It was a night of demonstrations and protests in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands of people filled the center demanding the government continue with the agreement for the release of the hostages and the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was the largest demonstration since the one following the Hamas massacre on October 7: around 120,000 people which was accompanied by other demonstrations in numerous locations across the country. In Democracy Square, after the end of the official demonstration, people continued to chant slogans for the release of the hostages. Some activists lit a bonfire and videos posted on social media showed skirmishes with police. According to Haaretz, two protesters were arrested and the police used a sound cannon to disperse the protesters.
Not even twelve hours after Joe Biden’s speech which illustrated to the world the road map to achieve peace in Gaza, Netanyahu is forced to face the anger of the most radical and intransigent ministers who are threatening to bring down the government. And a note issued by his office yesterday on Shabbat reads that «Israel’s conditions for the end of the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’ military and government capabilities, the release of all hostages and the assurance that Gaza will not it will be more of a threat to us.” It sounds like the disavowal of the second of the three phases, in which the temporary truce of the first six weeks – with the release, it seems, of 33 hostages including women, children, elderly and wounded – should become definitive with the release of all abductees still alive and the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
In the evening, Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the government “if Netanyahu signs an agreement for the end of the conflict without the destruction of Hamas”. Followed closely by Smotrich. Less predictable was that Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid and head of the opposition, was defending the prime minister: sensing how much the Israeli-American proposal is already at risk, he opened up to the hypothesis of support. Hamas, meanwhile, is taking its time. The leadership «expresses support for the proposed agreement with Israel presented by Biden», but according to internal sources «the official position of Hamas will depend on what our leaders in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, say, because they are the ones who have to then ensure compliance with the conditions.”
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In Rome as in New York and Melbourne: today the global march for the Israeli hostages
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