Israelis push for truce, early vote
Netanyahu repeats vow on Rafah plan to eradicate Hamas
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered Sunday outside the parliament building in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. They urged the government to reach a cease-fire deal to free dozens of hostages held by the Hamas militant group in Gaza and to hold early elections.
Israeli society was broadly united immediately after Oct. 7, when Hamas killed about 1,200 people during a cross-border attack and took 250 hostages. Nearly six months of conflict have renewed divisions over the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though the country remains largely in favor of the war.
Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home, yet those goals have been elusive. Hamas has suffered heavy losses, but it remains intact.
About half the hostages in Gaza were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November. But attempts by international mediators to bring home the rest have failed. Talks resumed Sunday with little expectation of a breakthrough.
Hostages’ families fear that time is running out.
“We believe that no hostages will come back with this government because they’re busy putting sticks in the wheels of negotiations for the hostages,” said Boaz Atzili, whose cousin, Aviv Atlizi, and his wife, Liat, were kidnapped. Liat was released but Aviv was killed, and his body is in Gaza. “Netanyahu is only working in his private interests.”
Protesters blame Netanyahu for the failures of Oct. 7 and say the deep political divisions over his attempted judicial overhaul last year weakened Israel ahead of the attack. Some accuse him of damaging relations with the United States, Israel’s most important ally.
Netanyahu is also facing a litany of corruption charges that are slowly making their way through the courts, and critics say his decisions appear to be focused on political survival over the national interest.
Many families of hostages had refrained from publicly denouncing Netanyahu to avoid antagonizing the leadership and making the hostages’ plight a political issue. But some now want to change course.
The crowd Sunday stretched for blocks around the Knesset, or parliament building, and organizers vowed to continue the demonstration for several days. They urged the government to hold new elections nearly two years ahead of schedule. Thousands also demonstrated in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu, in a nationally televised speech before hernia surgery later Sunday, said he understood families’ pain. But he said calling new elections — in what he described as a moment before victory — would paralyze Israel for six to eight months and stall the hostage talks.
Netanyahu’s governing coalition appears to remain firmly intact, and even if he were ousted, top rival Benny Gantz is a wartime Cabinet member and likely would continue many of his policies.
In his address, Netanyahu also repeated his vow for a military ground offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than half of territory’s population of 2.3 million shelters after fleeing fighting elsewhere.
“There is no victory without going into Rafah,” he said, adding that U.S. pressure would not deter him. Israel’s military says Hamas battalions remain there.
In another reminder of Israel’s divisions, reservists and retired officers demonstrated in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.
Ultra-Orthodox men for generations have received exemptions from military service, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. Netanyahu’s government has been ordered to present a new plan for a more equitable draft law by Monday.
Netanyahu, who relies heavily on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, asked for an extension last week.
The Bank of Israel said in its annual report
Sunday that there could be economic damage if large numbers of ultra-Orthodox men continue to not serve in Israel’s military.
Late Sunday, a Palestinian attacker stabbed three people in southern Israel, wounding them, said the Hatzalah rescue service. Police said the attacker was shot but gave no details on his condition.
Also Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a tent camp in the courtyard of a crowded hospital in central Gaza, killing two Palestinians and wounding 15, including journalists working nearby.
An Associated Press reporter filmed the strike and aftermath at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where thousands of people have sheltered. The Israeli military said it struck a command center of the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Tens of thousands of people have sought shelter in Gaza’s hospitals, viewing them as relatively safe from airstrikes. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of operating in and around medical facilities, which Gaza’s health officials deny.
Those wounded in Sunday’s strike lay on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital floor and gasped while being treated.
Israeli troops have been raiding Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, for nearly two weeks, but not far from the embattled hospital in Gaza City, dozens of Palestinian Christians gathered at Holy Family Church to celebrate Easter, with incense wafting through the rare building that appeared untouched by war.
“We are here with sadness,” one attendee said.
About 600 shelter in the compound.