Middle East updates: Family of slain US citizen urges probe

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest the government's handling of the war in Gaza.

Protesters are demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

The protests come a week after the bodies of six Israeli hostages were found in a tunnel in Gaza, sparking some of the largest protests since the start of the war on October 7.

The Israeli government estimates that 101 hostages remain in the custody of militant groups in the Gaza Strip and that a third of them are believed to be dead.

An Israeli drone strike hit a Lebanese Civil Defense team that was fighting a fire in the town of Froun, killing three volunteers and wounding two others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

The blaze was sparked by a previous Israeli strike, the statement said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.

Israel's military said some 45 rockets were fired at northern Israel in several barrages, targeting the Mount Meron area but falling in open areas.

Several rockets fell in Shlomi and around the city of Safed. There were no injuries.

The military later said its jets struck Hezbollah military infrastructure and a rocket launcher in the area of Qabrikha in southern Lebanon. 

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London, reiterating calls for a cease-fire in Gaza. 

The march began at Piccadilly Circus shortly after 1.30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. GMT/UTC)  local time on Saturday.

Demonstrators marched along Hyde Park and ended their protest on Kensington Road.

Protesters held signs that read "Starmer has blood on his hands" and "Stop the war coalition."

The march was briefly disrupted by two counter-protesters who blocked people from moving ahead.

CIA Director William Burns said he was working very hard on "texts and creative formulas" with mediators Qatar and Egypt to secure a Gaza cease-fire by finding a proposal that satisfies both parties.

Burns has acted as a key interlocutor for the US in talks with international mediators to find a deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and a cease-fire in the territory.

"We will make this more detailed proposal, I hope in the next several days, and then we'll see," said Burns, speaking at an event in London.

Burns added that it was a question of political will and he hoped leaders on both sides recognized "the time has come finally to make some hard choices and some difficult compromises."

He said 90% of the paragraphs had been agreed but the last 10% were always the hardest.

"My hope is that you know, they'll recognize what's at stake here and be willing to move ahead on that basis," he said.

The head of the UK's MI6 foreign intelligence service Richard Moore said he believed that Iran was still planning to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — which took place in Tehran in late July and which Iran blames on Israel.

"I suspect they will try and we won't be able to let our guard down for the type of activity that the Iranians might try and prosecute in that direction," Moore said when asked about whether Iran would retaliate at an FT event on Saturday.

The heads of the US' CIA and the UK’s MI6 spoke at length about the key security issues in the world in a rare joint public appearance at an event in London.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has attacked a "command and control" complex used by Hamas terrorists in a building in Gaza City which previously served as Halima al-Sa'diyya School.

The IDF said that the Israeli Air Force "conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating" inside the building.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Halima al-Sa'diyya School was a shelter for the displaced, adding that at least eight were killed and 15 more were injured.

Health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have said the death toll in the ongoing war, which on Saturday marked its 11th month, has reached 40,939. The authorities do not differentiate between militants and civilians in their tolls, but the United Nations has said half of those killed were women and children.

Israel's military campaign began after the militant Hamas group attacked Israel on October 7 last year. The attack resulted in 1,200 deaths and militants also took around 250 people hostage. Just under half of the hostages were released during a temporary cease-fire last November. 

Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the US, Germany and other governments.

The heads of the US intelligence agency CIA and the UK's MI6 have said their services were "working ceaselessly to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal in Gaza."

In a joint op-ed in the Financial Times, the CIA's Bill Burns and MI6's Richard Moore said they have "exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation."

They expressed hopes for a truce which "could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement by Hamas."

"Bill has played a hands-on role in bringing the negotiating parties together with help from our Egyptian and Qatari friends," the op-ed read. "We continue to work together to de-escalate tensions in the region."

The family of US-Turkish citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot and killed in the occupied West Bank on Friday, have called on US authorities to launch an independent investigation into her killing.

In a statement, the family said "given the circumstances of Aysenur's killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate."

"A US citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter," the family said. It urged the US to ensure accountability "for the guilty parties."

The family said Eygi had graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle three months ago. 

"Aysenur felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence."

Eygi was shot dead while protesting against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army acknowledged opening fire at protesters throwing stones on Friday.

Palestinian and Turkish officials said Israeli troops shot and killed the 26-year-old. 

The White House has said it was "deeply disturbed" by Eygi's death, but did not say whether she had been shot by Israeli troops. It has urged Israel to investigate.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that a female foreign national "was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review."

Israel's military also said the shooting involved an "instigator of violent activity" in the area of the protest.

rmt/dj (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)