Anti-government protests in Israel draw thousands as frustrations grow over hostage crisis
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February 4, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Andrew Raine, Heather Chen, Amarachi Orie and Antoinette Radford, CNN

Updated 12:01 a.m. ET, February 5, 2024
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5:18 a.m. ET, February 4, 2024

Anti-government protests in Israel draw thousands as frustrations grow over hostage crisis

From CNN’s Lauren Izso, Michael Rios and Ivana Kottasová

Protesters gather to stage a demonstration demanding the resignation of the government and the holding of early elections in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 3.
Protesters gather to stage a demonstration demanding the resignation of the government and the holding of early elections in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 3. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu/Getty Images

Thousands of people protested in parts of Israel on Saturday to demand a change in government and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

In the coastal town of Caesarea, protesters rallied in the rain before marching toward one of the private residences of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Some were seen calling for the prime minister's removal, chanting, “Guilty, guilty, guilty!”

In Tel Aviv, protesters gathered at Habima Square to call for immediate elections in what was the third weekend in a row of demonstrations directly targeting Netanyahu and his government.

Many waved Israeli flags and held up signs with images of the Israeli hostages, calling on the government to “bring them home.”

The government of Israel declares in its actions that it is not competent and that the good of the state and its citizens are not at the top of its mind,” the protesters taking part in a demonstration titled “Calling for elections now!” said in a statement announcing the protest on Saturday. 

“We will go out to demonstrate that our future depends only on us - we the people will determine our destiny!,” the said. 

Pressure mounts: With more protests scheduled for next Saturday, the demonstrations are becoming a regular occurrence.

Last Spring and Summer, mass weekly protests against Netanyahu and his government occurred over planned judicial reform, but were put on hold after the brutal October 7 attack. With the anger over Netanyahu’s handling of the hostage crisis rising, such demonstrations could soon be returning.

11:58 p.m. ET, February 3, 2024

US and UK have carried out strikes on over 30 Houthi targets in Yemen. Here's what you need to know

From CNN's Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky

US-led coalition conducts airstrikes in Yemen in response to the Houthi aggression at the Red Sea on February 3.
US-led coalition conducts airstrikes in Yemen in response to the Houthi aggression at the Red Sea on February 3. US Central Command

The US and the United Kingdom have conducted strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen from air and surface platforms — including F/A-18s — on over 30 targets across 13 locations, according to officials.

The US and UK carried out the strikes with the support of several other countries, according to a joint statement on Saturday.

“Today's strike specifically targeted sites associated with the Houthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars,” the statement released by the US, UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand said.

The Houthis said US and UK warplanes struck multiple provinces in Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa.

Two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes, a US official told CNN. The USS Gravely and USS Carney fired the land-attack cruise missiles and F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier were also involved, officials said.

For context: Strikes on consecutive days come as President Joe Biden's administration has vowed a “multi-tiered” response to a drone attack that killed three US service members and wounded more than 40 last weekend.

Seeking to avoid a regional war with Tehran, the US has not targeted Iran directly, instead going after some of its most powerful proxies in the region. It is an indirect way of trying to send a message to Iran’s leadership, which has grown increasingly nervous about the actions of some of the militant organizations it backs, CNN has reported. Iran funds, arms and supplies these groups to different degrees, but its leadership does not control them directly.

The strikes in Yemen are distinct from the attacks in Iraq and Syria: The former is a response to ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping lanes and US warships in the Red Sea, while the latter is a retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops. But both target Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

CNN's Eyad Kourdi contributed to this post.

11:58 p.m. ET, February 3, 2024

US strikes anti-ship cruise missile in Yemen

From CNN's Jalen Beckford 

US forces struck an additional Houthi anti-ship cruise missile in Yemen early Sunday local time, according to US Central Command.

The strike was conducted in "self defense" against a Houthi cruise missile "prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea" at 4 a.m. local time on Sunday, US Central Command said in a statement. 

US forces determined the cruise missile presented an "imminent threat" to US Navy ships and other vessels in the region.

The strike is a part of the US military's effort to deter the Houthis from further disrupting the global shipping lanes in the Red Sea. 

11:58 p.m. ET, February 3, 2024

Israel says it has hit multiple Hezbollah targets in Syria and Lebanon since Gaza war began

From CNN's Michael Rios, Lauren Izso and Charbel Mallo

Israel’s military has attacked more than 3,400 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and more than 50 in Syria since the war in Gaza broke out 120 days ago, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

At a press briefing Saturday, Hagari said Israel has been trying to stop Hezbollah's “supply chain of ammunition and missiles,” which he alleged were being smuggled from Iran to Syria and then to Lebanon.

We locate these shipments and destroy them. They are destroyed before they reach Hezbollah,” Hagari said, adding: “We will continue to act wherever Hezbollah is present. We will continue to act wherever it is required in the Middle East.”

Hagari also said the Israeli military has deployed three divisions along the Lebanese border since October 7 -- instead of the usual single division to try to thwart Hezbollah's capabilities and protect people in northern Israel.

For the last four months, along with the war in Gaza, we have been waging a very intense battle on the northern front, aimed at reshaping the security reality so that the residents of the north can return to their homes safely,” Hagari said, adding: "So far we have attacked more than 150 terrorist units and eliminated more than 200 terrorists and commanders."

Hezbollah on Saturday said it had launched at least eight attacks on Israeli positions.

The IDF acknowledged that “a number of launches” were identified crossing from Lebanon to northern Israel, but said no injuries were reported and that it struck the sources of the fire.

11:57 p.m. ET, February 3, 2024

US strikes make it difficult to reach a political solution in the region, Iran tells UN

From CNN's Artemis Mostaghian, Jennifer Z. Deaton, and Hande Atay Alam

A building is seen destroyed following a US airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, on February 3.
A building is seen destroyed following a US airstrike in al-Qaim, Iraq, on February 3. Stringer/Reuters

Recent strikes by the US military in the Middle East make it difficult to reach a political solution in the region, Iran's foreign minister told the United Nations' special envoy for Yemen on Saturday, according to Iran's state-run news agency.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments prior to US officials confirming the latest strikes Saturday on Houthi targets. The attacks follow multiple joint US-UK airstrikes on the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen last month.

During their meeting in Tehran, Amir-Abdollahian told Special Envoy Hans Grundberg that the US strikes and its decision to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization have "complicated the situation and made it more difficult to reach a political solution," the state news agency, IRNA, reported. 

Amir-Abdollahian also called US strikes "the continuation of Washington’s wrong and failed approach to resolve issues by force and through militarism," IRNA reported. 

Remember: The US also conducted major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers. 

The strikes in Yemen are distinct from the attacks in Iraq and Syria: The former is a response to ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping and US warships in the Red Sea, while the latter is a retaliation for the deadly attack on US troops. But both target Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.

11:57 p.m. ET, February 3, 2024

"We will meet escalation with escalation," Houthi senior official says in response to strikes in Yemen

From CNN's Eyad Kourdi

A US-led coalition conducts airstrikes in Yemen on Saturday.
A US-led coalition conducts airstrikes in Yemen on Saturday. US Central Command

Mohammed Al Bukhaiti, a top member of the Houthi Political Council, said the group will continue its military operations until the siege on Gaza is lifted and vowed to respond to the latest US and UK strikes in Yemen.

In the group's first reaction to the latest wave of attacks, he warned: "We will meet escalation with escalation."

Al Bukhaiti wrote on X:

"The US-British coalition’s bombing of a number of Yemeni provinces will not change our position, and we affirm that our military operations against Israel will continue until the crimes of genocide in Gaza are stopped and the siege on its residents is lifted, no matter the sacrifices it costs us."   
"Our war is moral, and if we had not intervened to support the oppressed in Gaza, humanity would not have existed among humans. The American-British aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered, and we will meet escalation with escalation," he said.