A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Israelis yesterday staged one of their biggest protests in nearly two years of war.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Organizers said hundreds of thousands of people rallied, shutting down roads across Israel with one demand - for the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and reach a deal with Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
MARTÍNEZ: There are new efforts to restart ceasefire negotiations, but Israeli leaders are still advancing plans to expand the war. NPR's Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv. Daniel, so what did those Sunday protests look like?
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Oh, they were huge. Protesters blocked highways. They rallied outside government ministers' homes. Many businesses and restaurants shut down as well. And then at night, there was this massive swell of protests in downtown Tel Aviv. This was one of the biggest protests Israel has seen since the war in Gaza began nearly two years ago. And the protests reflected really this immense frustration and rage many in Israel feel at this particular chapter of the war, when negotiations with Hamas have collapsed, and the government is now planning to expand the war in Gaza while the hostages are still held there. Israeli leaders criticized the protests, putting them squarely against the families of hostages who led the protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said calling for an end to the war today without defeating Hamas only hardens Hamas' stance.
MARTÍNEZ: So where do efforts stand to restart ceasefire negotiations?
ESTRIN: Talks broke down weeks ago. Israel and the U.S. walked away from efforts with Hamas and blamed Hamas for the breakdown. And now Qatar and Egypt are working on a new proposal. The new proposal is not to release half of the living and dead hostages in Gaza. That was the previous offer. But we're hearing reports that they are trying to seek the release of all of the hostages. Twenty are believed to be alive, 30 believed to be dead. That is Israel's demand. And Israel also has another central demand for ending the war, and that's that Hamas disarm. Hamas is actually finding itself facing much more public Arab regional pressure on that point than ever before to give up its weapons. Even facing calls by the Palestinian Authority for Hamas to give up its weapons, Hamas says absolutely no. They won't do it.
There are some changing dynamics now in the Gaza war. Israel is allowing more food into Gaza. That somewhat eases the extreme hunger crisis there. European and Arab countries are dropping food packages into Gaza from airplanes. Humanitarian aid groups say that is not an effective solution for feeding 2 million people. But also, you'll remember a couple weeks ago, Israel announced plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza City and to eventually take control there. Now, Israel's military is slowly advancing those plans. We're hearing it could take a couple of months to pursue that. But this is the biggest pressure point now in the war, and mediators are trying to prevent that outcome with a new ceasefire deal.
MARTÍNEZ: One more thing to ask you about, those leaked recordings by - of comments of a top Israeli military official who resigned after Hamas' October 7 attack. What did he say?
ESTRIN: Yeah. Israeli TV aired leaked recordings a few days ago of Israel's former head of military intelligence. He spoke about a range of intelligence failures leading to the October 7 attack. But one comment he said was that tens of thousands killed in Gaza by Israel - that that death toll was necessary. He said, quote, "50 Palestinians must die for every Israeli killed on October 7," not out of revenge. He said it was a message to the next generations, a comment that will certainly add to the global debate over Israel's conduct. He acknowledged the authenticity of those recordings.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Thank you.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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