Pressure is mounting for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal and secure the freedom of many hostages, as President Joe Biden appears to question his motives and Hamas leaders have stressed Tuesday that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire everywhere in the world. the entire Gaza Strip.
The conditions imposed on Hamas would run counter to Netanyahu’s repeated pledge not to end the war until Hamas is crushed. But his government confirmed the deaths of four more hostages on Monday, fueling protests and anguish among relatives of those still detained. The government says more than a third of the hostages – 43 out of 124 – are now confirmed dead.
“Every day that passes, more and more hostages die in captivity,” the International Red Cross warned on social media on Tuesday. “This loss of life is not inevitable. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Biden repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu during the crisis while continuing to pledge support for Israel. In an interview with Time magazine a week ago and published Tuesday, Biden was asked whether Netanyahu was prolonging the war for his own political gain and, after initially declining to comment, said: “There are all reasons for people to draw this conclusion. .”
Netanyahu’s coalition partners, Shas and United Torah Judaism, said Tuesday they would support a hostage deal even if it involves a major change in war strategy. At least two far-right partners have warned, however, that they could dissolve the coalition government if such a deal does not include the destruction of Hamas.
Asked at the White House whether Netanyahu was “playing politics with war,” Biden said he didn’t think so and added: “He’s trying to solve a serious problem that he has.” »
Hamas politician Osama Hamdan said Tuesday that the militants could not accept a deal that did not ensure the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Gaza. And Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri blasted Washington and the West for pressuring the group to accept an Israeli proposal unveiled by Biden last week “as if it was Hamas that was obstructing the agreement”.
Delegations from the United States, Egypt and Qatar plan to meet in Doha on Wednesday to try to restart truce negotiations, Egyptian media reported. Biden sent CIA Director William Burns and Middle East envoy Brett McGurk to the region on Tuesday to seek a pact, the Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu doubles down:IDF announces the death of four families of hostages whose loved ones died
Developments:
∎ Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said new intelligence had confirmed the deaths of the four hostages, all men. Hagari said they died together in Khan Younis in southern Gaza a few months ago while Israel was carrying out military operations there. It is not yet clear whether they were executed or died during the assault.
∎ Five American hostages in Gaza are still alive; three are confirmed dead. Their families met for the ninth time on Tuesday with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and said in a statement: “Israel has made its proposal; Hamas must accept the deal. It is up to them to end this crisis .”
∎ The Israeli Defense Ministry announced a $3 billion deal with Lockheed Martin to purchase 25 F-35 stealth jets. Up to five aircraft will be delivered each year from 2028, the ministry said in a statement.
∎ The Israeli army said it seized rocket warheads hidden in UN-marked bags, destroyed a nearly kilometer-long tunnel and killed several militants in targeted raids on Rafah’s Sabra neighborhood.
∎ Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the latest ceasefire proposal with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, on Tuesday. Blinken said “it is Hamas that is obstructing a ceasefire,” the department said in a statement.
Israel targets UN school, says it served as Hamas base
Israeli ground forces swept through a refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday as warplanes struck Hamas targets from the air, the Israeli military said. The ground attack came hours after Israeli drones struck a Hamas outpost hidden inside a UN school compound, the Israeli military said in a social media post. . The site included headquarters buildings, weapons depots, rocket launch positions, observation posts and other infrastructure, the military said.
Palestinian authorities said three family members and eight police officers were killed in previous drone strikes. Israel has sparked global outrage over multiple strikes on U.N. buildings and equipment that the military says were used by militants, including an attack two months ago that killed inadvertently seven aid workers from World Food Kitchen. After Tuesday’s attack, the military released photos of weapons allegedly seized from the site.
“The attack was carefully planned and carried out using precise weapons and avoiding injury to those not involved as much as possible,” the military statement said.
Israel on the verge of decision to fight Hezbollah
Israel is close to deciding whether to increase pressure on the conflict that has been brewing with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the start of the war against Hamas, Israel’s military chief said Tuesday.
“We are ready, after a very good training process, up to the level of a staff exercise, to move to an offensive in the north,” Herzi Halevi said in a recorded statement. “We are approaching a decision point.”
Hezbollah said it was not seeking to widen the conflict but would be ready if that happened.
Israel and its northern militant rival – which is better armed than other Iran-backed militias in the region – have been trading fire for months, prompting tens of thousands of residents on both sides to evacuate. The exchanges have intensified in recent weeks and their confrontations have raised concerns about the extension of the war in Gaza on a regional scale.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration wants to see the dispute resolved without military intervention. “We have heard from Israeli leaders that the solution they prefer is a diplomatic solution,” Miller said. “And that’s obviously the solution that we also prefer and that we’re trying to pursue.”
Israeli Arab MPs propose two-state solution
An Israeli legislative conference hosted by an Arab Israeli lawmaker sparked calls for recognition of a Palestinian state and angry rebuttals from other lawmakers. The conference, sponsored by Aida Touma-Suleiman, focused on last week’s recognition of a Palestinian state by Spain, Norway and Ireland. They were joined on Tuesday by Slovenia, whose parliament voted in favor of such recognition.
More than 20% of Israelis are Arab, and several lawmakers have spoken out in favor of the two-state solution. Yosef El-Tawana told the mostly pro-Palestinian participants that the only solution to the conflict is the creation of an independent Palestinian state and granting the Palestinian people all their rights.
“The vast majority of countries in the world recognize the Palestinian state and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” El-Tawana said. “Only the fascist Israeli government persists in ignoring the rights of the Palestinian people and continuing the conflict.”
MK Tally Gotliv, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, was booed for briefly arguing against the creation of a Palestinian state before leaving the conference. Polls show that most Israelis are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Iranian general reportedly killed in Israeli airstrike in Syria
Iranian state media reported that a Revolutionary Guard adviser stationed in Syria, General Saeed Abyar, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the city of Aleppo. Several other people were also killed in Monday’s attack, the Syrian Defense Ministry said. The attack comes two months after two senior Revolutionary Guard generals and five other officers were killed and a building destroyed in an airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus. The strike led to retaliation by both sides, raising concerns that the war could extend beyond Gaza.
The Israeli army, contacted by USA TODAY, refused to confirm or comment on this information.
Contributor: Reuters
News Source : www.usatoday.com
Gn world
