Israel's growing frustration over the war in Gaza erupts in nationwide protests
Groups representing families of hostages organized the demonstrations, and gave an even larger estimate of attendees, as frustration grows in Israel over plans for a new military offensive in some of Gaza's most populated areas. Many Israelis fear that could further endanger the remaining hostages. Twenty of the 50 who remain are believed to be alive.
'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages,' protesters chanted. Even some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs now call for a deal to end the fighting.
Protesters gathered at dozens of places including outside politicians' homes, military headquarters and on major highways. They blocked lanes and lit bonfires. Some restaurants and theaters closed in solidarity. Police said they arrested 38 people.
'The only way to bring (hostages) back is through a deal, all at once, without games,' former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Her boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still held by Hamas.
One protester carried a photo of an emaciated Palestinian child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations but now appear more often as outrage grows over conditions for Palestinian civilians after more than 250 malnutrition-related deaths.
Netanyahu opposes any deal that leaves Hamas in power
An end to the war does not seem near. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing competing pressures including the potential for mutiny within his coalition.
'Those who today call for an end to the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas' position and delaying the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will be repeated,' Netanyahu said, referencing the Hamas-led attack in 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and sparked the war.
The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages earlier this year, far-right members of his cabinet threatened to topple Netanyahu's government.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the demonstrations 'a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas' hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.'
The new offensive would require the call-up of thousands of reservists, another concern for many Israelis.
Another 17 aid-seekers killed in Gaza
Hospitals and witnesses in Gaza said Israeli forces killed at least 17 aid-seekers on Sunday, including nine awaiting U.N. aid trucks close to the Morag corridor.
Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away. He saw two people with gunshot wounds.
'It's either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,' he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported distribution points that have become the main source of aid since they opened in May, said there was no gunfire 'at or near' its sites, which are located in military-controlled areas.
Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions.
Israel's air and ground war has displaced most of Gaza's population and killed more than 61,900 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.
Two children and five adults died of malnutrition-related causes Sunday, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
The United Nations has warned that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Most aid has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after ending a ceasefire. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organizations say the flow is far below what is needed.
Fears of the coming military offensive
It is not clear when Israel's military will begin the new offensive in the crowded Gaza City, Muwasi and what Netanyahu has called the 'central camps' of Gaza.
The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, this weekend noted plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones to southern Gaza 'for their protection.' Designated 'safe zones,' however, also have been bombed during the war.
War-weary Palestinians on Sunday insisted that they won't leave, arguing that there is 'no safe place' in Gaza.
'There are no humanitarian zones at all,' said Raghda Abu Dhaher, who said she has been displaced 10 times during the war and now shelters in a school in western Gaza City.
Mohamed Ahmed also insisted that he won't move south. 'Here is bombing and there is bombing,' he said.
Airstrike on power plant in Yemen
Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital Sunday, escalating strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who since the war in Gaza began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah Television said the strikes targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service. Israel's military said the strikes were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.
While some projectiles have breached its missile defenses — notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen. Its military later Sunday said it had intercepted another, and the Houthis claimed they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.
___
Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel and Magdy from Cairo. Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
News Analysis: Newsom's decision to fight fire with fire could have profound political consequences
Deep in the badlands of defeat, Democrats have soul-searched about what went wrong last November, tinkered with a thousand-plus thinkpieces and desperately cast for a strategy to reboot their stalled-out party. Amid the noise, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has recently championed an unlikely game plan: Forget the high road, fight fire with fire and embrace the very tactics that virtue-minded Democrats have long decried. Could the dark art of political gerrymandering be the thing that saves democracy from Trump's increasingly authoritarian impulses? That's essentially the pitch Newsom is making to California voters with his audacious new special election campaign. As Texas Democrats dig in to block a Republican-led redistricting push and Trump muscles to consolidate power wherever he can, Newsom wants to redraw California's own congressional districts to favor Democrats. His goal: counter Trump's drive for more GOP House seats with a power play of his own. It's a boundary-pushing gamble that will undoubtedly supercharge Newsom's political star in the short-term. The long-game glory could be even grander, but only if he pulls it off. A ballot-box flop would be brutal for both Newsom and his party. The charismatic California governor is termed out of office in 2026 and has made no secret of his 2028 presidential ambitions. But the distinct scent of his home state will be hard to completely slough off in parts of the country where California is synonymous with loony lefties, business-killing regulation and an out-of-control homelessness crisis. To say nothing of Newsom's ill-fated dinner at an elite Napa restaurant in violation of COVID-19 protocols — a misstep that energized a failed recall attempt and still haunts the governor's national reputation. The redistricting gambit is the kind of big play that could redefine how voters across the country see Newsom. The strategy could be a boon for Newsom's 2028 ambitions during a moment when Democrats are hungry for leaders, said Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio. But it's also a massive roll of the dice for both Newsom and the state he leads. 'It's great politics for him if this passes,' Maviglio said. 'If it fails, he's dead in the water.' The path forward — which could determine control of Congress in 2026 — is hardly a straight shot. The 'Election Rigging Response Act,' as Newsom has named his ballot measure, would temporarily scrap the congressional districts enacted by the state's voter-approved independent redistricting commission. Under the proposal, Democrats could pick up five seats currently held by Republicans while bolstering vulnerable Democratic incumbent Reps. Adam Gray, Josh Harder, George Whitesides, Derek Tran and Dave Min, which would save the party millions of dollars in costly reelection fights. But first the Democratic-led state Legislature must vote to place the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot and then it must be approved by voters. If passed, the initiative would have a 'trigger,' meaning the redrawn map would not take effect unless Texas or another GOP-led state moved forward with its own gerrymandering effort. 'I think what Governor Newsom and other Democrats are doing here is exactly the right thing we need to do,' Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said Thursday. 'We're not bringing a pencil to a knife fight. We're going to bring a bazooka to a knife fight, right? This is not your grandfather's Democratic Party,' Martin said, adding that they shouldn't be the only ones playing by a set of rules that no longer exist. For Democrats like Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who appeared alongside Newsom to kick off the effort, there is "some heartbreak" to temporarily shelving their commitment to independent redistricting. But she and others were clear-eyed about the need to stop a president "willing to rig the election midstream," she said. Friedman said she was hearing overwhelmingly positive reactions to the proposal from all kinds of Democratic groups on the ground. "The response that I get is, 'Finally, we're fighting. We have a way to fight back that's tangible,'" Friedman recounted. Still, despite the state's Democratic voter registration advantage, victory for the ballot measure will hardly be assured. California voters have twice rallied for independent redistricting at the ballot box in the last two decades and many may struggle to abandon those beliefs. A POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab poll found that voters prefer keeping an independent panel in place to draw district lines by a nearly two-to-one margin, and that independent redistricting is broadly popular in the state. (Newsom's press office argued that the poll was poorly worded, since it asked about getting rid of the independent commission altogether and permanently returning line-drawing power to the legislators, rather than just temporarily scrapping their work for several cycles until the independent commission next draws new lines.) California voters should not expect to see a special election campaign focused on the minutia of reconfiguring the state's congressional districts, however. While many opponents will likely attack the change as undercutting the will of California voters, who overwhelmingly supported weeding politics out of the redistricting process, bank on Newsom casting the campaign as a referendum on Trump and his devious effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress. Newsom employed a similar strategy when he demolished the Republican-led recall campaign against him in 2021, which the governor portrayed as a "life and death" battle against "Trumpism" and far-right anti-vaccine and antiabortion activists. Among California's Democratic-heavy electorate, that message proved to be extremely effective. "Wake up, America," Newsom said Thursday at a Los Angeles rally launching the campaign for the redistricting measure. "Wake up to what Donald Trump is doing. Wake up to his assault. Wake up to the assault on institutions and knowledge and history. Wake up to his war on science, public health, his war against the American people." Kevin Liao, a Democratic strategist who has worked on national and statewide campaigns, said his D.C. and California-based political group chats had been blowing up in recent days with texts about the moment Newsom was creating for himself. Much of Liao's group chat fodder has involved the output of Newsom's digital team, which has elevated trolling to an art form on its official @GovPressOffice account on the social media site X. The missives have largely mimicked the president's own social media patois, with hyperbole, petty insults and a heavy reliance on the 'caps lock' key. "DONALD IS FINISHED — HE IS NO LONGER 'HOT.' FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS 'STEP,' " one of the posts read last week, dutifully reposted by the governor himself. Some messages have also ended with Newsom's initials (a riff on Trump's signature "DJT" signoff) and sprinkled in key Trumpian callbacks, like the phrase 'Liberation Day,' or a doctored Time Magazine cover with Newsom's smiling mien. The account has garnered 150,000 new followers since the beginning of the month. Shortly after Trump took office in January, Newsom walked a fine line between criticizing the president and his policies and being more diplomatic, especially after the California wildfires — in hopes of appealing to any semblance of compassion and presidential responsibility Trump possessed. Newsom had spent the first months of the new administration trying to reshape the California-vs.-Trump narrative that dominated the president's first term and move away from his party's prior "resistance" brand. Those conciliatory overtures coincided with Newsom's embrace of a more ecumenical posture, hosting MAGA leaders on his podcast and taking a position on transgender athletes' participation in women's sports that contradicted the Democratic orthodoxy. Newsom insisted that he engaged in those conversations to better understand political views that diverged from his own, especially after Trump's victory in November. However, there was the unmistakable whiff of an ambitious politician trying to broaden his national appeal by inching away from his reputation as a West Coast liberal. Newsom's reluctance to readopt the Trump resistance mantle ended after the president sent California National Guard troops into Los Angeles amid immigration sweeps and ensuing protests in June. Those actions revealed Trump's unchecked vindictiveness and abject lack of morals and honor, Newsom said. Of late, Newsom has defended the juvenile tone of his press aides' posts mocking Trump's own all-caps screeds, and questioned why critics would excoriate his parody and not the president's own unhinged social media utterances. "If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as president," Newsom said last week. "So to the extent it's gotten some attention, I'm pleased." In an attention-deficit economy where standing out is half the battle, the posts sparkle with unapologetic swagger. And they make clear that Newsom is in on the joke. 'To a certain set of folks who operated under the old rules, this could be seen as, 'Wow, this is really outlandish.' But I think they are making the calculation that Democrats want folks that are going to play under this new set of rules that Trump has established,' Liao said. At a moment when the Democratic party is still occupied with post-defeat recriminations and what's-next vision boarding, Newsom has emerged from the bog with something resembling a plan. And he's betting the house on his deep-blue state's willingness to fight fire with fire. Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Laura Nelson contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Behind the journey: Why did Congressman Hamadeh travel from Jerusalem to Damascus?
US Congressman Abraham J. Hamadeh travelled to Syria to 'discuss the Congressman's continuing efforts to bring Americans home" and advance peace US Rep. Abraham J. Hamadeh made an important trip to the Middle East this week that included what his office called an 'unprecedented trip from Jerusalem to Damascus.' The Republican from Arizona met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani during the trip to Syria. This is significant because Syria is currently continuing its transition from the rule of the Assad regime, which fell in December 2024, to a new government that has promised to unify the country. However, tensions between groups have led to infighting among the Druze, Bedouins, and others. Hamadeh's trip to the region illustrates US engagement with Israel, Syria, and key officials in both countries. According to a statement from Hamadeh's office, he travelled to Syria to 'discuss the congressman's continuing efforts to bring Americans home, advance 'Peace Through Strength,' and advocate for a Syria that looks toward the future and not the past.' However, the larger symbolic importance of this visit is that it was a historic trip by a US official from Jerusalem to Damascus. His office says it is the first time in decades that this has happened. It harkens back to the era of US 'shuttle' diplomacy, when American foreign policy heavyweights, such as Henry Kissinger, would travel around the region. Druze in Israeli and Syrian society On Thursday, Hamadeh met with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel's Druze community. They discussed regional security, the Druze role in Israeli society, and recent attacks on Druze in Syria. Last month, Israel bombed Damascus to deter attacks on the Druze in Syria. The US President Donald Trump's administration has worked to engage with Syria. Trump appointed US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack as US envoy to Syria in May. Barrack has played a key role since then in ensuring that Syria has the best chance possible regarding US ties and what may come next. This includes reducing US sanctions on Syria. The envoy has also shuttled back and forth to Beirut and around the Middle East, becoming a key figure in Trump's regional doctrine. Trump leans on figures such as Barrack and Steve Witkoff to see his policies through. Hamadeh has shown, through this trip to the region, that he is willing to personally go to the places that matter the most in terms of the future of the Middle East. The Republican congressman brings experience to the table in his meetings. As Jewish Insider noted in March, 'Hamadeh is the child of Syrian immigrants with Druze, Kurdish, and Muslim heritage and served in the US military in Saudi Arabia,' giving him a unique perspective on regional affairs. HIS OFFICE said on Monday that 'as an emissary of the Peace Through Strength agenda, Congressman Hamadeh, a former US Army Reserve intelligence officer, was in Syria for six hours to meet with President al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Kayla Mueller's body to her family in Arizona, the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Sweida, and the need for Syria to attain normalization with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.' It also noted that 'in the meeting, Congressman Hamadeh strongly emphasized the need for Syria to course correct in light of recent tragic events.' Hamadeh spoke to Sharaa about a unified Syria and how Damascus 'must provide peace and security for all of its people, including the Christian, Druze, Kurdish, Alawite, and other minority communities. Congressman Hamadeh asserts that this is the only way to build a new Syria that is reflective of its ethnic and religious mosaic,' his office noted. The congressman is supportive of Trump's decision to lift some sanctions on Syria. He also 'believes that Congress should play a key role in this process to ensure that the Syrian government is upholding its commitments to the US. As a result, Congressman Hamadeh and his staff have engaged in interagency efforts to ascertain what is and is not happening on the ground in Syria amid this current conflict. Congressman Hamadeh is grateful for, and supportive of, Ambassador and Special Envoy Tom Barrack's strong leadership in the Levant.' Hamadeh is a member of the important House Armed Services Committee. He is the co-author of the bipartisan Promoting Education on the Abraham Accords for Comprehensive Engagement (PEACE) Act, 'which aims to strengthen US diplomatic engagement by institutionalizing training on the Abraham Accords and other normalization agreements at the US State Department.' His visit to Syria builds on an earlier visit in April by Republican Congressmen Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Cory Mills of Florida. They were the first members of Congress to visit Syria after the fall of the Assad regime. It remains to be seen what comes next. It is important for Damascus to work with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria toward unity. However, Damascus should also respect the SDF, which is a mostly Kurdish force, and also respect requests for a less centralized government. Minorities in Syria are concerned about elements within the government and their supporters. The government has not been able to rein in extremists who have attacked Alawites and Druze. In many cases, it appears to be complicit in the attacks and then tries to walk back its mistakes when things have gone too far.
an hour ago
California Democrats' push for redistricting faces a tight legislative deadline
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Democrats are making a partisan push to draw new congressional districts and reshape the state's U.S. House representation in their favor, but to pull it off, lawmakers returning to the Capitol on Monday face a tight deadline and must still win voters' approval. Limits on federal immigration raids and advancing racial justice efforts are also among the hundreds of proposals the Legislature will vote on before the session ends in September. Here's a look at what's ahead for lawmakers in their last month in session: Lawmakers are expected to spend the first week back after summer break advancing the new congressional map at the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The new map aims at winning Democrats five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms and is a direct response to President Donald Trump's efforts to redraw Texas' map to help Republicans retain their control of the U.S. House. So far, California is the only state beyond Texas that has officially waded into the redistricting fight, although others have signaled they might launch their own efforts. California Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, unveiled the new map Friday. State lawmakers in both houses will hold hearings on the map and vote to put it to voters in a special election in November. If voters agree, the new map would replace the one drawn by an independent commission that took effect in 2022. The new map would only take effect if Texas or another Republican-led state moves forward with their own mid-decade redistricting and would remain through the 2030 elections. Democrats said they will return the map-making power to the commission after the next census. The current effort is to save democracy and counter Trump's agenda, they said. State Republicans vowed to legally challenge the effort, arguing that voters in 2010 already voted to remove partisan influence from how maps are drawn. State lawmakers are contending with how to balance meeting the state's climate goals with lowering utility and gas prices. Those discussions have been colored by the planned closures of two oil refineries that account for nearly 18% of the state's refining capacity, according to air regulators. The Legislature will have to respond to those concerns when it debates whether to reauthorize the state's cap-and-trade program, which is set to expire in 2030. The program allows large greenhouse gas emitters to buy allowances from the state equivalent to what they plan to emit. Over time, fewer allowances are made available with the goal of spurring companies to pollute less. A large portion of revenues from the program goes into a fund that helps pay for climate, affordable housing and transportation projects. The program also funds a credit that Californians receive twice a year on their utility bills. Newsom wants lawmakers to extend the program through 2045, commit $1 billion annually from the fund for the state's long-delayed high-speed rail project and set aside $1.5 billion a year for state fire response. Many environmental groups want the state to update the program by ending free allowances for industrial emitters, ensuring low-income households receive a higher credit on their utility bills, and ending or strengthening an offset program that helps companies comply by supporting projects aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions. Lawmakers will vote on a host of proposals introduced in response to the escalation of federal immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and across the state. That includes legislation that would make it a misdemeanor for local, state and federal law enforcement officers to cover their faces while conducting official business. The proposal makes exceptions for officers wearing a medical grade mask, coverings designed to protect against exposure to smoke during a wildfire, and other protective gear used by SWAT officers while performing their duties. Proponents said the measure would boost transparency and public trust in law enforcement while also preventing people from trying to impersonate law enforcement. Opponents, including law enforcement, said the bill would disrupt local undercover operations without addressing the issue because California doesn't have authority over federal agents. Another proposal would require law enforcement to identify themselves during official business. State Democrats are also championing several proposals that would limit immigration agents without warrants from entering school campuses, hospitals and homeless or domestic violence shelters. A first-in-the-nation state task force released a report in 2023 with more than 100 recommendations for how the state should repair historic wrongdoings against Black Californians descended from enslaved people. The California Legislative Black Caucus introduced a reparations package last year inspired by that work, but the measures did not include direct payments for descendants, and the most ambitious proposals were blocked. The caucus introduced another package this year aimed at offering redress to Black Californians. One of the bills would authorize universities to give admissions priority to descendants of enslaved people. Another would ensure 10% of funds from a state program providing loans to first-time homebuyers goes to descendants. A third would allow the state to set aside $6 million to fund research by California State University on how to confirm residents' eligibility for any reparations programs. Some reparations advocates say the proposals fall short. They say many of the measures are ways to delay implementing one of the task force's key recommendations: direct compensation to descendants of slavery.
