Israel’s Progress Towards Ceasefire and Protests in Tel Aviv

Israel’s war cabinet has been briefed on talks over a ceasefire deal in Gaza, after reports of progress made in talks in Paris on Saturday. It comes as police broke up protests in Tel Aviv calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resignation. Riot police on horseback charged demonstrators as they tried to make their way to Democracy Square. The Paris talks are part of negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire and the return of hostages. The deal would also see the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Anti-government demonstrations were relatively frequent in Israel before the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October – the demonstrators’ loathing for Mr Netanyahu and his hardline cabinet goes back more than a year. But Saturday’s unrest was the first time since October that police have resorted to tougher measures. Families of the Israeli hostages gathered in the city to call for a diplomatic solution to the war and a focus on their return. Israeli media reported progress had been made at talks in Paris on a hostage and ceasefire deal. Israeli national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said in a televised interview on Saturday evening: “Such an agreement does not mean the end of the war.” Local media report that a two-month-old Palestinian boy died from starvation at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday. The Hamas-run health ministry says at least 29,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, and thousands more bodies are likely unaccounted for under rubble across Gaza. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the 7 October attacks on southern Israeli communities near the border with Gaza. The status quo is smashed. The future is messy and dangerous.