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‘The Blood of Our Sons Should Not Be Wasted’: IDF Mothers Gather Outside Military HQ, Urge Israel to Resist US Pressure
Israeli soldiers operate at the Shajaiya district of Gaza city amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yossi Zeliger
More than 100 parents of Israeli soldiers currently fighting in Gaza against Hamas gathered outside the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Tel Aviv over the weekend to protest what they described as the government caving to American pressure at the expense of their children’s safety.
“It is a right for us to fight; we are behind the commanders until victory,” said one mother, Tamar Amar, who has three sons fighting in Gaza, including one who was injured. “As mothers, we want to be sure that no foreign consideration and no non-Jewish morality interferes. The lives of our soldiers come first.”
Another mother, Sima Hasson, called out what she characterized as the Israeli government’s recent acquiescence to the US pushing Jerusalem to try to limit civilian casualties, leading the IDF to conduct fewer aerial bombings prior to sending in ground troops for an operation.
“Buildings stand and soldiers fall. Buildings fall and soldiers stand … the blood of our sons should not be wasted,” Hasson said. “Every fighter who is currently in Gaza is with all his heart and soul … They must not be put at risk for nothing. We as parents demand not to give into US pressure.”
Hasson also criticized the decision to allow aid such as fuel into Gaza, saying it “goes to the enemy and endangers the soldiers who fight day and night.”
Several press reports, citing Arab and Western officials, have corroborated Israeli claims that Hamas has been hoarding hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel for rockets and electricity used to power its network of underground tunnels as Gaza hospitals struggle to maintain power.
Nonetheless, Israel has, in response to Western pressure, eased its blockade on Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities, allowing in certain humanitarian aid.
One mother of five soldiers currently fighting in Gaza told the crowd in Tel Aviv through tears that “it is either us or them,” seemingly referring to Israel and the Hamas terror group, which rules the neighboring Palestinian enclave. She added she was shocked by the “great pressure being exerted by the US and Europe to destroy fewer buildings. I am crying from here. Enough of the weakness of spirit and submission to [US President Joe] Biden’s dictates. Enough of the supply of fuel and food to the enemy that endangers my sons.”
Top US officials have recently been pushing Israel to scale down its military offensive of air strikes and ground operations in Gaza and focus more on precise targeting of Hamas leaders.
Despite expressing concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza, the US has vetoed calls for a ceasefire at the United Nations and sent munitions to Israel. After talks with Israeli officials on Monday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “This is Israel’s operation. I’m not here to dictate timelines or terms.”
Critics of a ceasefire, including Israeli officials, have argued it would allow Hamas to regroup and recover while the Palestinian terror group is on its heels.
Hamas launched the current war with its Oct. 7 invasion, in which Palestinian terrorists rampaged across southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 240 others as hostages to Gaza.
Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza claim about 20,000 people have been killed in the enclave during Israel’s ensuing military offensive. However, experts have cast doubt on the reliability of casualty figures coming out of Gaza, whose health ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths or note when deaths are caused by errant Palestinian rocket fire. The IDF says it has killed more than 8,000 terrorists in its current campaign.
The post ‘The Blood of Our Sons Should Not Be Wasted’: IDF Mothers Gather Outside Military HQ, Urge Israel to Resist US Pressure first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.