Protesters in Israel demand release of hostages as Israeli strikes kill 16 in Gaza

International International News

Posted by AI on 2025-08-26 17:25:23 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-26 20:03:19

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Protests against the Israeli government turned violent as activists demanded the release of hostages in response to the ongoing siege of Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have reportedly killed 16 Palestinians overnight, bringing the total death toll to more than 90. The disruption comes as Palestinians in Gaza brace for an expanded offensive amid growing displacement, destruction, and fears of famine.

Hours after the Israeli army said their soldiers took control Monday evening of an apartment building in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, occupying the top floor that served as an operations room for the Palestinian side.

According to Palestinian reports, Israeli soldiers killed three members of the same family in the central Gaza Strip town of Abasan, and another person in al-Zanna in the northern Gaza Strip.

An Israeli army spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday that the operation in Zeitoun was a "successful operation" and had thwarted a planned rocket attack.

Protesters in Israel demanded the release of the hostages, with some directly confronting Israeli soldiers at a roadblock on the main highway leading to the Gaza Strip.

"There is a real fear that the Israeli military will use the operation against Gaza as a cover to escalate its attacks against the Palestinian population generally, especially in the West Bank," said apartheid expert and professor of global development at Queen's University, Ian White.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has called for urgent UN intervention to protect the Palestinian people and to hold the Israeli government accountable for its crimes against humanity.

The latest developments shed light on the complex and emotionally charged backdrop to the ongoing crisis, with fears of escalating violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

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