The Israeli military advised Gaza City residents to evacuate to a “humanitarian zone” in Khan Younis. That’s as the expanded ground operation continues. DW has more.
Tens of thousands of people took part in mass rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to demand the release of the hostages, after over 700 days of Hamas captivity in Gaza.
This week’s Saturday protest shifted its focus to Jerusalem, with demonstrators gathering near the residences and workplaces of key decision-makers in an effort to pressure them into agreeing to a ceasefire and hostage deal. Thousands of people marched towards the centre of West Jerusalem, chanting “dai” in Hebrew, which means “enough.”
The protests took place while the Israeli military was intensifying its assault on Gaza City and forcibly displacing its residents towards the southern part of the territory. The military claims this was to put pressure on Hamas and conquer and occupy the Palestinian city.
Yehuda Raviv was present with a group of army veterans from the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He criticized Israel’s military invasion of Gaza City.
“It is horrifying what Israel is doing, what the State of Israel is doing, that’s why I am here, we got to try to stop it. They have no strategy, no goal what should come after, and there are all the casualties, hundreds of soldiers that got killed, and every other day another soldier is killed, and I am not even talking about the hostages,” Yehuda Raviv told DW.
He added, “We should pull out of Gaza within an hour or two and we should come with a solution to the milions of people that are living there and that are living in the West Bank.”
Concern for the hostages is growing
There was also growing concern for the lives of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 26 have been confirmed dead by the military and 20 are believed to be alive.
Bar Evron, a student from the southern town of Be’er Sheva, came to Jerusalem to show her support for the families of hostages. “We really need to sign a deal, we need to stop the war. I believe that peace would make our hostages come back, we need to stop this, we want to stop this,” Bar Evron told DW.
Another protester questioned the government’s plan to conquer and occupy Gaza City. “For me the most important thing is to release the hostages, I also don’t see the point to go into Gaza [City], I don’t know how this helps, they’ve been there before, they’ve been back and forth, they should release the hostages, they should make a deal to release all the hostages,” Dan Kaplan, a protester from Tel Aviv, told DW.
“If there is any terrorist that we need to deal with, we’ll do it, but not by going into Gaza and in the meantime, the hostages will be killed,” Kaplan told DW.
However, he also acknowledged that the Israeli far-right and religious government, has not taken the protesters into account.
“I think the government is very right-wing. It is mainly interested in staying in power,” Kaplan said. “I go to a protest every Saturday, I don’t think it will help, but this is the minimum we can do.”
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-israel-urges-gaza-city-residents-to-move-south/live-73903799