Middle East: Arab nations decry Israel's new Gaza City plan

Large crowds have gathered for this week's anti-government protests in Israel, the first since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed plans to take over Gaza City.

Protesters fear the plans will further endanger the lives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. 

British police said they have arrested at least 365 people in central London on Saturday for supporting the banned group Palestine Action at the Lift the Ban campaign rally.

In early July, the British government banned the pro-Palestinian group under anti-terrorism laws, making it a crime to publicly support the organization. The decision came following a break-in and vandalism at a Royal Air Force base on June 20. 

Supporters of the group, who have held a series of protests around the UK over the past month, say the law illegally restricts freedom of expression.

"The police have only been able to arrest a fraction of those supposedly committing 'terrorism' offenses, and most of those have been given street bail and allowed to go home," Defend Our Juries, which organized the protest, said in a statement.

"This is a major embarrassment to [the government], further undermining the credibility of this widely ridiculed law, brought in to punish those exposing the government's own crimes," it added.

London's Metropolitan Police Service estimated there were around 500 to 600 people in the square when the protest started, but many were onlookers, media or people who didn't hold placards supporting the group.

"We are confident that anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestine Action was either arrested or is in the process of being arrested," said a police statement, which at the time said that 200 people had been arrested. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's decision to halt weapons exports to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip "until further notice" has been met with fierce opposition.

Members of his own conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), condemned Merz's move — a major change of course for Germany, one of Israel's staunchest international allies.

Some conservatives are criticizing him for going against Germany's "Staatsräson" (reason of state).

Follow our Germany updates blog for the latest news on this major shift in German foreign policy and more from Germany. 

Six Lebanese soldiers were killed on Saturday as they were inspecting a weapons depot belonging to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in the southern city of Tyre, the army said.

The depot was reportedly part of Hezbollah's military infrastructure, which the Lebanese army has been dismantling in cooperation with a United Nations team as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Beirut is under pressure to disarm Hezbollah under a ceasefire deal signed in November.

Read more to find out what happened at the Hezbollah arms depot. 

The United Kingdom says it will commit another £8.5 million ($11.4 million; €9.8 million) to United Nations aid projects for Gaza, as warnings of widespread hunger in the 2.1-million population territory grow louder.

Development Minister Jenny Chapman said the money would "help address urgent need" in Gaza, but only if Israel allowed the region to be "flooded with aid."

"It is unacceptable that so much aid is waiting at the border — the UK is ready to provide more through our partners, and we demand that the government of Israel allows more aid in safely and securely," Chapman said.

"The insufficient amount of supplies getting through is causing appalling and chaotic scenes as desperate civilians try to access tiny amounts of aid," she added.

The money, to be delivered through the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is part of a £101 million UK commitment to the Palestinian territories this year.

Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency said at least 10 people were killed across the Palestinian territory on Saturday, including civilians who were waiting to collect aid.

At least six of them were killed and 30 were wounded after Israeli troops targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP news agency.

Strikes also hit areas in central Gaza, resulting in multiple casualties, Bassal added.

Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza that have faced almost-daily reports of Israeli forces targeting those waiting to collect aid.

In July, Israel eased strict curbs on aid to Gaza that have caused shortages of food, medicine and fuel, among other essential supplies. But aid agencies, like the UN's World Food Program, say they are delivering "a fraction of what's needed."

Multiple Arab and Muslim countries have described Israel's plan to take control of Gaza City as a "dangerous escalation."

Some 20 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, said the plan constituted "a flagrant violation of international law."

In a joint statement, the mostly-Muslim nations accused Israel of "an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli... in contravention of international legitimacy."

The plan, proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and approved by Israel's Security Cabinet early Friday, will see Israel launch a new military offensive to seize the largest city in the Palestinian territory.

It also requires that Gaza be ruled by an "alternative civil administration that is neither the militant group Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority."

The plan has been widely condemned; even Israel's army chief has warned against it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after talks in Egypt that Muslim nations should unite in opposition to Israel's planned seizure.

We're tracking the latest developments in Israel's war in Gaza, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing strong opposition from Arab and Muslim nations over his plan to seize Gaza City.

Aid agencies say the amount of aid reaching the Palestinian territory is still inadequate, as the United Kingdom commits to millions more for United Nations relief efforts.

Reports also suggest that Israel is attacking Gaza residents waiting at aid points. Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense says several people were killed and 30 were injured in an attack on an aid distribution center in central Gaza.

We'll also bring you reactions to Germany's decision to halt defense exports to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip.

Some members of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union have expressed disagreement with the decision to partially halt arms sales to Israel.