Families of hostages march to Jerusalem, demand their immediate release

Thousands of family members and supporters of some 240 hostages held in Gaza streamed into Jerusalem on Saturday, castigating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war with Hamas and pleading with the government to do more to bring their loved ones home.

The march capped a five-day trek from Tel Aviv and represented the largest protest on behalf of the hostages since they were dragged into Gaza by Hamas on October 7 as part of the militants' deadly attack in southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel on the day of the surprise Hamas assault. Israel declared war in response, and more than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in the past six weeks as the Israeli military conducts a punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza, where Hamas militants have ruled for the past 16 years.

Israeli leaders have set two objectives — to crush Hamas and to bring the hostages home. Some of the hostage families have said they fear that the military offensive endangers their loved ones. Israeli leaders, in turn, have argued that only military pressure on Hamas will lead to some hostage releases in a possible deal involving a temporary cease-fire.

Earlier on Saturday scores of patients, staff and displaced people left Gaza's largest hospital. The exodus from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City came the same day internet and phone service was restored to the Gaza Strip, ending a telecommunications blackout that forced the United Nations to shut down critical humanitarian aid deliveries because it was unable to coordinate its convoys.

Israel continued to expand its offensive in Gaza City, with the military warning in a social media post in Arabic that residents of two neighbourhoods in the east and north and the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya must evacuate for their safety. It said military activities would be paused briefly to allow them to leave. Earlier in the week, the Israeli defence minister had said troops had completed operations in the west of Gaza City. Attacks also continued in the south of the Gaza Strip, with an Israeli airstrike hitting a residential building on the outskirts of the town of Khan Younis, killing at least 26 Palestinians, according to a doctor at the hospital where the bodies were taken.