Things are going in different Directions…..
Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated Israeli threats to seize territory in Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining Israeli hostages, as, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians joined protests against the militant group and demanding the end of the war.
The Israeli prime minister’s warning came a week after Israel resumed its military operation in the territory, shattering the relative calm of a January ceasefire with Hamas.
“The more Hamas continues in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the repression we exert will be,” Netanyahu told a hearing in parliament, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting from opposition members.
He added: “I say this to my colleagues in the Knesset, and I say it to Hamas as well: this includes the seizure of territories, along with other measures I will not elaborate here.”
Hamas warned on Wednesday that hostages may be killed if Israel attempts to use its military to retrieve them. “Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins,” the group said in a statement.
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 that the Israeli military says are dead.
For the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians have joined protests in northern Gaza, shouting anti-Hamas slogans and calling for an end to the war with Israel, in a rare display of public anger against the militant group.
On Tuesday, videos and photographs shared on social media, which appeared to be authentic, showed hundreds of people, mostly men, chanting: “Hamas out” and: “Hamas terrorists” in Beit Lahiya.
Some protesters were seen carrying banners emblazoned with slogans including: “Stop the war” and: “We want to live in peace”. At least one appeal to join the protest was circulating on the social media network Telegram.
“I don’t know who organised the protest,” one man told Agence France-Press. “I took part to send a message on behalf of the people: enough with the war.” He said he had seen “members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothing breaking up the protest”…..
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The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of parts of Gaza City as it steps up its renewed offensive against Hamas after breaking the ceasefire last week. Israel’s bombardments and ground operations have caused vast destruction and at their height displaced some 90% of Gaza’s population.
Thousands of Palestinians marched in heavily destroyed northern Gaza on Wednesday in the second day of anti-war protests. It’s a rare display of public anger against Hamas, although the protests appeared generally aimed against the war in Gaza and their insufferable living conditions.
Israel has cut off all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to war-torn Gaza’s roughly 2 million people since the beginning of the month — a strategy that rights groups say is a war crime.
Israel has vowed to increase military pressure until Hamas returns the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel also demands Hamas disarm and send its leaders into exile. Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Here’s the latest:
Mass protests outside the Israeli parliament ahead of a key vote on judicial overhaul
Tens of thousands of Israelis flocked to Jerusalem on Wednesday to protest a bill that would change the way judges are selected. It’s the latest in a series of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the country in recent weeks.
The proposed bill is up for a final vote overnight and is expected to pass. Critics say the changes would dangerously politicize the process of judicial appointments.
An earlier version of the bill was a cornerstone of the sweeping overhaul of the judiciary launched by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government in early 2023. That process touched off months of mass protests that only ground to a halt after the Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza.
Israelis have taken to the streets for several days to protest the government’s failure to secure a deal to free hostages held in Gaza and its recent moves to fire top legal and security officials, which many view as further steps that threaten the balance of powers in Israel….
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