Latest news about the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas

Read up on the parties in the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the background to it here.

AFP: Hamas refuses to agree to ceasefire proposal

yesterday 22:22
Ole Alexander Saue

Hamas will not agree to a ceasefire that does not bring an end to the Gaza war, says a spokesman after the negotiations in Cairo. The talks will probably continue on Sunday.
The high-ranking Hamas official speaks anonymously to the AFP news agency after Saturday’s negotiations. “Under no circumstances” will Hamas agree to a ceasefire that does not explicitly include a complete end to the war, according to the source.
Late on Saturday evening, the official further claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “personally obstructing” a ceasefire agreement.

Julie Grasmo Green nose
12:46 p.m

Barth Eide on Israel’s Al Jazeera ban: Attack on press freedom

– I am very concerned about news reports that the Israeli authorities will ban Al Jazeera in Israel, says Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) to TV2.
The statement comes shortly after the Israeli military government decided to ban the channel in Israel.
The world community is completely dependent on the media to get credible information about the situation, he says.
– Banning a news medium like Al Jazeera is a direct attack on press freedom, he says.
Vemund Sveen Finstad, Marthe Hagelien
12:05

Haaretz: Israel bans Al Jazeera in Israel

An employee walks into the office of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network in Jerusalem. Photo: RONEN ZVULUN
The Israeli government has voted unanimously to shut down the Qatar-based media station Al Jazeera in Israel, reports the Haaretz and Jerusalem Post newspapers.

The government has not determined when the decision will come into force.

Al Jazeera is perhaps the most important news provider in the Middle East, and is used extensively by readers in other parts of the world who want to keep up to date with what is happening in the region.
Al Jazeera is one of the few media that still has its own journalists and photographers inside Palestinian territory, writes NTB. Several of the channel’s journalists have been killed and wounded in Israeli attacks.
The vote came after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary ban of foreign broadcasters, which are considered a threat to national security.
The case is updated.
Thousands in Tel Aviv’s streets – demanding a hostage deal

Israelis are demonstrating against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, which they believe is not doing enough to free the hostages in Gaza. Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP / NTB Photo: Ariel Schalit / AP / NTB
Several thousand people gathered in the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to demand an agreement that could bring the hostages in Gaza home.
Loud criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demands for new elections also characterized the demonstration.
“Negotiations now – then leave,” read posters carried by the protesters.
The father of one of the hostages criticized the government for being more concerned with its own survival than rescuing the hostages.
The demonstration was held at the same time as negotiations for a ceasefire in Cairo are ongoing. Hamas is present together with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States, while Israel is currently absent.