Israelis protest against war

Tel Aviv (dpa) — Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv against the government’s plans to expand the war in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Saturday.

The rally was organized by a forum of relatives of hostages abducted by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip. The families fear the military’s planned operations will endanger their loved ones.

“My Yossi was killed because of the intensity of the fighting. He was struck by an Air Force missile at the place where he was being held,” Nira Sharabi, the widow of the slain hostage Yossi Sharabi, told the crowd, according to the newspaper Haaretz.

On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved plans to expand its military operation and seize Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, possibly to gain control of the entire coastal area.

The military believes hostages are being held in areas outside its control, which may include Gaza City.

Israeli authorities estimate that 50 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The Gaza War was triggered by the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip that has led to the deaths of more than 61,000 people, according to figures from the Hamas-controlled health authorities.

International pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to strike a peace deal amid growing alarm over Gaza’s rising death toll and widespread hunger.