News in Brief

Some 1,000 people marched in Tel Aviv last night to protest the military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators, including leftist and human rights activists, walked from the Cinematheque theater on Carlebach Street to the Defense Ministry. Police on horseback accompanied the protesters, one of whom became caught between a horse's legs. The demonstrators argued that the operation in Gaza does not advance Israeli citizens' security. "No one can tell us that a massacre against the people of Gaza is intended to protect the citizens of Sderot and Ashkelon," said Matan Kaminer, a student who participated in the procession. (Ofri Ilani)

Labor and the new Meretz alignment announced yesterday they would be temporarily stopping their election campaigning due to the operation in Gaza. Yesterday afternoon, several hours after the offensive began, Labor announced that its leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, would stop his campaign activities. "The fighting in the south obligates the defense minister to concentrate entirely on security, and he is therefore removing himself from the campaign until further notice." Meretz has also scaled down its activity, canceling a major conference scheduled for Tuesday, when the new alignment had planned to launch its election campaign. (Roni Singer-Heruti)

A 17-year-old pedestrian was killed late Friday night near Kastina Junction in the south of the country after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the road. Lachish District police are investigating whether the teenager, identified as Orit Masai of Kiryat Ekron, crossed while the pedestrian signal was red, or whether the driver ran a red light. The driver, a 54-year-old man from Kiryat Gat, was taken in for questioning, but was released after police deemed he had not been driving under the influence of alcohol, and will appear today at a traffic hearing. (Yuval Goren)