- Lipika Pelham & Paul Adams
- BBC news
Israel's war cabinet was briefed on talks over a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, following reports of progress in talks in Paris.
This comes after police dispersed a protest in Tel Aviv calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Riot police on horseback attacked demonstrators as they tried to reach Democracy Square.
The Paris talks are part of negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire and the return of hostages.
The agreement will also result in the release of Palestinians held in Israeli custody.
On Saturday evening, Israel's war cabinet was briefed in Paris on negotiations with Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators.
“We are working to obtain a new outline for the release of the hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote to X.
“That's why I sent a delegation to Paris, and tonight we will discuss the next steps in negotiations.”
It was later reported that Israel would send a delegation to Qatar for further talks this week.
Before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, anti-government demonstrations had been relatively common in Israel, but it had been a year since demonstrators had grown tired of Mr. Netanyahu and his hardline cabinet. This goes back even further.
But Saturday's violence was the first time since October that police have resorted to tougher measures.
The demonstrators were spurred by the war in Gaza and concerns that the Gaza government is more interested in overthrowing Hamas than freeing hostages.
The Ministry of Justice has opened an investigation into an incident in which a widely circulated video showed a police officer hitting a protester with a horse's bridle as he fell to the ground clutching his head.
The main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticized the police's aggressive response to demonstrators gathered in front of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters.
He said the right to protest “cannot be taken away from demonstrators with batons and water cannons.”
At least 21 people were arrested and dozens were reported injured.
As well as anti-government protests, families of Israeli hostages also gathered in the city, calling for a diplomatic solution to the war and a focus on repatriation.
Israeli media reported early Saturday that there had been progress in hostage and ceasefire talks in Paris.
Israeli spy chief David Balnea met with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States in the French capital on Saturday.
The two leaders reportedly agreed on the outline of a deal that forms the basis for further negotiations and was submitted to Israel's war cabinet on Saturday night.
Israeli media reported that the war cabinet had agreed to send a delegation to Qatar, where they spoke of a deal that called for a several-week truce and the release of hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It is reported that negotiations will continue.
But Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said in a television interview Saturday night that “such an agreement does not mean an end to the war.”
A senior Palestinian official familiar with the talks previously told the BBC that no real progress had been made in Paris and accused negotiators of leaking inaccurate information to increase pressure on Hamas.
Hamas also did not comment on the latest reports on progress towards a deal.
Meanwhile, fighting and airstrikes continue to claim lives in Gaza.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would convene a cabinet meeting this week to approve plans for an operation in Rafah, in far southern Gaza. In Rafah, about 1.2 to 1.5 million people are crammed into empty space. Increased Israeli airstrikes on the ground are already making aid efforts even more difficult.
Aid agencies and many Western governments have warned that an attack on Rafah could have dire consequences.
UNRWA, the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said it had suspended aid shipments to northern Gaza as convoys were being looted by desperate residents. On February 5, a truck was also hit by Israeli gunfire.
The United Nations has warned that the risk of starvation in Gaza is increasing after widely circulated footage showing Gazans in the northern city of Jabalia queuing for food in desperate conditions.
Local media reported on Friday that a two-month-old Palestinian boy died of starvation at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry says at least 29,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks and thousands more bodies may be missing under rubble across Gaza. Announced.
Israel said it attacked southern Israeli communities near the border with Gaza on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages in Gaza. In response, he vowed to annihilate Hamas.