The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Anti-government protest groups gear up for ‘day of disruption’ to demand early elections
Anti-government groups are gearing up for a “day of disruption” to demand new elections, as Israel marks nine months since Hamas’s shock October 7 attack, with 116 hostages still languishing in captivity in Gaza.
Today’s demonstrations will form part of the “week of resistance” protest groups kicked off at their weekly protests last night.
The protesters have said they will block major throughways including Routes 2, 4 and 6, and hold rallies across the country, culminating in a mass demonstration outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
There will also be a rally outside the Histadrut’s labor federation’s Tel Aviv offices to call on the union to strike in solidarity with the protest groups’ demand for the government to step down.
Also this morning, a demonstration is set to gather outside the Kiryat Ono home of Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David, who has previously indicated his support for the anti-government protests.
Some of Israel’s leading companies, mainly from the tech and finance sectors, have said they will employees take time off to protest.
London police arrest 5 at anti-Israel rally; far-left MP Corbyn demands Gaza ceasefire
Metropolitan police say they have arrested four protesters at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian rally for breaching public order and another “on suspicion of inciting racial hatred in relation to a placard.”
The area of the protest, outside freshly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official residence at 10 Downing St, has been cleared of protesters, police say in a post on X.
Tens of thousands of protesters joined the protest, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Photos show pro-Israel counterprotesters near the rally holding a sign comparing Hamas’s rampage at the Supernova music festival on October 7 to the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack that left 22 dead.
The terrorist from that attack, Salman Abedi, reportedly supported the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is backed by re-elected far-left MP Jeremy Corbyn.
The Guardian reports that Corbyn attended the London protest, telling protesters that “a change in government doesn’t change the facts that the people of Gaza are still being murdered in their sleep.”
“We said it to the Tories, and now we will say it to Labour: a government that sells arms to Israel is a government that is complicit in crimes against humanity.”
Hamas expected to attempt major terror attack in Gaza or West Bank soon to stymie hostage-truce talks — report
The Israeli defense establishment believes Hamas will try to carry out a major terror attack in the coming weeks in an attempt to stymie renewed efforts to close a hostage-ceasefire deal, according to an unsourced Hebrew media report.
The attack could be inside Gaza, near the border with the Strip, or in the West Bank, the report adds, without giving further details.
The Channel 12 report also says that Egyptian mediators will likely increase their involvement in the US and Qatar-led negotiations, after Hamas said it has given initial approval for the latest proposal for a phased truce and hostage exchange deal.
Police detain several at Ayalon Highway blockage and in Jerusalem after anti-government protests
Police detain several people in Jerusalem and on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of people participated in a road blockage following the weekly anti-government protest on Kaplan Street.
The detentions in Tel Aviv follow the arrival of a crowd of protesters to the northbound lanes of the traffic artery. Police use water cannons on some protesters as officers detain and carry off others, including Noy Erez, a spokeswoman of Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats Party, a newly established merger of the Labor party under Golan and Meretz.
In Jerusalem, police arrest protesters en route the Prime Minister’s Residence on Aza Street, where hundreds of people marched to call for an early election.
In a video from the protest, Erez is seen lying on the road carrying a sign reading “bring them back home and go home” as a police officer orders her to get up. Photos from event show Erez being carried away by police officers.