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Associated Press

Tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government protest since the country went to war in October.
Protesters urged the government to reach a ceasefire deal to free dozens of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants and to hold early elections.
Israeli society was broadly united immediately after October 7, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people during a cross-border attack and took 250 others hostage.
Nearly six months of conflict have renewed divisions over the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the country remains largely in favour of the war.

Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home, yet those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact.
Roughly half the hostages in Gaza were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November. But attempts by international mediators to bring home the remaining hostages have failed. Talks resumed on Sunday with no signs that a breakthrough was imminent.
‘Excuses are over’: pressure mounts on Netanyahu as Gaza hostage protests widen
Hostages’ families believe time is running out, and they are getting more vocal about their displeasure with Netanyahu.
“We believe that no hostages will come back with this government because they’re busy putting sticks in the wheels of negotiations for the hostages,” said Boaz Atzili, whose cousin, Aviv Atlizi and his wife, Liat, were kidnapped on October 7.
Liat was released but Aviv was killed, and his body is in Gaza. “Netanyahu is only working in his private interests”.
Protesters blame Netanyahu for the failures of October 7 and say the deep political divisions over his attempted judicial overhaul last year weakened Israel ahead of the attack. Some accuse him of damaging relations with the United States, Israel’s most important ally.
Netanyahu is also facing a litany of corruption charges which are slowly making their way through the courts, and critics say his decisions appear to be focused on political survival over the national interest.
Opinion polls show Netanyahu and his coalition trailing far behind their rivals if elections were held today.

Unless his governing coalition falls apart sooner, Netanyahu won’t face elections until spring of 2026.
Many families of hostages had refrained from publicly denouncing Netanyahu to avoid antagonising the leadership and making the hostages’ plight a political issue. But as their anger grows, some now want to change course – and they played a major role in Sunday’s anti-government protest.
The crowd on Sunday stretched for blocks around the Knesset, or parliament building, and organisers vowed to continue the demonstration for several days.
Pope’s Easter message renews call for Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages
They urged the government to hold new elections nearly two years ahead of schedule. Thousands also demonstrated Sunday in Tel Aviv, where there was a large protest the night before.
Netanyahu, in a nationally televised speech before undergoing hernia surgery later Sunday, said he understood families’ pain. But he said calling new elections – in what he described as a moment before victory – would paralyse Israel for six to eight months and stall the hostage talks. For now, Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears to remain firmly intact.
Some hostage families agree that now is not the time for elections.




“I don’t think that changing the prime minister now is what will advance and help my son to come home,” Sheli Shem Tov, whose son Omer was kidnapped from a music festival, told Israel’s Channel 12. “To go to elections now will just push to the side the most burning issue, which is to return the hostages home.”
In his Sunday address, Netanyahu also repeated his vow for a military ground offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than half of territory’s population of 2.3 million now shelters after fleeing fighting elsewhere. “There is no victory without going into Rafah,” he said, adding that US pressure would not deter him. Israel’s military says Hamas battalions remain there.
In another reminder of Israel’s divisions, a group of reservists and retired officers demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood.
Ultra-Orthodox men for generations have received exemptions from military service, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. Resentment over that has deepened during the war.
Israeli hostage recounts sexual assault in Gaza captivity
Netanyahu’s government has been ordered to present a new plan for a more equitable draft law by Monday.
Netanyahu, who relies heavily on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, last week asked for an extension.
The Bank of Israel said in its annual report on Sunday that there could be economic damage if large numbers of ultra-Orthodox men continue not to serve in Israel’s military.
The United Nations and partners warn that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza. Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road. Egypt has said thousands of trucks are waiting.
Israel says it places no limits on deliveries of humanitarian aid. It has blamed the UN and other international agencies for the failure to distribute more aid.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 32,782 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilians and fighters, but it has said that women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
Israel says over one-third of the dead are militants, though it has not provided evidence, and it blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates in residential areas.
Amid concerns about a wider conflict in the region, Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli drone struck a car in the southern Lebanese town of Konin.
A Lebanese security official told Associated Press that Hezbollah militant Ismail al-Zain was killed, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Israel’s military called al-Zain a “significant commander”. Hezbollah confirmed the death.
Late Sunday, a Palestinian attacker stabbed three people in southern Israel, seriously wounding them, said the Hatzalah rescue service. Police said the attacker was shot, but gave no further details on his condition.


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Israel-Gaza war

Israelis stage largest protest since war in Gaza began to increase pressure on Netanyahu

Anti-government protesters in Jerusalem on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Israelis protest in Jerusalem. Photo: dpa

Posters in support of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Reuters

Gaza war: UN Security Council’s ceasefire demand must not be ignored

A woman sits near the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza city of Rafah on March 27. Photo: Xinhua

Pressure mounts on Israel’s Netanyahu as Gaza hostage protests widen: ‘bring them home now’

Smoke rises as family members and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza take part in a protest rally in Tel Aviv on March 30. Photo: EPA-EFE

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators from a highway in Tel Aviv on March 30. Photo: AP

Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital tent camp, killing 2 and wounding 15

An injured Palestinian man lies on a stretcher in a corridor at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Photo: AFP

Damage at a makeshift camp in front of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah after it was hit by an Israeli strike. Photo: AFP

Benjamin Netanyahu cancels Israeli delegation to US over UN Gaza vote

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Pool via Reuters

Ambassadors, except for US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, second left, raise their hands to vote in favour of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, during a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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World

Middle East

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem, in scenes reminiscent of mass street protests last year
Demonstrators called for fresh Israel elections and a quick deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza


Tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem, urging the government to reach a ceasefire deal to free dozens of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and to hold early elections.


Israelis stage largest protest since war in Gaza began to increase pressure on Netanyahu

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem, in scenes reminiscent of mass street protests last year Demonstrators called for fresh Israel elections and a quick deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem, in scenes reminiscent of mass street protests last year

Demonstrators called for fresh Israel elections and a quick deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza