Malta Independent

Scuffles erupt between police, protesters demanding return of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza

Scuffles between Israeli police and protesters erupted in Tel Aviv on Saturday after thousands gathered to demonstrat­e against the government and demand that it bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a small U.S. military vessel and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, not far from the U.S.-built pier on which the Israeli military said humanitari­an aid is moving into the Palestinia­n territory.

Also on Saturday, Israeli bombardmen­ts were reported in northern and central Gaza.

Some protesters in Tel Aviv carried photos of the female soldiers who appeared in a video earlier in the week showing them soon after they were abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 started the war between Israel and Hamas. Some held banners reading “Stop the war” and “Help.” They called on the government to reach a deal to release the dozens of hostages still in captivity.

The protesters also called for the resignatio­n of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded new elections.

“We all saw the video, we could not stay at home after the government abandoned all these people,” said Hilit Sagi, from the group “Women Protest for the Return of All Hostages.”

Divisions among Israelis have deepened over how Netanyahu has handled the war against Hamas after the attack that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel says around 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

“Basically they are not doing enough in order for the hostages to come back, either with military force, with (a) hostages’ deal, negotiatin­g. Nothing is being done,” said Snir Dahan, uncle of hostage Carmel Gat, still in captivity in Gaza.

Earlier in the week, the bodies of three hostages killed were recovered from Gaza, Israel’s army said Friday. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The announceme­nt came less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on Oct. 7.

Around half of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas and other militants have been freed, most in swaps for Palestinia­n prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Netanyahu’s government has faced increasing pressure, both at home and abroad, to stop the war and allow humanitari­an aid into the enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinia­ns, almost 80% of whom have been displaced.

Also this week, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinia­n state, and the chief prosecutor for the Internatio­nal Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials.

On Friday the Internatio­nal Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and to open the nearby border crossing for crucial humanitari­an aid. The top United Nations court also said Israel must give war crimes investigat­ors access to Gaza.

However, the judges stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire across the entire Palestinia­n territory, and Israel is unlikely to comply with the court’s ruling. South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinia­ns during the war in Gaza, which Israel vehemently denies.

“We were hoping the war would end,” said Islam Abu Kamar, who moved from Gaza City to Rafah following the ground operation launched by Israel after the Hamas attack in October.

In the past two weeks, more than a million Palestinia­ns have fled Rafah as Israeli forces pressed deeper into the city. Israel’s takeover this month of the Rafah border crossing, a key transit point for fuel and supplies for Gaza, has contribute­d to bringing aid operations to near collapse, the U.N. and relief groups say.

Israel says it needs to invade

Rafah to destroy Hamas’ last stronghold. Egypt said it agreed to send U.N. humanitari­an aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Israel’s main entry point into southern Gaza. But it remains unclear if the trucks will be able to enter because fighting still rages in Rafah.

Israel said aid is moving into the Palestinia­n territory through northern Gaza and via the U.S.-built pier. On Saturday, a small U.S. military boat and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.

The U.S. Central Command said four of its vessels supporting the humanitari­an aid mission were affected by rough seas with two of them anchoring near the pier off the Gaza coast and another two in Israel.

U.S. officials said no injuries were reported and the U.S. is working with the Israeli army

to recover the vessels, Central Command said.

American officials hope the pier at maximum capacity can bring the equivalent of 150 truckloads of aid to Gaza daily. That’s a fraction of the 600 truckloads of food, emergency nutritiona­l treatments and other supplies that USAID says are needed each day to bring people in Gaza back from the brink of famine and address the humanitari­an crisis brought on by the 7-month-old IsraelHama­s war.

Israeli bombardmen­ts continued in the enclave on Saturday with reports of strikes northern and central Gaza. Witnesses said people were killed in strikes on the cities of Jabaliya and Nuseirat.

More than 35,000 Palestinia­ns have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguis­h between combatants and civilians.