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Live blog: Israelis rally against Netanyahu with mock coffins amid Gaza war
Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 336th day, has killed at least 40,878 Palestinians and wounded over 94,454 others, with thousands more believed to be buried under debris of bombed homes.
Hostage families accuse Netanyahu of blocking a deal and potentially sacrificing their loved ones’ lives for the sake of his political career. / Photo: Reuters
REUTERS
Hostage families accuse Netanyahu of blocking a deal and potentially sacrificing their loved ones’ lives for the sake of his political career. / Photo: Reuters
Friday, September 6, 2024
1951 GMT — Hundreds march in Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu
Hundreds of Israelis have marched silently through the streets of Tel Aviv carrying 27 mock coffins to represent the 27 captives whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli military during the past nearly 11 months of Israeli carnage in besieged Gaza.
The protesters marched through major streets in Tel Aviv at night, solemnly striking a bell as the flag-draped coffins were slowly brought through the streets. The country is reeling from the discovery of the bodies of six Israeli captives, who Hamas says were killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes.
“Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, sentenced Carmel, my cousin, to death, her and all the hostages,” said Gil Dickmann, the cousin of Carmel Gat, one of six hostages killed and whose body was recovered.
“She was abandoned to her death by the government, could have brought her back, 327 days she was there, in Gaza, in captivity, there were 327 opportunities to bring her back and every single one was missed.”
In angry public statements, hostage families have accused Netanyahu of blocking a deal and potentially sacrificing their loved ones’ lives for the sake of his political career.
More updates 
2314 GMT — Blinken says incumbent on Hamas, Israel to remove gaps in truce deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said it was incumbent on both Israel and Hamas to say yes on remaining issues to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal even as hawkish Israeli PM Netanyahu again dismissed US claims that a deal was imminent.
“Based on what I have seen, 90% is agreed but there are a few critical issues that remain,” including the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said at a press briefing in Haiti.
He said there were also some gaps in the agreement in how Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged.
“I expect in the coming days, we will share with Israel, and they (Qatar and Egypt) will share with Hamas our thoughts, the three of us, on exactly how to resolve remaining outstanding questions,” Blinken said, referring to the U.S. and mediators Qatar and Egypt.
Blinken’s comments came after Netanyahu said it was “exactly inaccurate” that a breakthrough was imminent.
1951 GMT — Son of prominent jailed fighter among six killed by Israel
Palestinian health officials have said that Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank killed six people, including the son of a prominent jailed fighter.
Israel said all of those killed were resistance fighters who had been involved in attacks.
A strike overnight in the northern West Bank town of Tubas killed five people, including Mohammed Zubeidi, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, without saying whether they were civilians or fighters.
His father, Zakaria Zubeidi, was a well-known commander during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in the early 2000s and took part in a rare jailbreak in 2021 before being arrested and returned to prison days later.
READ MORE
Israel’s endgame in the occupied West Bank mirrors Gaza – annihilation
2209 GMT — Netanyahu gives starkly different take to US’ Gaza truce deal
The Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were sharply at odds over prospects of reaching a deal for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner release, with Netanyahu saying it was “exactly inaccurate” that a breakthrough was close.
“There’s not a deal in the making,” Netanyahu said in an interview with “Fox and Friends.” His public scepticism comes as US officials said they were working on a revised proposal to address remaining disputes between Israeli and Hamas leaders after the weekend discovery of six dead hostages added urgency to the talks.
National security spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that only disagreements on “implementing details” of a ceasefire proposal need to be hammered out.
“I’ve heard what the prime minister said. I’m not going to get into a back and forth with him in a public setting,” Kirby told reporters. “We still believe, though this is incredibly difficult … if there’s compromise, if there’s leadership, we can still get there.”
READ MORE
Israeli displacement of Palestinians to Jordan will be act of war: Amman
2135 GMT — Trump warns US universities over pro-Palestine protests
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has told Jewish donors that US universities would lose accreditation and federal support over pro-Palestine protests if he is elected to the White House.
“Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda, or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump said, speaking remotely to a crowd of more than 1,000 Republican Jewish Coalition donors in Las Vegas.
For our live updates from Thursday, September 5, 2024, click here.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
