Netanyahu holds urgent consultations with senior officials to "protect the prisoners" before the occupation of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding urgent consultations to discuss ways to protect Israeli prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, before expanding the ground operation in Gaza aimed at occupying the city.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, along with Aryeh Deri and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, are scheduled to participate in the meeting.

The meeting also includes Mossad Director Dedi Barnea, acting head of the Shin Bet security service Nitzan Alon, and Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons Gal Hirsch.

The newspaper clarified that earlier on Saturday, clashes erupted between police and Israeli protesters east of Tel Aviv, as hundreds continued to demonstrate against the government for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In a related context, the Forum of Families of Israeli Hostages stated in a statement on Saturday that Netanyahu represents an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the captives.

On Sunday, Netanyahu considered the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as evidence of the strength of U.S.-Israeli relations.

Netanyahu's statement came at the end of a visit he made with Rubio, who is visiting Israel, to the Western Wall at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu said: "His (Rubio's) visit is evidence of the strength of U.S.-Israeli relations," according to the official broadcasting authority.

In the same context, the private newspaper Israel Hayom reported that Netanyahu and Rubio will hold a closed bilateral meeting in Jerusalem tomorrow (Monday) morning.

The broadcasting authority mentioned that Rubio, after arriving at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, headed to Jerusalem, where he visited the Western Wall with Netanyahu.

Earlier on Sunday, Rubio arrived in Israel amid the fallout from Tel Aviv's failed attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar and the escalation of its war on the Gaza Strip.

This visit is part of a tour Rubio is conducting to Israel and the United Kingdom, which began on Sunday and will continue until September 18, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department that did not specify the duration of the visit in each country.

The visit comes amid an Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip and obstacles facing negotiations to stop the war after Tel Aviv's attempt last Tuesday to assassinate Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha while its negotiating delegation was discussing a proposal put forth by U.S. President Donald Trump.