Middle East Live Blog: ++ Thousands protest in Israel demanding hostage deal++

Thousands of people are demonstrating in Israel, demanding a deal to release the hostages. Hamas is sending representatives to Cairo, but they are apparently not participating in ceasefire talks. Read all the developments from Saturday.

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Thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel to demand a deal to free hostages held by the Islamist Hamas. Speakers at rallies, using the motto “You could have saved them,” accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of constantly putting in new conditions to prevent a deal.

Mounted police broke up the demonstration in front of the Ministry of Defense. The main bone of contention in the negotiations between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in Cairo, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, has reportedly been the question of how long Israeli troops can remain in the Gaza Strip, especially in the so-called “Philadelphia” corridor along the border with Egypt.

According to Israeli statistics, Hamas still holds 109 hostages. An Israeli government spokesman said on Thursday that 36 of them were declared dead and 73 were believed to be alive. In total, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel to the coastal area on October 7 last year.

The United States’ top generals arrived in the region amid growing tensions in the Middle East. Chief of Staff Brown began a visit to Jordan and announced visits to Egypt and Israel in the coming days. Brown told Reuters they hope to help prevent a major conflict.

Iran is expected to launch attacks against Israel in the region. Tehran’s leadership has vowed to retaliate after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed during a visit to the Iranian capital in July. Iran has blamed Israel for the killing. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

At least 36 Palestinians, including children, have been killed in Israeli attacks in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local hospitals. The dead include 11 members of a family who were killed in an airstrike on their home in the city of Khan Yunis on Saturday morning, Nasser Hospital reported. At least 33 people have been taken to hospital after being killed in three separate attacks in the Khan Yunis area.

The city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital also said it had delivered three bodies in Saturday’s attack. The Israeli military said it was investigating reports of the deaths.

According to a senior representative of the radical Islamist group Hamas, the Palestinian group will send a delegation to Cairo on Saturday but will not actively participate in negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

A Hamas representative told AFP that the delegation would meet with Egyptian intelligence officials to learn about “the progress of the ongoing negotiations”. “But this does not mean that she will take part in the negotiations,” he clarified. The Hamas official added that Hamas “announced from the beginning that it would not participate in this round of negotiations that began last week in Doha”.

According to Palestinian reports, the death toll continues to rise after Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, at least 12 people were killed. The victims are said to include two children and a woman. At least 15 people were injured.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that nine Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. Among the victims were also women and children. According to the agency, the attack took place in the area of ​​Al-Nuseirat camp in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The UK Maritime Trade Office (UKMTO) reported three fires on the fully loaded Greek tanker Sounion. The ship was allegedly attacked by Yemeni Houthi rebels on Wednesday and subsequently evacuated. The Houthis posted a video on social media claiming they set the tanker on fire. A maritime security insider told Reuters on Thursday that the unmanned ship was anchored between Yemen and Eritrea.

The EU naval delegation, ASPIDES, said the damaged tanker was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil and posed a threat to the environment. The Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority posted on social media site X: “A possible oil spill could have catastrophic consequences for the marine environment in the region.”

The U.S. military said on Friday that it had announced the death of a senior leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on the social media platform X that U.S. forces killed Abu Abdul Rahman al-Makki in a targeted strike. The statement said he was the leader of the al-Qaeda affiliate Huras al-Din and was responsible for overseeing terrorist activities in Syria.

Israel is planning a new military operation in the northern Gaza Strip and is calling on residents there to flee. Israeli attacks on Lebanon leave many dead. Read Friday’s live blog.