The United States has said it is time to “finalize” a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to bow to pressure.
Washington will work “in the coming days” with its fellow mediators, Egypt and Qatar “to reach a final agreement,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
He spoke after Netanyahu rejected “concessions” in indirect negotiations with Hamas, despite growing domestic and international pressure following the Israeli military’s recovery of six hostages killed in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
The statement comes after the US also expressed frustration with Sir Keir Starmer over his government’s decision to restrict 30 of 350 arms sales to Israel.
John Kirby, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said: “Every nation has a say in how and to what extent they support Israel. We’re going to continue to do what we need to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities.”
Thousands of Israelis gathered around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence with banners in protest last night
Netanyahu rejects ‘concessions’ in indirect talks with Hamas despite growing domestic and international pressure
Israeli protesters are pushed back by plainclothes police during a demonstration outside the Defense Ministry last night
The United States on Tuesday unveiled a series of “terrorism” and other charges against six Hamas leaders in connection with the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Those targeted in the February charges include Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, who was engaged in truce negotiations when he was killed in July in an attack blamed on Israel.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called for an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation” into reports that the six captives found dead in Gaza were summarily executed.
Despite growing grief and anger among Israelis, who have taken to the streets to pressure the government and express concern over the fate of the hostages, Netanyahu said he “will not give in to pressure.”
The Israeli prime minister “has ruined our chances of reaching a deal with Hamas to return our hostages alive,” Jonathan Edan, a Tel Aviv protester, said Tuesday.
“The only thing he wants to survive is his political career and his coalition,” the 26-year-old told AFP.
Israel’s prime minister said Monday that “achieving the aims of the war” requires control of the Philadelphia Corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, to prevent Hamas from rearming.
Egypt on Tuesday rejected accusations that its border with Gaza was being used to arm Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of seeking to “distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement.”
Saudi Arabia supported Cairo and expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of Israeli statements regarding the Philadelphia Corridor,” in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated yesterday outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not signing the ceasefire agreement with Gaza.
The statement comes as Israel has been rocked by a wave of mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his conduct of the war since the Hamas terror attack last October.
Protesters set fires during a rally on the second day of demonstrations demanding a Gaza deal on September 2, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
US President Joe Biden, meeting with negotiators, answered “no” when asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a deal on the hostage-taking.
Hamas has long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egyptian officials oppose an Israeli military presence on the border.
Increasing pressure on Israel, Britain announced Monday that it would suspend some arms exports, citing a “clear risk” that they could be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
On Tuesday, the spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Civil Defense said an Israeli raid on a university killed two people and wounded 30.
The Israeli military said it targeted “Hamas terrorists” at a Gaza City college.
The Civil Defense Agency, witnesses and AFP correspondents also reported airstrikes and shelling in southern and central Gaza.
As Israeli forces continued their bombardment of Gaza, the army said Wednesday it had “intercepted a hostile drone that was approaching Israel from the east” of the country bordering Jordan.
Soldiers also continued their week-long assault in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces have killed at least 30 Palestinians in the northern West Bank since August 28, according to the territory’s health ministry, while the Israeli military reported that one soldier was killed in “anti-terror” raids.
Israeli troops have destroyed infrastructure and hampered access for medics, with the UN humanitarian agency OCHA saying Israeli forces refused its attempt on Tuesday to reach the Jenin community.
An Israeli protester carries a poster reading in Hebrew “Netanyahu’s Legacy” during a mass demonstration last night condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the hostages.
Biden spoke to reporters as he left the White House Monday afternoon for a Labor Day event in Pittsburgh.
An AFP journalist saw Palestinian medics trying to get past Israeli troops to reach people stranded in the Jenin refugee camp, before turning back.
“The situation is really dire,” volunteer doctor Faraj al-Jundi said after being refused entry.
“We tried to help as best we could.”
The Israeli campaign against Hamas since October 7 has left at least 40,819 dead in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says most of the victims are women and children.
The Hamas attack on Israel left 1,205 dead, mostly civilians and among them hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants in the attack, 97 remain in Gaza, including 33 dead according to the Israeli military. Many of them were freed during a week-long truce in November – the only one so far.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said Monday that the remaining hostages would return “in coffins” if Israel maintained its military pressure on the territory.
With Gaza in ruins and most of its 2.4 million people forced to flee, often in cramped and unsanitary conditions, disease is spreading.
After the first confirmed case of polio in 25 years, a vaccination campaign began on Sunday amid localized “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting.
More than 161,000 children have now received their first dose of vaccine in central Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. It aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children in total.
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