Middle East latest: Protesters block roads and clash with security forces amid anger at Netanyahu after bodies of hostages recovered

The protest has been organised by the Hostage Families Forum, which earlier encouraged people to attend the demonstration, which began at 5pm UK time.

Speaking at the demonstration, Gustavo Bruckner, cousin of Carmel Gat, said if one hostage doesn’t return, “Israel’s sacred pact with its citizens is broken”.

“My family has paid the ultimate price may there be no more,” he said.

While Moshe Emilio Lavi, brother-in-law of Omri Miran added: “I blame the brutal Hamas terrorists for kidnapping Omri, and I blame our leaders, all our leaders for every single day they’re not home.”

President Joe Biden has spoken to the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American hostage who was among the six bodies recovered from Gaza.

A White House official said the president offered his condolences to the 23-year-old’s family.

A US official said earlier that national security adviser Jake Sullivan will also hold a virtual meeting with the families of American hostages held by Hamas later today.

Before his death, Mr Goldberg-Polin’s parents became the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage – meeting with President Biden and the Pope and addressing the United Nations.

Within the last few hours people have started to gather outside the office of Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

They are calling for the immediate return of hostages still being held in Gaza.

Protesters blocked roads while holding, yellow and Israeli flags while others held placards with people who are believed to be hostages on.

Some images show people clashing with police and security forces and being dragged away from the crowd.

Demonstrations were encouraged to gather after the bodies of six Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were recovered from Gaza.

Many families of hostages and much of the wider Israeli public blame the prime minister for failing to bring back the hostages alive and end the 10-month-long war.

A 19-year-old Palestinian TikTok star who shared videos documenting his “Tent Life” in the besieged enclave of Gaza has been killed by an Israeli air strike.

Medo Halimy launched his TikTok account after taking refuge with his parents, four brothers and sister in Muwasi, the southern coastal area Israel has designated a humanitarian safe zone.

They had fled from Israel’s invasion of Gaza City to the southern city of Khan Younis, before again escaping the bombardment for the dusty encampment.

Mr Halimy shared the intimate and mundane details of his life, telling viewers: “If you wonder what living in a tent is actually like, come with me to show you how I spend my day.”

He filmed himself waiting in long lines for drinking water and showering with a bucket, telling viewers: “There’s no shampoo or soap, of course.”

He also filmed himself scavenging ingredients to make baba ganoush, the Middle East’s roasted aubergine dip and talking about how bored he was: “Then I went back to the tent, and did nothing.”

His videos went viral, with some amassing more than two million views on TikTok.

But earlier this week he was in his local internet cafe, a tent with Wi-Fi, when a bomb exploded nearby.

Mr Halimy was left bleeding from the head and hours later doctors pronounced him dead.

The Israeli military has said it was not aware of the strike that killed Mr Halimy.

The head of Israel’s trade union federation Histadrut has called for a general strike tomorrow to pressure the government to reach a deal with Hamas for the return of Israeli hostages.

Arnon Bar-David called on all civilian workers to join the strike.

He said Israel’s main international airport, Ben Gurion airport, would be closed from 8am local time.

It comes after a forum of hostage families demanded a “complete halt to the country” to push for the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release – in response to the discovery of the bodies of six Israeli hostages, as we have been reporting today.

The suspected attacker who shot and killed three Israeli police officers (see 11.07 post) has been “eliminated,” the Israeli military has said.

Israeli forces encircled a residence in Hebron where the suspect was barricaded inside.

“A terrorist was eliminated at the scene. The investigation into the terror attack continues,” the military said in a statement.

Tel Aviv’s municipality services will participate in a half-day strike tomorrow in solidarity with the hostages and their families, according to a post on its Facebook page.

Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai said the hostages “should have been at home by now, alive”.

He added: “As a sign of solidarity with the abductees and their families, the municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa joins the strike.

“Tomorrow, starting in the morning until noon, there will be no public reception and we will allow all employees to go out and support the families’ struggle. Take to the streets.”

The strike will take place along with several municipalities across Israel and follows the discoveries of the bodies of six Israeli hostages who have been brought back to Israel from Gaza.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “completely shocked” by the “horrific and senseless” killing of the six hostages in Gaza.

Israel’s military has said they were apparently killed not long before troops reached them.

“I am completely shocked at the horrific and senseless killing of six hostages in Gaza by Hamas,” the prime minister said.

“Hamas must release all the hostages now, and a ceasefire deal must be agreed by all sides immediately to end the suffering.”

Israel’s defence minister has urged Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a ceasefire deal with Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home from Gaza.

“It’s too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood,” Yoav Gallant tweeted, referring to the six hostages whose bodies were brought home today.

“The abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home.”

“The political-security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” he added, in reference to a decision by the cabinet to insist on keeping troops in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu has insisted on keeping troops in the corridor to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons in from Egypt, but it is seen as one of the major obstacles to an agreement with Hamas.

Mr Gallant has clashed repeatedly with the Israeli prime minister over the need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and return the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel.

Around a third of the 101 Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza are believed to have died. The fate of the rest is unknown.

Earlier today six Israeli hostages held by Hamas were confirmed dead after their bodies were found by the Israeli military in Gaza.

The hostages, aged between 23 and 40 years old, were “brutally murdered” a short time before Israeli forces found them in an underground tunnel on Saturday night, according to the Israeli military.

The bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino were brought back to Israel.

Here, we take a look at who the six Israeli hostages were: