Israel-Hamas war

Large demonstrations for both sides - slogans spark heated debate in UK  

Large demonstrations in support of the various sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict took place this weekend in several European cities. 

 

 In London and Berlin, among others, demonstrators demonstrated against anti-Semitism and demanded that Hamas release Israelis who have been taken hostage, the BBC and the Times of Israel report.  

 

At the same time, demonstrations in support of Gaza have taken place in various places in Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, among others. In Great Britain, there is a heated debate about the controversial chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", which has been heard at several demonstrations.  

 

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said the words are a call for Israel to be destroyed, the BBC reports. Something that protester Jenny Herman in London does not agree with.  

 

- It is simply a call for freedom. It's about giving Palestinians their human rights, she tells The Guardian.

 

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Details: Two Israeli women taken hostage have been released  

Hamas's military says it has released two hostages on Monday evening, several media reports. CNN has obtained the information confirmed by two Israeli officials and by two sources with knowledge of the matter. 

  

According to the information, it is about two Israeli women who should have been released to the Red Cross. According to Reuters, there are two elderly women.  

 

The women are not yet to be in Israel. Egyptian state media reports that they have been taken to the Rafah border crossing, which is on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.  

 

According to the Israeli Defense Forces, Hamas has taken 222 people hostage after the October 7 attacks. 

 

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Sources: US wants to delay ground offensive against Gaza  

The White House has urged the Israeli government to continue delaying a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip. This is stated by several sources to both NBC News and the New York Times. 

  

The White House wants more humanitarian aid to reach the area and for more civilians to be allowed to evacuate before Israel enters the Gaza Strip with full force. However, National Security Adviser John Kirby emphasizes that ultimately it is Israel that makes its own decisions. 

 

- All we try to do is to be here as a resource for information and perspective. We have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, he says to NBC.

   

There has been speculation for several weeks that Israel is ready to launch a full-scale ground offensive against the Gaza Strip.

 

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Data from Hamas: 436 Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours - a total of 5,000 dead  

436 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, the BBC and several news agencies said, citing data from Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry. 182 of the dead are said to have been children.  

 

In total, more than 5,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in recent weeks, according to the Ministry of Health, according to AFP.

   

The data has not been confirmed by any independent party or commented on by Israel. However, the Israeli army writes in a statement on Telegram that 320 military targets in the Gaza Strip have been attacked in the past 24 hours. 

 

Data from the Gaza Ministry of Health have previously been questioned after the outbreak of war just over two weeks ago. For example, the ministry blamed Israel for the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital last week – allegations Israel has strongly denied. Almost a week after the explosion, the ministry has not yet been able to present any evidence that Israel was behind the explosion, writes the New York Times.