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tel aviv
'Stop the Genocide': Thousands of Israelis Rally Against War and Famine in Gaza
"We stood proud and tall together because there is nothing that will stop the just civilian resistance to the genocide and occupation," said one protester.
Aug 24, 2025
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday in multiple demonstrations demanding an end to their government's genocidal war and engineered famine in Gaza and a deal to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas since October 2023.
Israelis—both Arab and Jewish—rallied in Habima Square holding signs reading "Stop the Genocide" and photos of some of the at least 115 Palestinian children who have starved to death in what the world's leading authority on hunger has officially declared a full-blown famine.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that police initially prohibited protesters from holding photos of Gazan children or Israeli hostages and also banned use of the word "genocide," but then allowed such displays.
The protest was organized by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee—an umbrella Arab Israeli advocacy group—with the participation of the Arab political parties Hadash, Balad, and Ta'al, and activist organizations including Peace Now, Breaking the Silence, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, and the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum.
Protesters implored the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off Operation Gideon's Chariots 2, the nascent campaign to conquer and occupy Gaza and ethnically cleanse 1 million Palestinians—approximately half the strip's population—and possibly confine them in a proposed concentration camp that would be built over the ruins of Rafah.
💥 #BREAKING | Today in Tel-Aviv: thousands protested against the genocide in Gaza. The protest included both Palestinian and Jewish activists.Chanting: "Gaza, Gaza, don't despair. We will end the occupation."
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— Resist 🕎🍉 (@antizionistjew.bsky.social) August 23, 2025 at 11:41 AM
"We only have a few days left to stop this, because if the invasion of Gaza begins there will be no deal," Yotam Cohen, brother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, told the crowd. "The invasion will blow up the negotiations and hostages and soldiers will die."
"Instead of saving lives Netanyahu is sentencing the living hostages to death and causing the fallen to be lost forever," Cohen added. "He is condemning us to a needless eternal war, sending solders to their death."
Other demonstrators condemned Netanyahu for repeatedly sabotaging ceasefire deals in order to prolong the war and delay his criminal corruption trial.
Saturday's protests followed last week's massive nationwide demonstrations in which an estimated 1 million Israelis took part.
In addition to the demonstrations in Israel, at least tens of thousands of people rallied and marched in cities across Australia on Sunday to demand an end to the Gaza genocide and sanctions on Israel. The protests followed the Australian government's decision earlier this month to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
"With Israel's announced ground invasion of Gaza, the call is clear: Australia must demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, impose a two-way arms embargo, and act to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice," said Amnesty International, which backed the protests.
Despite Hamas' acceptance of a proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release, Netanyahu—a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes—last week approved the invasion and occupation of Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Israeli Settlement Minister Orit Strook suggested that she and other Cabinet ministers "will vote to continue the war at the expense of the hostages' lives" and said that she would personally assent to the invasion and occupation of Gaza "even if it is clear that Hamas will execute the hostages."
The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) said Sunday that Israeli forces killed scores more Palestinians across Gaza within the past 24 hours, including children and aid-seekers, as Operation Gideon's Chariots 2 ramped up, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks advancing into the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.
In addition to those killed by IDF bombs and bullets, health authorities said that eight more Palestinians, including two children, starved to death, bringing the famine death toll to at least 289, including 115 children. All told, the GHM says Israel's 688-day assault and siege on Gaza—which is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case—has left at least 229,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, with no end to the slaughter in sight.
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IDF Says 'All of Israel Is Under Fire' as Iran Retaliates With Missile Barrage
Video footage appeared to show Iranian missiles striking Tel Aviv as residents were warned to take cover in bomb shelters.
Jun 13, 2025
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates...
Iran on Friday reportedly fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel, and smoke was seen rising from the city of Tel Aviv as Tehran began its retaliation for the large-scale attack that Israel's military committed just hours earlier.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on social media that "all of Israel is under fire." Minutes later, the IDF said that the "Iranian attack is ongoing," noting that "dozens of additional missiles were launched toward Israel."
The Israeli military instructed residents across the country to "remain close to protected spaces" and minimize "movement in public areas" until an all-clear is given. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Unnamed U.S. officials told the Associated Press that American military assets were being used to help the Israelis intercept incoming missiles from Iran, though the sources, according to the AP, "did not say how the U.S. provided assistance."
Video footage posted to social media appeared to show Iranian missiles hitting Tel Aviv as Israel's military worked to intercept the attack:
Another angle: pic.twitter.com/JRgp0f0qjU
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) June 13, 2025
The missile barrage came after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Israel to expect "harsh punishment" for its early Friday assault, which hit Iranian nuclear infrastructure and killed a top nuclear negotiator—an indication, according to expert observers and Iranian officials, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bent on sabotaging any progress toward a U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who withdrew from a previous Iran nuclear accord during his first term in the White House, said Friday that Israel hit Iran "about as hard as you're going to get hit," adding: "There's more to come. A lot more."
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Hostage Families in Tel Aviv: 'Starting Tomorrow, the Country Will Tremble'
'Starting tomorrow, the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. The country will grind to a halt. The abandonment is over.'
Aug 31, 2024
Tens of thousands rallied across Israel on Saturday night, demanding a hostage deal and against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of demonstrators, including relatives of those held hostage in Gaza, gathered at the Hostages Square for a rally demanding their loved ones’ return and pled with the prime minister and negotiating team to reach an agreement before time runs out. Roving groups of right-wing activists cursed and spat on the demonstrators.
Along with the mass demonstration in Tel Aviv, large protests were held in cities nationwide, drawing thousands of demonstrators.
Later Saturday night, the Israeli Defense Force announced it had located several bodies in the Gaza Strip, which might be the remains of Israeli hostages. “At this stage, the forces are still operating in the area and carrying out a process to extract and identify the bodies, which will last several hours,” the military says.
After the IDF says it has found bodies in Gaza that possibly are of hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement calling on the public to prepare to hold sweeping protests tomorrow.
“Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. It is now a fact. Starting tomorrow, the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. The country will grind to a halt. The abandonment is over.”
The Forum says it will provide further details tomorrow morning.
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