Israeli hostage families call for parliament protest
The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza called for a mass rally in front of parliament next week as thousands gathered to support them in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Shira Elbag, whose 19-year-old daughter Liri was abducted by Hamas militants during the October 7 attack on Israel, made an emotional plea urging Israelis to pile the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The time has come to go out and fight against indifference and for life," she said. "I now ask you to come out with us into the streets and let us sound one united and clear voice: 'Bring them home now!'" She said they would gather outside the parliament building in Jerusalem next week. The weekly demonstration on the Tel Aviv plaza renamed by campaigners Hostages Square came as anti-government protesters also gathered nearby outside the Ministry of Defence. Some held placards putting the blame for the hostages' fate on Netanyahu, with pictures of his face next to the text: "UR the boss, UR to blame." Police accused the anti-government protesters of being "rioters" and said the demonstration was illegal. The call for protest coincided with another protest on Friday where thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel rallied for an end to the Gaza war, as they marked Land Day, an annual commemoration of a deadly 1976 crackdown on protests against Israeli land seizures. The protesters, led by Arab members of the Israeli parliament, marched through the northern town of Deir Hanna waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners reading: "Stop the war on Gaza". (AFP)