Protesters rally outside Israeli ministers’ homes

Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the homes of Israeli government ministers to mark two years since the start of the war on Gaza, demanding an end to the fighting and the return of captives, Haaretz reported.

Members of the group Mothers on the Frontline rallied outside Defence Minister Israel Katz’s home in Kfar Ahim, calling for what they described as an end to “needless risks” to soldiers’ lives.

“Enough with the war! Our boys are worn out and exhausted. The missions assigned to them in Gaza are putting their lives in danger for no reason,” a protester said.

In Haifa, Boaz Zalmanovich, whose father Arye’s body remains held in Gaza, addressed a crowd outside the home of Likud lawmaker Ariel Kallner.

Police reportedly confiscated megaphones from demonstrators outside the home of Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman in Rehovot, leading to clashes with protesters.

Demonstrations were also held outside the homes of Justice Minister Yariv Levin in Modi’in, Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel in Tel Aviv, Transport Minister Miri Regev, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Nes Ziona.

Two years into its war on Gaza, Israel is fractured, isolated: Analysts

Two years into its war on Gaza, having killed more than 67,000 people, forced a famine upon countless others and attacked its neighbours repeatedly, Israel stands isolated on the world stage and divided at home, analysts say.

Taking the podium at the UN General Assembly last month, Netanyahu faced a mass walkout over what has been termed Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Internationally, Israel is arguably more isolated and more reliant on the absolute support of the US than ever as allies like the UK, France and even Germany condemn its war on Gaza.

At home, two years of war have shattered the image of what observers long described as a progressive liberal democracy, replacing it with something much darker, forbidding and extreme.

Greta Thunberg acknowledges ‘mistreatment’ while held in Israel

Activist Greta Thunberg has alluded abuse while being held in Israel after arriving in Greece.

Thunberg told journalists shortly after arriving: “I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me. But that is not the story.”

Instead, Thunberg urged world leaders and ordinary citizens to end their “complicity” with the “genocide” being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza, on the eve of the second anniversary of the war.

“We cannot take our eyes away from Gaza,” Thunberg said.

‘All parties pushing towards reaching an agreement’ to end war in Gaza

Talks in Egypt aimed at ending the war in Gaza saw “four hours of intense and meticulous discussions in order to identify bottleneck or obstacles”, according to the spokesperson of Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.

He added that “many details require agreements on implementation of handover of captives, release of Palestinian prisoners, entry of aid” among others.

“The meetings continue. All parties are pushing towards reaching an agreement.”

Key questions remain about proposed deployment of ‘international forces’ to Gaza

We’ve spoken to Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, about the proposed deployment to Gaza of an “International Stabilization Force” under the proposal announced by the White House last week.

Here’s what he said – the text below has slightly been edited for brevity:

“It is a huge task because it’s being done outside the United Nations framework. Had it been done within the UN framework … things would have moved fast.

“But the way it’s been left vague means that Israel has even more excuses to delay and be very selective as to their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip – where they want to withdraw, where they don’t want to withdraw, what kind of exchange they’re expecting and so on.

“A really important, critical point is that until now we don’t know who is willing to contribute to those forces and what will be the mandate of those forces – if it is about disarming Hamas on behalf of Israel then it is due to fail, and the nations providing soldiers and paying for it they will regret getting involved.

“However, if it is a UN-protection force – as happened in East Timor, Kosovo and elsewhere – then I think there is hope. What’s required is to create a buffer zone between Israel and the Palestinians to allow the Palestinians the time to reconstitute their political scene and to rebuild and stabilise, and also to offer Israel the security they seek from Gaza.

Anything short of that is a recipe for a disaster and particularly if it ends up including forces from the region. We know very well that Israel does not respect any country in the region, they will not hold themselves from attacking the Palestinians and making those countries also victims in-between.

“It has to be an international force with Western nations contributing and potentially even going as far as China and others.”

It has to be better than UNIFIL which has no power to stop Israel from continuing to occupy and bomb Lebanon...


‘Without US pressure, nothing will move’: Hopes for wider political solution low

Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, says the while the latest Gaza plan could lead to a cessation of hostilities, hopes for a broader political solution remain dim without firm action from the US.

“There is hope,” Levy told Al Jazeera, when asked whether the proposal could stop the fighting. “But if you ask me about some kind of further or greater solution, I think we are as far as we have been before this agreement,” he stressed.

Levy said any progress towards ending the occupation or achieving a viable Palestinian state would depend on decisive intervention from the US.

“You will not get any further unless the American president will be decisive enough, which I have my doubts,” Levy added. “He doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic about the two-state solution either – so without American pressure nothing will move.”

Hamas outlines key demands in ceasefire talks

Hamas has detailed its main conditions in the ongoing ceasefire talks in Egypt.

Fawzi Barhoum, the group’s spokesperson, said its delegation is seeking to “overcome all obstacles” to reach an agreement that meets “the aspirations of our people in Gaza”. Barhoum listed Hamas’s key demands as:

President Trump says US team heading to Egypt for Gaza negotiations

President Donald Trump has again expressed optimism on progress towards a Gaza deal and says a US team just left to take part in the negotiations.

Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said “I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East” – beyond just Gaza.

The talks on the US president’s plan are widely seen as the most promising yet for ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

European lawmakers call for immediate release of Sumud Flotilla activists

More than 80 parliamentarians from across Europe have condemned Israel’s capture of the Global Sumud Flotilla and urged the immediate release of all volunteers still held in detention.

The flotilla “did not carry weapons, it carried hope”, they said in a statement, and described Israel’s actions as a “blatant breach of international law”.

The sea convoy of activists, journalists, lawmakers and volunteers was stopped by the Israeli navy on October 1 while attempting to break Israel’s 18-year blockade and deliver food and medical aid to besieged Gaza.

More than 450 people were detained with deportations ongoing, including 137 to Turkiye and 171 to Greece and Slovakia. Many remain in a high-security prison, according to the statement.

Lawmakers said reports from released detainees pointed to “inadequate food and water, unsanitary conditions, humiliation, denial of counsel and consular access, and arbitrary delays” – treatment they said could breach international humanitarian law.

They can add more to that number in a couple days :/

Freedom Flotilla Coalition LIVE: New Flotilla Sails Towards Gaza as Israel Forces Intercept

Global Sumud Flotilla LIVE: Activists Say Gaza Flotilla Circled By Israeli Warship Forces

Another flotilla is heading toward the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the territory, according to activists. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says the Conscience boat departed Italy on Wednesday with some 100 activists aboard. The group claims “many of them” are healthcare workers and journalists.

Conscience joins another eight boats that set sail from Italy nearly a week ago. The nine ships are currently off the coast of the Greek Island of Crete, according to live tracking data. The ships are expected to be intercepted by the Israeli Navy should they continue to approach Gaza. Over the past day, 42 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla were all intercepted by the Navy and some 470 activists were detained.

Israel hires US firm to ‘combat anti-Semitism’

The Foreign Ministry has hired the US-based company Clock Tower X LLC to help shape online discourse “tailored to Generation Z audiences across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and podcasts”, news reports say.

Clock Tower was contracted to “conduct a nationwide campaign in the United States to combat anti-Semitism”, documents filed with the Foreign Agents Registration Act showed.

Artificial intelligence will be used to boost exposure on search engines such as Google and Bing. The goal is a minimum 50 million impressions per month.

The $6m contract comes during declining support for Israel among Americans, with polls showing a majority disapprove of its devastating war on Gaza that’s killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.

Trump vows to guarantee Israel doesn’t resume Gaza war after captives freed

The US president is asked a question that has loomed over the latest round of ceasefire talks: How can he guarantee to Arab partners that Israel will not resume fighting after all captives are released from Gaza?

“So the primary guarantee is, once this deal happens, if it does happen, look, they’re in negotiations right now,” Trump responded.

“We are going to do everything possible. We have a lot of power, and we’re going to do everything possible to make sure everybody adheres to the deal,” he said.

Advocates have long called on the US to leverage its military aid to Israel to force a ceasefire. The US has spent about $21.7bn on military aid for Israel over the two-year war, according to an analysis by the Costs of War project at Brown University.

Trump doesn't have much of a track record of having any backbone, see his 'threats' to Russia...

Hamas underscores guarantee of full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza

A senior Hamas official, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Gaza negotiations, says the second day of talks between mediators and its delegation in Egypt “concluded a short while ago”.

The Hamas official added:

Hamas says it doesn’t trust Israel ‘not even for a second’

Hamas’s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, says the Gaza-based group does “not trust the occupation, not even for a second”, Egyptian state-linked Al Qahera News reports.

“Therefore, we want real guarantees,” al-Hayya said, accusing Israel of violating two ceasefires in the war on Gaza. 

“The Israeli occupation throughout history does not keep its promises, and we have experienced it twice in this war.”

Hamas said it’s ready to reach an agreement to permanently end the war and carry out an immediate exchange of captives and Palestinian prisoners with Israel.

Israel has yet to agree to fully withdraw all of its forces from Gaza.

Netanyahu says Israel ‘will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives’

The Israeli prime minister has released a statement marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on southern Israel, calling the last two years a “war for our very existence and future”.

Netanyahu said Israel has “changed the face of the Middle East” and degraded Iran-aligned forces in the region.

“Citizens of Israel, we are in fateful days of decision,” he said. “We will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives: the return of all the hostages, the elimination of Hamas’s rule, and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

The statement did not refer to ongoing ceasefire talks based on a proposal that would see Israel withdraw from the enclave and permanently end the war.

Netanyahu and his forever wars, looking to get the US onboard with attacking Iran again.

Iran dismisses Netanyahu claim it’s developing missiles that can reach US

Iran has dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim its developing a ballistic missile that could hit cities in the United States.

In an interview with US podcaster Ben Shapiro released on Monday, Netanyahu said “Iran is developing now … intercontinental ballistic missiles for 8,000km [about 5,000 miles] range”.

“What does that mean? They add another 3,000km [about 1,865 miles] and they’ve got under their guns … New York City in target, Washington, Boston, Miami, Mar-a-Lago,” he said, referring to the Florida residence of US President Trump.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the comments. “Israel is now trying to make an imaginary threat out of our defence capabilities,” he wrote on X.

US’s top diplomat vows ‘unwavering’ backing for Israel

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has marked the two-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel with a pledge that the United States remains “unwavering” in support for Israel.

In a statement, Rubio also lamented a “troubling rise” in anti-Semitism around the world, and said there would be “no compromise” in combating it.

“The United States reaffirms its unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people,” Rubio said.

“As the United States marks this tragic anniversary and honours the victims, we renew our resolve to prevent such evil from ever taking place again.”

Qatari PM to join talks on Trump’s Gaza plan on Wednesday

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will join the negotiations on Trump’s Gaza proposal in Egypt on Wednesday.

The Qatari prime minister is travelling to Sharm el-Sheikh to meet with other mediators – including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for the US – “with the aim of pushing forward the Gaza ceasefire plan and hostage release agreement”, Foreign Ministry official Majed al-Ansari said.

Mohammed’s “participation confirms the mediators’ determination to reach an agreement that ends the war”, al-Ansari told Al Jazeera.