Thousands in Tel Aviv protest against Netanyahu's plan to escalate Gaza war
A day earlier, the Israeli prime minister's office said the security cabinet had decided to seize Gaza City, expanding military operations in the devastated Palestinian territory despite widespread public opposition and warnings from the military the move could endanger the hostages.
Saturday's demonstration in Tel Aviv attracted more than 100,000 protesters, according to organisers. Attenders demanded an immediate end to the military campaign and for the release of hostages.
'This isn't just a military decision. It could be a death sentence for the people we love most,' Lishay Miran Lavi, the wife of hostage Omri Miran, told the rally, pleading Donald Trump to intervene to immediately end the war.
Public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Israelis favour an immediate end to the war to secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza. Israeli officials believe about 20 hostages are still alive.
The Israeli government has faced sharp criticism at home and abroad, including from some of its closest European allies, over the announcement that the military would expand the war. The full cabinet is expected to give its approval as soon as Sunday.
Most of the hostages who have been freed emerged as a result of diplomatic negotiations. Talks toward a ceasefire that could have seen more hostages released collapsed in July.
'They (the government) are fanatic. They are doing things against the interests of the country,' said Rami Dar, 69-year-old retiree, who travelled from a nearby suburb outside Tel Aviv, echoing calls for Trump to force a deal for the hostages.
Tel Aviv has seen frequent rallies urging the government to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, which ignited the war with their October 2023 attack.
'Frankly, I'm not an expert or anything, but I feel that after two years of fighting there has been no success,' said Yana, 45, who attended the rally with her husband and two children. 'I wonder whether additional lives for both sides, not just the Israelis but also Gazans, will make any difference.'
About 1,200, mostly Israelis, were killed and 251 were taken into Gaza during Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since.
Protesters waved Israeli flags and carried placards bearing the images of hostages. Others held signs directing anger at the government or urging Trump to take action to stop Netanyahu from moving forward with plans to escalate the war. A small number of protesters held images of children killed by the military in Gaza.
Israel's military has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry, which said on Saturday that at least 39 had been killed in the past day.
Some of the prime minister's far-right coalition allies have been pushing for a total takeover of Gaza. The military has warned this could endanger the lives of the hostages in Gaza.
Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich, a proponent of continuing the war, issued a statement on Saturday criticising Netanyahu and calling for the annexation of large parts of Gaza.
Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview that aired on Thursday that the military intended to take control of all Gaza but that Israel did not want to keep the territory.
The announcement from the prime minister's office early on Friday said the military would take Gaza City, but did not explicitly say if Israeli forces would take all the territory.
Tal, a 55-year-old high school teacher, told Reuters at the rally in Tel Aviv that expanding the war was 'terrible,' warning it would result in the deaths of soldiers and hostages. They said the war should end with the military withdrawing: 'We don't have anything to do there. It's not ours.'
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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
New Zealand MP ejected from Parliament again over Gaza comments
A New Zealand MP has been ejected from Parliament for a second time after refusing to apologise for calling her opponents spineless during a heated debate on a Palestinian state. Chlöe Swarbrick, the co-leader of the left-wing Green Party, was initially ordered to leave the chamber on Tuesday. She had urged government MPs "with a spine" to endorse her proposal for New Zealand to impose sanctions on Israel over the conflict in Gaza. Despite being handed a three-day ban, considered lengthy by New Zealand parliamentary standards, Ms Swarbrick returned the following day. However, she was ejected once more for her continued refusal to apologise for the remark. Her censure unfolded amid fraught scenes in the country's Parliament, where the government faced strong criticism for its reluctance to recognise an independent Palestinian state. It came days after neighbouring Australia pledged to do so. France, Britain, and Canada are also anticipated to recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 'We are one of the very few countries in the world who so far refuse to acknowledge the absolute bare minimum,' Ms Swarbrick said. What prompted the original ejection? Ms Swarbrick was abruptly ejected from the debating chamber when she urged government politicians to join her in a proposal to sanction Israel, which currently would not have enough votes to pass into law. 'If we can find six of 68 government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history,' Ms Swarbrick said, referring to other MPs. 'That is completely unacceptable to make that statement,' Speaker Gerry Brownlee interrupted. 'Withdraw it and apologise.' The Green politician refused and Mr Brownlee told her to leave the debating chamber for the rest of the week. 'Happily,' Ms Swarbrick said. The standoff resumed when Ms Swarbrick took her seat again on Wednesday, despite the ban, and Mr Brownlee asked again if she would apologise. Ms Swarbrick declined and was ejected once more, yelling 'free Palestine' as she went. Mr Brownlee took the serious step, rare in New Zealand's Parliament, of taking a vote to 'name' Ms Swarbrick for her misconduct, a ruling that means a legislator is formally suspended with their pay docked. The vote passed, with all government MPs endorsing it. Opposition MPs claim double standards The measure provoked fresh debate in Parliament about punishments for unruly behavior. Government lawmakers voted in June to enact unprecedented lengthy bans of opposition Māori Party MPs who performed a haka chant to protest a controversial vote. On Wednesday, opposition politicians decried Ms Swarbrick's penalty as unusually severe, with Labour MP Willie Jackson highlighting his own ban of just 30 minutes for calling one of his colleagues a liar, before being allowed to resume his seat without an apology. In another recent example, a government politician used an eye-watering expletive without censure, supporters of Ms Swarbrick said. Several others had escaped punishment in recent years when using the word 'spineless' about their opponents. Opposition leader and former prime minister Chris Hipkins said it was unprecedented for an MP to be ejected from Parliament for a second day over the same offence. Mr Brownlee, however, said he had drawn a line when Ms Swarbrick directed a personal insult at all 68 government lawmakers, including him. 'We have so many threats and other stuff being directed at Members of Parliament,' he said. 'If we don't change the behaviour in here, nothing will change outside.' Pressure grows to decide Palestinian statehood question Meanwhile, the government continues to mull recognition of an independent Palestinian state. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made his most strident rebuke yet of Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israel leader 'has lost the plot' on the 'human catastrophe' in Gaza. 'I think Netanyahu has gone way too far,' Mr Luxon told reporters. 'He is not listening to the international community and that is unacceptable.' While senior New Zealand officials, including Mr Luxon, have said recognition of Palestine from their government was 'a matter of not if, but when', his Cabinet has yet to endorse a change of position. A decision will be made in September after further consideration, Mr Luxon said on Monday.
The Guardian
14 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel is wiping out Gaza's journalists – and it's no longer even hiding it
Israel always boasted that it was the only country in the region to support press freedom. That boast rang hollow even before the current war. Now, it's not even pretending. On Sunday, Israel openly and brazenly killed six journalists as they were sheltering in a tent that housed reporters and media workers. Israel accuses one of those journalists – Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif – of being a terrorist. It has not said what crime it believes the others have committed that would justify killing them. The laws of war are clear: journalists are civilians. To target them deliberately in war is to commit a war crime. It is hardly surprising that Israel believes it can get away with murder. In the two decades preceding 7 October, Israeli forces killed 20 journalists. No one has ever been held accountable for any of those deaths, including that of the Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, whose killing in 2022 sent shock waves through the region. Abu Akleh, a dual US-Palestinian citizen, was a household name in the Middle East, just as al-Sharif became a familiar face for audiences for his coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza. Israel first began making threats against al-Sharif shortly after the start of the war. The journalist reported receiving multiple phone calls from officers in the Israeli army instructing him to cease coverage and leave northern Gaza, as well as voice notes on WhatsApp disclosing his location. In December 2023, an Israeli airstrike hit his family home, killing the journalist's 90-year-old father. A year later, the Israeli army alleged publicly that Anas al-Sharif was a terrorist – claims it repeated last month shortly after Anas al-Sharif exposed the rampant levels of starvation throughout Gaza as a result of Israel's refusal to allow in sufficient food aid. An Israeli spokesperson accused al-Sharif of lying about the famine – despite corroboration of widespread starvation by independent and international groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists had seen this playbook from Israel before: a pattern in which journalists are accused by Israel of being terrorists with no credible evidence. Indeed, we were so concerned that al-Sharif was being targeted that we issued a public statement urging his protection. Instead, al-Sharif was killed alongside his colleagues in an attack that Israel has openly admitted was aimed at killing the journalist. Al-Sharif is the 184th Palestinian journalist to have been killed by Israel since the start of the war and one of at least 26 journalists whom CPJ believes to have been deliberately targeted for their work as journalists. The others have certainly been killed by Israel but whether Israel did so in full knowledge they were journalists we have not been able to determine. Israel denies it deliberately targets journalists. But the evidence shows otherwise. To date, Israel has provided no independently verifiable evidence that any of the journalists whom it has admitted deliberately targeting were terrorists. In one case, that of the Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, the documents produced allegedly showed that al-Ghoul became the leader of a Hamas battalion – when he was 10 years old. The documents Israel has shared on al-Sharif, which it posted on X, show al-Sharif as receiving a Hamas salary in 2023. The documents do not provide evidence that he was an active member of the terrorist group although Israel said it had 'current intelligence' – which it did not publish – indicating al-Sharif was an active Hamas military wing operative. It is no wonder that Israel is now so confident about killing journalists that it can admit to killing six journalists and media workers while only one was allegedly its target. The international community has been woeful in its condemnation of Israel's actions. And that includes our own journalism community. Whereas the Committee to Protect Journalists received significant offers of support and solidarity when journalists were being killed in Ukraine at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, the reaction from international media over the killings of our journalist colleagues in Gaza at the start of the war was muted at best. In some high-profile killings – such as that of the Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah – some governments trotted out well-worn defences of press freedom, but stopped well short of seriously censuring Israel. And few took any concrete steps – such as the halt of arms sales or the suspension of trade agreements – that might have forced Israel to change course. Now, with more than 192 journalists and media workers killed since the start of the war – the deadliest conflict for journalists that we have ever documented – condemnation from individual journalists and some newsrooms has grown more vocal. But it is hard to see, if Israel can wipe out an entire news crew without the international community so much as batting an eye, what will stop further attacks on reporters. Already our window into Gaza was becoming more and more limited. As Israel moves into the latest phase of its assault on the territory, it now risks closing altogether. Jodie Ginsberg is CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
Israel says Gazans free to exit while Hamas attends Cairo ceasefire talks
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