Scuffles Erupt between Police, Protesters in Tel Aviv over Return of Hostages Held in Gaza

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
TT

Scuffles Erupt between Police, Protesters in Tel Aviv over Return of Hostages Held in Gaza

Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, and calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Scuffles between Israeli police and protesters erupted in Tel Aviv on Saturday after thousands gathered to demonstrate against the government and demand that it bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a small US military vessel and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, not far from the US-built pier on which the Israeli military said humanitarian aid is moving into the Palestinian territory.

Also on Saturday, Israeli bombardments were reported in northern and central Gaza.

Some protesters in Tel Aviv carried photos of the female soldiers who appeared in a video earlier in the week showing them soon after they were abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 started the war between Israel and Hamas. Some held banners reading “Stop the war” and “Help.” They called on the government to reach a deal to release the dozens of hostages still in captivity, The AP reported.

The protesters also called for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded new elections.

“We all saw the video, we could not stay at home after the government abandoned all these people,” said Hilit Sagi, from the group “Women Protest for the Return of All Hostages.”

Divisions among Israelis have deepened over how Netanyahu has handled the war against Hamas after the attack.

“Basically they are not doing enough in order for the hostages to come back, either with military force, with (a) hostages’ deal, negotiating. Nothing is being done,” said Snir Dahan, uncle of hostage Carmel Gat, still in captivity in Gaza.

Earlier in the week, the bodies of three hostages killed were recovered from Gaza, Israel’s army said Friday. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The announcement came less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on Oct. 7.

Around half of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas and other militants have been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Netanyahu’s government has faced increasing pressure, both at home and abroad, to stop the war and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, almost 80% of whom have been displaced.

Also this week, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials.

On Friday the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and to open the nearby border crossing for crucial humanitarian aid. The top United Nations court also said Israel must give war crimes investigators access to Gaza.

However, the judges stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire across the entire Palestinian territory, and Israel is unlikely to comply with the court’s ruling. South Africa accuses Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians during the war in Gaza, which Israel vehemently denies.

“We were hoping the war would end,” said Islam Abu Kamar, who moved from Gaza City to Rafah following the ground operation launched by Israel after the Hamas attack in October.

In the past two weeks, more than a million Palestinians have fled Rafah as Israeli forces pressed deeper into the city. Israel’s takeover this month of the Rafah border crossing, a key transit point for fuel and supplies for Gaza, has contributed to bringing aid operations to near collapse, the UN and relief groups say.

Israel says it needs to invade Rafah to destroy Hamas’ last stronghold. Egypt said it agreed to send UN humanitarian aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Israel’s main entry point into southern Gaza. But it remains unclear if the trucks will be able to enter because fighting still rages in Rafah.

Israel said aid is moving into the Palestinian territory through northern Gaza and via the US-built pier. On Saturday, a small US military boat and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.

The US Central Command said four of its vessels supporting the humanitarian aid mission were affected by rough seas with two of them anchoring near the pier off the Gaza coast and another two in Israel.

US officials said no injuries were reported and the US is working with the Israeli army to recover the vessels, Central Command said.

American officials hope the pier at maximum capacity can bring the equivalent of 150 truckloads of aid to Gaza daily. That’s a fraction of the 600 truckloads of food, emergency nutritional treatments and other supplies that USAID says are needed each day to bring people in Gaza back from the brink of famine and address the humanitarian crisis brought on by the 7-month-old Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli bombardments continued in the enclave on Saturday with reports of strikes northern and central Gaza. Witnesses said people were killed in strikes on the cities of Jabaliya and Nuseirat.

More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

 

 

 

 

 



Shiite Forces Boycott Meeting with Vatican Secretary on Lebanon’s Presidential Crisis

Parolin, al-Rai and other officials during the meeting at Bkirki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Parolin, al-Rai and other officials during the meeting at Bkirki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Shiite Forces Boycott Meeting with Vatican Secretary on Lebanon’s Presidential Crisis

Parolin, al-Rai and other officials during the meeting at Bkirki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Parolin, al-Rai and other officials during the meeting at Bkirki. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Representatives of Lebanon's Supreme Islamic Shiite Council and Shiite deputies boycotted a meeting of the heads of sects and parliamentary blocs with Vatican Secretary Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki on Tuesday.

The meeting, which focused on the presidential crisis, was held at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai's invitation.

Addressing the gatherers, Parolin underlined the need to preserve the “Lebanese model” in the turbulent region. He called on the different parties to cooperate to resolve the crisis and reach solutions that “bring hope to Lebanon and its people.”

“I convey to you the greetings of His Holiness Pope Francis, who is carefully following the developments in Lebanon...” he stated, adding: “Today, Lebanon must remain a model of coexistence and unity in light of the ongoing crises and wars.”

He said he was in Lebanon to help end the crisis, namely the failure to elect a president of the republic.

The presidency has been vacant since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022.

For his part, al-Rai emphasized that the meeting was a “gathering of the Lebanese family” and an opportunity for dialogue and mutual understanding, especially during these challenging times.

Shiite representatives boycotted the meeting despite an invitation being sent to the Supreme Shiite Islamic Council.

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decision was a response to remarks made by al-Rai during the Sunday mass sermon, in which he said that the resistance against Israel in the South has turned the area into an arena for terrorist acts that destabilize the security and stability of the region.

According to the same source, the Shiite community has no problem with the Vatican, as Parolin is scheduled to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri - a Shiite - on Wednesday.

Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan sent a letter to the Vatican secretary, criticizing al-Rai’s position without naming him and saying: “Some spiritual leaders in my country view what the group of its resisters are doing as abhorrent terrorism that must be deterred and prevented.”

“We do not accept that the Church uses positions that serve Zionist terrorism and global crime,” he added.

Regarding the election of a president, Qabalan stressed: “We want a Christian president for the Muslims, who is as eager as the Muslim resistance [Hezbollah] and its sacrifices for the sake of the Christian churches. This can only be achieved through consensus that safeguards the homeland of Muslims and Christians.”

Christian parties quickly slammed Qabalan’s remarks. In a statement, the Kataeb Party said the letter “contained clear incitement against the role of Bkirki and hateful sectarianism that we have never heard before even at the peak of the Lebanese [civil] war.”