Middle East Newsblog I Largest demonstration against Netanyahu since October 7

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Lerato Khumalo

Israel’s army continues to investigate shelling of a tent camp. Tens of thousands demonstrate for the release of Hamas hostages. More information in the news blog.

10:02 p.m.: On Saturday evening, tens of thousands of people in Israel protested again against the government and for an agreement to release the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. In the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, demonstrators chanted: “Alive, alive – and not in body bags.” According to the organizers, the demonstration in Tel Aviv is the largest since October 7. The news website “ynet” reports, citing the organizers, that around 150,000 people are protesting against the government in the city.

At a rally in Tel Aviv, many people also remembered the birthday of a kidnapped soldier who turns 20 today while being held hostage. Many demonstrators displayed posters with the Israeli woman’s face on them. Her parents called for her release in a speech. Footage from the organizers shows the mother crying during the protest in Tel Aviv.

20:40: Two US representatives have denied reports by the Yemeni Houthi militias about an alleged attack on the US aircraft carrier “Dwight D. Eisenhower”. “That is false,” says one of the two insiders, who does not want to be named. The Houthis had previously stated that they had successfully attacked the “Eisenhower” in the Red Sea. They did not provide any further details and did not say when the alleged attack took place.

18:33: Following an attack on a tent camp for internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip that was attributed to Israel, the Israeli army says it is continuing to investigate the incident. According to an initial investigation, there was no direct attack on a Red Cross facility, the military said.

16:07: Israel’s army says it has killed a “key terrorist” in Lebanon. The military says it “eliminated” the man in a targeted attack in the Bekaa Valley. According to the information, he was responsible for supplying weapons to the Islamist Hamas and the Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya group, among others.

14 o’clock: Israel has attacked targets in the Gaza City area. The Israeli army announced in a brief statement that two Hamas military facilities had been attacked by fighter jets. According to the terrorist organization, at least 42 people were killed. The target of the shelling was the Al-Tuffah district and the Al-Shati refugee camp, said the director of the Hamas-run government media office, Ismail al-Thauabta, to the Reuters news agency. 18 people were killed in Al-Tuffah and 24 in Al-Shati.

11.26 am: According to the Israeli military, an Israeli was shot dead in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the northwest of the West Bank. Military units then became active in the region and started an investigation, the army said. The background to the attack was initially unclear.

Eyewitnesses and Palestinian media reported that the victim was shot in the morning and his car was set on fire. Cars from Israel can be recognized by their yellow license plates. Palestinian license plates are white. The city of Qalqilia is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Israelis are generally prohibited from entering the city.

11.25 am: Cuba says it is joining South Africa’s complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. As a third country, the island state will present its interpretation of the norms of the UN Genocide Convention, which Israel has “blatantly violated” through its actions in the Gaza Strip, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said.