9 months into Gaza war, Israeli protesters seek ceasefire, Netanyahu’s resignation

Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters on Sunday (July 7) blocked highways across the country, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a ceasefire to bring back scores of hostages held by Hamas.

The demonstrations come as long-running efforts to broker a truce gained momentum last week when Hamas dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war. The militant group still wants mediators to guarantee a permanent ceasefire, while Netanyahu is vowing to keep fighting until Israel destroys Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

“Any deal will allow Israel to return and fight until all the goals of the war are achieved,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday that was likely to deepen Hamas’ concerns about the proposal.

“Day of Disruption”

Sunday’s “Day of Disruption” started at 6.29 am, the same time Hamas militants launched the first rockets towards Israel in the October 7 attack that triggered the war. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside the homes of government ministers.

Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolise those fellow citizens who were killed and abducted.

Hannah Golan said she came to protest the “devastating abandonment of our communities by our government”. She added, “It’s nine months today, to this black day, and still, nobody in our government takes responsibility.”

120 remain captive

Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack and took 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

About 120 hostages remain captive after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November ceasefire deal. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and there are fears that the number will grow as the war drags on.

What Israel and Hamas want

The United States has rallied the world behind a proposal for a phased ceasefire in which Hamas would release the remaining captives in return for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Hamas wants guarantees from mediators that the war will end, while Israel wants the freedom to resume fighting if talks over releasing the last batch of hostages drag on.

Israel continues to battle pockets of Palestinian militants across Gaza after months of heavy bombing and ground operations that have devastated the territory’s main cities and displaced most of its population of 23 lakh people, often multiple times. On Sunday, Israel issued new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza City, which was heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war.

Bodies found with hands tied

The Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis said the bodies of three Palestinians were retrieved from the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. A hospital statement said they were handcuffed, and an Associated Press reporter saw one of the bodies with the hands bound.

Abdel-Hadi Ghabaeen, an uncle of one of the deceased, said they had been working to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments through the crossing. He said he saw soldiers detain them on Saturday, and that the bodies bore signs of beatings, with one having a broken leg.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

Thousands of Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war, and many of those who have been released, as well as some Israelis who have worked at detention facilities, say detainees have been tortured and held under harsh conditions. Israeli authorities have denied abusing prisoners.

More Palestinians killed

Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Sunday killed at least 13 Palestinians, including the undersecretary of labour in the largely dismantled Hamas-run government.

Ihab al-Ghussein was among four people killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defence, a first responders’ group under the Hamas-run government. Hamas mourned his loss in a statement and said a strike earlier in the war had destroyed his house and killed his wife and daughter.

The Israeli military said it had struck a militant complex “in the area of a school building”, as well as a nearby Hamas weapons-making facility in Gaza City after taking steps to mitigate harm to civilians.

The military separately announced that one of its officers was killed in battle in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, bringing the total number of Israeli soldiers killed to 680 since the start of the war.

Israel trades fire with Hezbollah

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said early on Sunday that it launched dozens of projectiles toward northern Israel, targeting areas more than 30 km from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, Israel’s national rescue service reported.

Another attack near the border wounded three people, one of them seriously, according to the Galilee Medical Centre. Israeli media reported that the critically wounded individual was an American citizen. There was no immediate confirmation from the army.

Hezbollah began launching rocket and mortar attacks after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The range and severity of the attacks and Israel’s counter-strikes have escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border.

(With agency inputs)