Tens of thousands of protesters gather in Tel Aviv to pressure Israeli government to halt military campaign

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening to demand an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages – one of the largest demonstrations in Israel since the start of the fighting in October 2023.

The evening rally was the culmination of a day of protest and a general strike to pressure the government to halt the military campaign.

“Bring them all home! Stop the war!” shouted the vast crowd, which had converged on the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv plaza – a focal point for protesters throughout the war.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the initiator of the day of protest, estimated that about 500,000 people joined the demonstration in Tel Aviv – a figure not confirmed by the police. “We demand a comprehensive and achievable agreement and an end to the war,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan and a leading figure of the protest movement.

In other developments:

Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, citing testimonies of displaced Palestinians and medical staff treating malnourished children in the territory. Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war. Contacted by AFP, the military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s findings.

The Australian government cancelled the visa of a far-right Israeli politician on Monday ahead of a speaking tour, a move event organisers tagged “viciously antisemitic”. Simcha Rothman, whose party is part of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, had been scheduled to speak at events organised by the Australian Jewish Association.

Share

Updated at 03.41 EDT

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Hamas delegation in Egypt receives new Gaza truce plan – reports

Hamas negotiators in Cairo have received a new proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling for a 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches, a Palestinian official said on Monday.

“The proposal is a framework agreement to launch negotiations on a permanent ceasefire,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that “Hamas will hold internal consultations among its leadership” and with leaders of other Palestinian factions to review the proposal.

Share

Hamas delegation in Egypt receives new Gaza truce plan, AFP reports.

More to follow …

ShareGaza’s journalists are talented, professional and dignified. That’s why Israel targets themNesrine MalikNesrine Malik

The first time I met Al Jazeera’s Gaza team lead, Tamer Almisshal, was in July last year. His team had already buried two journalists, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa. The rest, he told me, were hungry. They were also dealing with trying to get hold of protective gear, threats from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the killing of family members. Ismail al-Ghoul hadn’t seen his wife and child in months and was missing them intensely. Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Qraiqea and Anas al-Sharif were asking for time to secure food in the morning before they could start reporting. Today, they are all dead.

I spoke with various members of the Gaza team while writing a profile of Gaza’s veteran reporter Wael al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three of his children and grandson. All spoke of their work as a duty that needed to be carried out despite the risks. Three members of that team have since been killed in a chain of assassinations. Each time I sent condolences, the response was always that the coverage would not cease. “We are continuing,” the Gaza editor told me last week, after he lost his entire Gaza City team in the targeted strike that claimed the lives of Sharif, Mohammed Nofal, Ibrahim Thaher and Qraiqea. “We will not betray their message, or their last wishes.”

Read the full piece here:

Share

Iran will continue talks with the IAEA – the UN nuclear watchdog – and the two sides will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, according to Reuters.

Share

Here are some images coming to us over the wires.

Mourners pray next to the body of a Palestinian killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid on Sunday, according to medics, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 18 August, 2025. Photograph: Hussam al-Masri/ReutersPalestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa (left), accompanied by Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty (centre), arrives at an airport in El-Arish, Egypt, on 18 August, 2025, to visit Palestinians wounded in the Israel-Hamas war. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty ImagesIsraeli police remove people blocking traffic in a tunnel, as protesters took to the streets across Israel on 17 August, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesShare

US envoy Tom Barrack called on Israel to honour its commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group.

Under the truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be restricted to the state, and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces in five border points it deems strategic.

“I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, AFP reports.

ShareTens of thousands of protesters gather in Tel Aviv to pressure Israeli government to halt military campaign

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening to demand an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages – one of the largest demonstrations in Israel since the start of the fighting in October 2023.

The evening rally was the culmination of a day of protest and a general strike to pressure the government to halt the military campaign.

“Bring them all home! Stop the war!” shouted the vast crowd, which had converged on the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv plaza – a focal point for protesters throughout the war.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the initiator of the day of protest, estimated that about 500,000 people joined the demonstration in Tel Aviv – a figure not confirmed by the police. “We demand a comprehensive and achievable agreement and an end to the war,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan and a leading figure of the protest movement.

In other developments:

Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, citing testimonies of displaced Palestinians and medical staff treating malnourished children in the territory. Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war. Contacted by AFP, the military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s findings.

The Australian government cancelled the visa of a far-right Israeli politician on Monday ahead of a speaking tour, a move event organisers tagged “viciously antisemitic”. Simcha Rothman, whose party is part of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, had been scheduled to speak at events organised by the Australian Jewish Association.

Share

Updated at 03.41 EDT