Israel approves more settlements and Saudi Arabia tightens Hajj security
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Israelis rally for end to Gaza war and release of captives
Israeli police arrested at least 22 protesters on Sunday as nationwide demonstrations and strikes called for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of captives. Demonstrators blocked several roads in Tel Aviv, including the highway connecting the city with Jerusalem. Activists set tyres on fire and caused traffic jams, while protest organisers and the main campaign group representing the families of captives called for a general strike on Sunday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum 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". Forty-nine Israeli captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Their faces were displayed across a large banner unfurled in Tel Aviv's so-called "Hostage Square", a focal point for protests. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Footage from AFP also showed a protest in Beeri, a kibbutz near Gaza that came under fire during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October 2023, which led to the capture of hundreds of Israelis. The demonstrations came days after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to fully occupy Gaza City. Israeli government ministers condemned the demonstrations, saying they played into the hands of Hamas. Demonstrators raise flags during an anti-government protest demanding a deal to release Israelis held in Gaza by Hamas in Tel Aviv, on 17 August 2025 (AFP) Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that public pressure to secure a ceasefire agreement effectively "buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future". Culture Minister Miki Zohar described the blocking of roads and other forms of direct action as a "reward to the enemy". The protests came as Israeli forces continue to pound the Gaza Strip. At least seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza in the last few hours. Four civilians were killed and others wounded when an Israeli air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Elsewhere in the south, three Palestinians waiting to collect aid were killed and others wounded by Israeli gunfire in Rafah. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 61,897 people in Gaza, most of them women and children. A further 155,660 have been wounded.
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Syrian president says country should not be unified 'with blood'
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said he rejected attempts at creating autonomy in Syria and warned that the country's unification "should not be with blood" following a month of sectarian violence. Speaking on state TV on Sunday, Sharaa pushed back against demands by hundreds of Druze protesters in Syria's southern Sweida province calling for self-determination for the religious minority. "We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war," Sharaa said. Since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December, Sharaa has struggled to stymie violence across the country, while a number of religious and political minorities have called for the decentralisation of power. "I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons... This matter is impossible," said Sharaa. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented." Violence between members of the Druze minority, Bedouin tribesmen and state forces has seen more than 1,600 people killed in Sweida since the beginning of July. It also followed further violence in the coastal province of Latakia, where attacks by alleged Assad loyalists provoked a violent sectarian backlash against the minority Alawi population, of which the former president and his family were members. At least 1,500 Alawi were killed in the subsequent violence, with a Reuters investigation tracing much of it back to officials in Damascus. In his comments on Sunday, Sharaa conceded that they had "witnessed many violations from all sides... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations". He said the state was required "to hold all perpetrators of violations to account". Saturday's demonstrations in Sweida included calls for Sharaa's overthrow as well as displays of the Israeli flag. Israel bombed government forces last month, claiming it was acting to defend the Druze population. Sharaa's government has also been in talks with the semi-autonomous Kurdish-led administration that controls much of the north and northeast. Implementation of a 10 March deal on integrating its civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by arguments over issues such as decentralisation, which Damascus has rejected. Joseph Daher, a Swiss Syrian professor at the University of Lausanne, told Middle East Eye earlier this month that he was concerned by Sharaa's approach to Syria's post-Assad reconciliation. "Sharaa does not want to deal with political and social actors that are organised," he said. He told MEE that he saw the new government pursuing the creation of a new "ruling regime" with centralised power, but it still lacked the capacity to effectively assert its authority. "I think the lack and the failure to control Sweida, not only because of Israeli attacks, but also local resistance, is also an indication that this is one of the contradictions of this government," Daher said. "That it wants to seek monopolisation, centralisation of power, but at the same time is quite weak - whether militarily, human capacities, financially, politically."
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Mediators revive plans for 60-day Gaza truce in final effort to stop Israeli ground assault
Egyptian and Qatari mediators have resurrected plans for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire and the release of 10 hostages, rather than a comprehensive agreement, in a last-minute effort to avert Israel's planned ground assault on Gaza city, sources told The National on Sunday. The plan also calls for the US to guarantee in writing that indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel on the withdrawal of troops from Gaza and a long-term ceasefire will commence during the truce and continue until an agreement is reached. "The Qataris and Egyptians have presented Israel and the United States with the plan and are now waiting for their response," one source said. "Falling back on the old plan for a partial, rather than a comprehensive, deal is designed to head off Israel's assault on Gaza." The sources said the plan provided for the release of 10 hostages, as well as the remains of at least 15 who died in captivity, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails being freed. An estimated 50 hostages are still held by Hamas, with 20 believed to be alive. The latest proposal also includes the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where dozens have died of starvation or hunger-related diseases. The plan also calls for Israeli troops to move away from populated areas. The sources said there was little hope that Israel would accept the proposed deal. It plans to send troops into Gaza city, where about one million people have sought shelter from the war. Israel's military is on Sunday expected to provide Gaza city residents with tents and other shelter equipment, before forcibly displacing them into area in the south of the enclave. This comes days after Israel said it intended to seize control of Gaza city, a plan that has sparked international criticism. The preparations for the offensive have been made as Israel says its war on Gaza will continue until Hamas is defeated and the group surrenders its weapons. Israel also wants a civilian administration to be put in place, without the involvement of the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. Israel has insisted on retaining an overall security role in Gaza. The sources said Hamas officials and the Egyptian and Qatari mediators have discussed plans for the group's military wing to store their arms under international supervision, rather than surrendering them. In recent days, Gaza city residents have described more frequent air strikes. The enclave's civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said conditions were deteriorating rapidly, with residents having little to no access to food and water. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities in October 2023, killing about 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. Israel's relentless response has killed more than 61,700 Palestinians, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The Israeli campaign ha reduced most of the enclave to rubble, displaced the majority of its population and created a grave humanitarian crisis.
