Israelis rally for hostage release and removal of Benjamin Netanyahu as truce talks stall

Peace talks have stalled in Cairo as Israel continues its bombardment of Rafah, while Israelis took to the streets demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Protesters carry placards during a gathering called for by relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Source: AFP / Jack Guez

Shouting "Elections now!" and "Bring back the hostages now!", thousands of Israeli demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv to demand the departure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after five months of war in Gaza.

With t-shirts and banners featuring the names and pictures of hostages seized during Hamas's 7 October, the crowd demanded swift action to rescue the remaining captives.

The attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians.

Israel's retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas has killed 30,960 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza's health ministry.

Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza alive and 31 are presumed dead, Israel has said, a key source of demonstrators' despair.

Protesters demand hostage release

"We are a broken country," said Ora, a psychologist in her 60s who did not want to give her full name.

Some protesters called for an immediate ceasefire, a position Netanyahu's government has so far rejected, arguing it would amount to a victory for Hamas.

Anti-government activists and relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza block a road during a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Source: AFP / Jack Guez

"Ceasefire? yes, we don't have any choice," said Israel Alva, a former soldier who now sells medical equipment, adding that there was no "political plan" for after the war.

Mediators have been pushing for a new truce deal in Cairo before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

But US President Joe Biden said on Friday that a breakthrough was "looking tough".

Israel said its spy chief had met with his US counterpart as part of efforts to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

"The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, met yesterday (Friday) with the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, as part of the ceaseless efforts to advance another hostage release deal," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Israel did not send a delegation to the latest round of truce talks in Cairo, and Hamas left on Thursday after expressing frustration with Israel's positions, heading to Qatar for consultations with the movement's leadership.

Israel hits landmark tower in Rafah

Israel struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, residents say, stepping up pressure on the last area of the enclave it has not yet invaded and where over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

The 12-floor building was damaged in the strike on Saturday, and residents said dozens of families were made homeless, though no casualties were reported. Israel's military said the block was being used by Hamas to plan attacks on Israelis.

One of the 300 residents of the tower, which is located some 500 metres from the border with Egypt, told Reuters Israel gave them a 30-minute warning to flee the building at night.

Aid ship from Cyprus 'ready' to sail for Gaza

Two hundred tonnes of food aid were "ready" to be sent from Cyprus to war-ravaged Gaza by sea, a Spanish NGO said , the first shipment along an EU-backed maritime corridor.

A spokeswoman for Open Arms, a charity whose boat docked three weeks ago in the Cypriot port of Larnaca, said "everything will be ready to be able to set sail" later Saturday.

"Depending on all the authorisations and permits, and when we get them", the vessel could embark "today or tomorrow", Laura Lanuza told Agence France-Presse.

A child is stuck as Palestinians hold out their empty containers to be filled with food, distributed by charity organisations, behind bars. Source: Getty / Anadolu

Lanuza said Israeli authorities, which have welcomed the Cypriot initiative, have already begun inspecting the cargo of "200 tonnes of basic foodstuffs, rice and flour, cans of tuna".

World Central Kitchen teams in the besieged Palestinian territory have begun "constructing a dock" to unload the shipment, she said, without elaborating for security reasons.

'Clinging to their seats'

Shai Gill, a 50-year-old airline pilot who joined the Tel Aviv rally, said Netanyahu's government - already hit by a massive protest wave before the war - "cannot stay in power" after the 7 October.

"They don't have the trust of the people and we have to go for an election," Gill said.

He accused the government of being "driven by the motivation to stay in power, and not by what is good for the country. They just are clinging to their seats."

Police later said they arrested 16 protesters for public disturbances, while the force used water canons to disperse the crowd as they blocked a highway.

Saturday's gathering bore some resemblance to mass protests against Netanyahu's controversial legal overhaul before the war in Gaza - "a century ago", as one protester put it with a sigh.

Netanyahu was dealt a new blow this week when a probe found that the premier "bears personal responsibility" for a 2021 stampede in northern Israel that killed 45 Jewish pilgrims.

Netanyahu's Likud party said in response that the investigation was politically motivated.

"Netanyahu has always governed the same way, with this attitude of 'I'm not responsible'," Gill said.