Thousands demonstrate in Israel for the release of hostages

Thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities on Saturday in favour of the release of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Relatives of the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip demanded a new hostage deal and called on the government to act quickly. Several demonstrations spread across Tel Aviv and blocked central traffic arteries in the coastal metropolis.

Chaotic scenes broke out between the police and demonstrators at some of the rallies.

Relatives of the hostages abducted to the Gaza Strip accuse Netanyahu and his government of not doing enough to secure their release. "Our prime minister has forgotten that he is also the prime minister of 134 hostages," said a relative at a rally. "They have no more time, we have no more time. Do something now, we need you!"

Elsewhere, several thousand people demonstrated against the Netanyahu government and called for early elections. On a large screen, they played a video excerpt from a speech by US Senator Chuck Schumer, who said that he believed early elections were in Israel's interests. In front of the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, a group of war veterans set up a dummy tank.

Hundreds of people also gathered outside the residence of President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. Dozens of demonstrators blocked roads there and, according to media reports, were dragged off the streets by the police.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by the Islamist Hamas movement and other extremist Palestinian organizations in Israel on October 7.

More than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side and some 240 were taken hostage. Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority there, more than 31,100 people have been killed on the Palestinian side since the start of the war.

Israeli soldiers have reportedly killed an armed Palestinian after shots were fired near the West Bank city of Hebron.

The attacker opened fire not far from an Israeli settlement neighbourhood on Saturday, the army said. Soldiers in the vicinity then "neutralized" the man, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

There were initially no reports of other casualties. The armed wing of the Islamist militant group Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Video footage circulated on social media showing the man opening fire from a cemetery before being shot dead by the soldiers. According to media reports, sirens sounded in the neighbourhood.

The military said it was continuing to search the area around Hebron.

Israel is engaged in a war on multiple fronts, Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi has said.

Any event or incident on one of the fronts could affect other regions and provoke a reaction there, Halevi said during a visit to border police officers in the West Bank on Friday. The Israeli army only published the military chief's words on Saturday.

In view of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, all security forces are particularly vigilant, he emphasized.

In this context, Halevi mentioned Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Gaza and "even further afield." The attention of the army and all other forces should be focused on the entire Ramadan period and all fronts.

Germany delivered its first aid supplies for Gaza by parachute on Saturday after joining other countries in a humanitarian mission to the embattled Palestinian territory.

Four tons of rice, flour and other food were dropped from a military C-130 Hercules transport aircraft over the north of the Gaza Strip. The next delivery is scheduled for Sunday.

Germany deployed two C-130 aircraft stationed in France to the region. Each can transport up to 18 tons of cargo and will operate out of Jordan, which initiated the airdrops. The United States and France are also taking part in the initiative.

A week ago, a pallet whose parachute failed to open killed five people. In another instance, dropped goods reportedly fell in an active combat zone with Israeli soldiers in the immediate vicinity.

Authorities in Gaza have called the airdrops "futile" due to the relatively small volumes of food delivered. Many residents are also simply unable to access the areas where the supplies land.

One aircraft load, which is brought to its destination at great expense, is roughly equivalent to the amount that a truck can transport.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called for a swift ceasefire in the Gaza war ahead of a two-day trip to Jordan and Israel.

The German airdrops on Saturday coincided with the completion of the unloading of a first seaborne consignment of almost 200 tons of food for Gaza.