while casting his ballot in Bolivia's conservative business hub of Santa Cruz. 'Why don't you line up like we do for diesel?' some yelled. As the MAS party splintered, Andronico Rodriguez, the 36-year-old president of the Senate who hails from the same union of coca farmers as Morales, launched his bid. Tensions run high in Morales' stronghold Rather than back the leftist candidate once considered his heir, Morales has branded Rodriguez a traitor. From his political stronghold in Bolivia's tropical region of Chapare, Morales has urged his supporters to deface their ballots in protest over his disqualification. The long-serving leader has been holed up in Chapare for months, evading an arrest warrant on charges related to his sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Authorities have been warning that violence could erupt there as Morales' fervent supporters mobilize against elections. The president of Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Oscar Hassenteufel, said the day passed peacefully with 'some isolated incidents that have not affected the vote.' In one of those incidents, a dynamite stick was tossed outside the polling station where Rodriguez planned to vote, said prosecutor Juan Carlos Campero. It exploded a few hours before the candidate's arrival, injuring one person, he told reporters. In another, Rodriguez was met with a barrage of bottles and rocks from Morales' supporters as he cast his ballot. The young candidate emerged unscathed, leaving without a word as the crowd shouted, 'Get out!' Nearby Morales slipped his null-and-void ballot into the box, surrounded by coca-growing union activists who formed a human chain to protect him from arrest. He flashed a rare smile as supporters showered him in white confetti. 'I'm convinced that if there's no fraud, the null vote will win,' he said after voting. Conservative candidates say austerity needed Doria Medina and Quiroga have warned of the need for a painful fiscal adjustment, including the elimination of Bolivia's food and fuel subsidies, to save the nation from insolvency. Some analysts caution this risks sparking social unrest. 'A victory for either right-wing candidate could have grave repercussions for Bolivia's Indigenous and impoverished communities,' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group. 'Both candidates could bolster security forces and right-wing para-state groups, paving the way for violent crackdowns on protests expected to erupt over the foreign exploitation of lithium and drastic austerity measures.' If, as is widely expected, no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote with a lead of 10 percentage points, the top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Oct. 19 for the first time since Bolivia's 1982 return to democracy. All 130 seats in Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, are also up for grabs, along with 36 in the Senate, the upper house. Isabel Debre, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Bolivia's presidential vote headed for first-ever runoff between centrist, right-wing candidates
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivians were headed for an unprecedented runoff presidential election following a vote Sunday in which a dark horse centrist, Senator Rodrigo Paz, drew more votes than the right-wing front-runners, although not enough to secure an outright victory, according to early results. Paz, a moderate who has sought to soften the edges of the opposition's push for tough austerity to rescue Bolivia from economic collapse, will face off against right-wing former President Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, who finished second, on Oct. 19.
