Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand an end to the war in the Gaza Strip, a day after the announcement of an Israeli plan to conquer Gaza City, the largest city in the Palestinian territory.
After twenty-two months of war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing intense pressure from both within Israel and abroad to halt the offensive in the Gaza Strip, where more than two million Palestinians are under threat of “widespread hunger,” according to the UN.
The plan, approved by the Israeli security cabinet, states that the army is preparing to take control of Gaza City, a largely destroyed area in the north of the territory, and at the same time, distribute humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat areas.
In Tel Aviv, AFP journalists estimated the number of protesters in the tens of thousands, while the Forum of the Families of the Hostages reported 100,000 participants. Officials did not provide official figures.
The protesters displayed banners and photographs of the hostages still being held by the Palestinian terrorist group and demanded the government's immediate release. Hamas, which is holding 49 people—27 of whom are presumed dead—declared on Friday that Israel's decision to occupy Gaza City entails the"sacrifice" of those hostages taken during the Palestinian Islamist movement's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The families of the hostages and Israeli groups advocating for peace are calling for a ceasefire with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining captives.
Nira Sharabi, wife of Israeli hostage Yossi Sharabi, who died in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza, said that her husband lost his life “due to the intensity of the conflict.”
“Yossi could have come back to us if everyone had been brought back quickly and decisively... No woman should have to experience what I have experienced,” she told the protesters.
Emergency meeting of the UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council postponed until Sunday the emergency meeting scheduled to discuss the recent announcement by the government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize Gaza City.
The meeting, which was scheduled to take place this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (Washington local time), is expected to start this Sunday at 10:00 a.m., according to the UN Security Council agenda.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City “marks a dangerous escalation” that will further endanger civilians in Gaza, including hostages held in the enclave since Palestinian militant attacks on October 7, 2023.
The calling of the extraordinary session of the Security Council was requested by various members of this body due to the "growing concern", according to a member of the diplomatic corps who spoke to the news agency AFP.
“Several countries, on our behalf and on their own behalf, are requesting a meeting,” Palestinian UN representative Ryad Mansour told reporters about the summit to address the new Israeli initiative, which, according to leaks, would include the evacuation of the Gazan population by October 7 and the imposition of an interim government not linked to the terrorist group Hamas or the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Various governments and international organizations have expressed their rejection of Israel's decision.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the Israeli plan"does not clarify how it intends to achieve the goals of disarming Hamas, securing the release of the hostages, and quickly launching ceasefire negotiations." He announced the suspension until further notice of exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip, an unprecedented decision for Germany since the beginning of the conflict.
