Tel Aviv police scuffle with protesters of rally outside IDF headquarters

Tel Aviv police scuffled with demonstrators after declaring a rally outside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters illegal. This was reported by The Times of Israel (TToI) on January 11.

Protesters ignored police orders to disperse, which provoked a massive clash between activists and law enforcement officers, during which officers detained at least two people.

The newspaper reported that about 200 protesters remained at the site of the demonstration, which was attended by about 10,000 people. Officers lined a living wall in front of the sidewalk to prevent protesters from returning to the road.

Former captive Ilana Gritzewski, whose boyfriend Matan Zangauker is still being held hostage during the demonstration, addressed the crowd.

"I lost everything, but I'm here and I'm fighting even when it seems impossible. I fight so that our soldiers will not die and for a deal, an end to the war and the rebirth of our nation," she said.

Taking prisoners: Red Cross ready to help free Gaza hostages

Hamas and Israel accuse each other of stalling negotiations

Last December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there was "some progress" in the negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a hostage exchange. He emphasized that the progress was due to military pressure on Hamas in Gaza and the death of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the movement's politburo.

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post reported on January 3 of this year that talks between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire are making slow progress. In addition, a source familiar with the situation specified that the negotiating mediators are working "seriously and diligently" to shape a deal. According to him, there is "movement and even some flexibility on the sides" in the process, but the issue is still unresolved.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel began retaliatory strikes the same day.

The Palestinians intend to return the borders between the two countries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, with possible land swaps. Palestine wants to establish its state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses these conditions.