🔴Live: Thousands of Israelis take part in anti-government protests Tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government protest since the country went to war in October. Protesters urged the government to reach a cease-fire deal to free dozens of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants and to hold early elections. Israeli strikes killed 77 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Sunday, as Egypt hosted an Israeli delegation for a new round of talks in a bid to secure a truce with Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war. Issued on: Summary: Thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. A deadly Israeli air strike hit a tent camp in the courtyard of a hospital in central Gaza, killing at least four people and wounding 17, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Israel’s military said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad “command centre”. Pope Francis renewed his calls for the release of Israeli hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in his Easter message at the Vatican. A Hamas official told AFP on Sunday the Palestinian militant group had not made a decision on whether to send a delegation to a new round of truce and hostage release talks. At least 32,782 Palestinians have been killed and 75,298 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing. Yesterday’s key developments: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a victory over Palestinian militant group Hamas will require a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million people are seeking refuge. The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah commander in an air strike on a vehicle in Lebanon on Sunday, identifying him as Ismail Al-Zin, a commander in the anti-tank missile unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces. Israel launched missile strikes near the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, a war monitor said, two days after dozens were killed in strikes that fuelled concerns of a regional conflagration. Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”. The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers. In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies. For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here. (FRANCE 24 with AP) For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
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