Netanyahu stated he would only agree to a deal that would see Hamas removed from power in the Gaza Strip…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that intense fighting against Hamas is “very close” to an end.
In an interview with Israeli Channel 14 TV news, Netanyahu on Sunday said that “the intensive phase of the war in Rafah is about to end”, and the Israeli forces were “very close” to concluding the “intensive phase” in the entire Gaza Strip.
However, he said, this does not mean an end to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, and operations will persist with the fighting against Hamas targets, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Israeli news broadcaster.
After the conclusion of the “intensive phase” in Gaza, “we will continue northward,” Netanyahu said, referring to Israel’s warnings of launching a full-fledged war against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
He said that any agreement to secure a ceasefire along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Israeli and Hezbollah forces have traded fire since October 7, 2023, “will have to meet our terms.”
He stated he would only agree to a deal that would see Hamas removed from power in the Gaza Strip and the release of about 100 hostages who are still held in the Palestinian enclave.
Government sources said that Netanyahu would discuss critical decisions regarding the conflict in smaller forums in future….reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his war cabinet on Monday, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister confirmed.
The key political decision-making body for how the war in Gaza was being conducted was dissolved just more than a week after the withdrawal of influential Opposition leader Benny Gantz.
Israeli media had earlier leaked the news about the disbanding of the cabinet, which was formed after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7. A spokeswoman for Netanyahu confirmed the news on Monday.
Government sources said that Netanyahu would discuss critical decisions regarding the conflict in smaller forums in future.
The cabinet had been formed in an attempt to demonstrate political unity after the Hamas attack.
Netanyahu leads a government composed of far-right and religious parties, but the war cabinet contained Gantz, a key opposition figure.
Last week, Gantz — a former general and Defence Minister — announced his withdrawal due to differences of opinion concerning the Gaza war and what would happen to Gaza after the war is over.
An observer member of the cabinet, Gadi Eisenkot, also withdrew, leading to even greater expectations that the cabinet would be dissolved.
Investigations continue into the deaths of eight Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
The Israeli army said on Monday that it believes an anti-tank missile was used in an attack on an Israeli armoured vehicle in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip which killed eight soldiers on Saturday, according to Israeli media.
The incident is one of the most serious for the IDF since the start of the war more than eight months ago.
Initial findings showed that a door of the Namer armoured personnel carrier was open contrary to instructions, the newspaper Israel Hayom wrote on Monday.
All of the vehicle’s occupants were killed instantly when the rocket hit the vehicle. The incident is still being investigated.
With no firm public response yet from Hamas or Israel to the proposal they received 10 days ago, Blinken started his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October …reports Asian Lite News
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his latest trip to the Middle East, where America’s top diplomat urged approval of a ceasefire proposal that faced new uncertainty following Israel’s hostage rescue operation that killed many Palestinians and turmoil in Netanyahu’s government.
With no firm public response yet from Hamas or Israel to the proposal they received 10 days ago, Blinken started his eighth visit to the region since the conflict began in October by meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, a key mediator with the militant Hamas group. He then flew to Israel for talks with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.
Blinken once again called on Hamas to accept the plan, which he said has wide international support.
“If you want a ceasefire, press Hamas to say ‘yes,’” he told reporters before leaving Cairo on the trip that also will take him to Jordan and Qatar. Blinken said Israel has accepted the proposal, though Netanyahu has expressed skepticism.
“I know that there are those who are pessimistic about the prospects,” Blinken said, putting the onus on Hamas. “That’s understandable. Hamas continues to show extraordinary cynicism in its actions, a disinterest not only in the well-being and security of Israelis but also Palestinians.”
While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other US officials have praised the rescue of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the operation resulted in the deaths of 274 Palestinian civilians and may complicate the ceasefire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas’ resolve to carry on fighting in the war that started with its Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Blinken said the plan is the “single best way” to get to a ceasefire, release the remaining hostages and improve regional security.
In his talks with El-Sisi, Blinken also discussed plans for post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza.
“It’s imperative that there be a plan, and that has to involve security, it has to involve governance, it has to involve reconstruction,” Blinken said.
Netanyahu and his government have resisted calls for any “day after” plan that would bar Israel from having some form of security presence in the territory. Blinken said he would urge Israel to come up with alternatives that would be acceptable.
“It would be very good if Israel put forward its own ideas on this, and I’ll be talking to the government about that,” he said. “But one way or another, we’ve got to have these plans, we’ve got to have them in place, we’ve got to be ready to go if we want to take advantage of a ceasefire.”
The three-phase plan calls for the release of more hostages and a temporary pause in hostilities that will last as long as it takes to negotiate the second phase, which aims to bring the release of all hostages, a “full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” and “a permanent end to hostilities,” according to an American-drafted resolution put before the UN Security Council. The third phase calls for reconstruction in Gaza.
The Security Council voted Monday to approve the resolution, which welcomes the proposal and urges Hamas to accept it. The vote on the US-sponsored resolution was 14-0, with Russia abstaining.
But Hamas may not be the only obstacle.
Although the deal has been described as an Israeli initiative and thousands of Israelis have demonstrated to support it, Netanyahu has expressed skepticism, saying what has been presented publicly is not accurate and that Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies have threatened to collapse his government if he implements the plan. Benny Gantz, a popular centrist, resigned on Sunday from the three-member War Cabinet after saying he would do so if the prime minister did not formulate a new plan for postwar Gaza.
In the aftermath of the hostage rescue, Netanyahu had urged him not to step down.
Blinken has met with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Gantz and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on nearly all his previous trips to Israel. Officials said Blinken is expected to meet with Gantz on Tuesday.
Despite Blinken’s roughly once-a-month visits to the region since the war began, the conflict has ground on with more than 37,120 Palestinians killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and took around 250 people hostage.
The war has severely hindered the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza, who are facing widespread hunger. UN agencies say more than 1 million people in the territory could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
In Jordan, Blinken will take part in an emergency international conference on improving the flow of aid to Gaza.
Organisers claim that Saturday’s demonstration marked the largest gathering since October 7…reports Asian Lite News
Anti-government sentiments surged through the streets of Tel Aviv as protesters voiced their demands for a hostage swap deal with Hamas and the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by calls for early elections, The Times of Israel reported.
Organisers claim that Saturday’s demonstration marked the largest gathering since October 7, estimating a turnout of 120,000 individuals in Tel Aviv alone, although this figure remains unverified.
Similar protests unfolded across various locations nationwide, with Tel Aviv’s Begin Street witnessing impassioned speeches, including one from Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker. Alongside other hostage families, she cautioned against Netanyahu’s potential obstruction of a proposed deal, following revelations from US President Joe Biden regarding an Israeli proposal, as reported by The Times of Israel.
“[Biden] spoke because he knows that Netanyahu may torpedo this deal as well,” she said. “Biden wanted the public to know what was really on the table.”
Protests at Democracy Square, the intersection of Begin Road and Kaplan Street, have become a fixture since the inception of the anti-judicial overhaul movement last January. However, they experienced a temporary hiatus after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, which resulted in significant casualties and abductions.
In Jerusalem, thousands marched towards the President’s Residence, initially planned as an anti-government rally but redirected towards securing a hostage deal following Biden’s intervention. Chants reverberated through the city streets, demanding the safe return of hostages and expressing gratitude towards Biden for his efforts to end the conflict.
“He who abandons must return [the hostages],” protesters chanted, while many held signs thanking Biden for his statement urging an end to the war. Yellow flags, symbolic of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, waved prominently.
Despite its original focus on the forthcoming Jerusalem Day holiday, the march assumed new significance amid ongoing negotiations for a potential deal. Although the Jerusalem branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum distanced itself from the event, several hostage relatives took charge of the procession.
Meanwhile, a joint statement from Qatar, the United States, and Egypt urged Israel and Hamas to embrace the proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by Biden.
“Qatar, the United States and Egypt jointly call on both Hamas and Israel to finalise the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Biden on May 31, 2024,” the statement reads.
“These principles brought the demands of all parties together in a deal that serves multiple interests and will bring immediate relief to both the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families.
“This deal offers a roadmap for a permanent ceasefire and ending the crisis,” the statement adds, The Times of Israel reported. (ANI)
US president insists Israel and Hamas cannot be compared after ICC seeks warrants over alleged Israeli war crimes…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden has defended Israel against war crimes charges in the world’s top courts.
Biden’s remarks came after Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed during the war in Gaza.
“Let me be clear, we reject the ICC’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders,” Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House on Monday, the same day Khan announced he was applying for the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.
“There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden added. Hours earlier, he had issued a strongly-worded statement saying that the ICC warrants were “outrageous”.
Israel is also facing a separate case on alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was brought by South Africa. Biden said that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.
“Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), what’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that,” Biden said in his speech.
In January, the ICJ ruled there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, ordering Israel to take a series of provisional measures, including preventing any genocidal acts from taking place.
While Biden’s defence of Israel was met with warm applause at the White House event, his election campaign has been marred by pro-Palestinian protests across the US, with some antiwar advocates labelling the president “Genocide Joe”.
The ICC prosecutor outlined specific charges against Netanyahu and Gallant, including “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and “extermination”, although he said his full investigation was ongoing.
Khan also applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (also known as Deif) and Ismail Haniyeh – for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination and murder, the taking of captives, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence.
The charges were supported by evidence prepared by a panel of experts that included international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
In a statement issued on the report prepared by the experts, Clooney wrote, “I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law.”
“My colleagues and I look forward to make sure neither Khan, his associates nor their families will ever set foot again in the United States,” Republican Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X.
The ICC is the world’s first permanent international war crimes court and its 124 member states are obliged to immediately arrest the wanted person if they are on a member state’s territory.
The US is not a member of the ICC and its “biggest leverage” could be to pressure its allies – mostly European nations which are signatories to the ICC – to not act on the warrants, said Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC.
Lawmakers seek sanctions to “punish” ICC
United States lawmakers are contemplating imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it issues an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
“In the absence of leadership from the White House, Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed. If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israeli leaders, ours could be next,” the US House Speaker said in a statement on Monday (local time).
He further said “The ICC has no authority over Israel or the United States, and today’s baseless and illegitimate decision should face global condemnation.”
Republican lawmakers on Monday called for the United States to impose sanctions on the ICC.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told the New York Post that “The ICC is an illegitimate court that equivocates a peaceful nation protecting its right to exist with radical terror groups that commit genocide”. Stefanik met with Netanyahu on Monday morning as the warrants were announced.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a statement called the warrants “shameful and unserious.”
Earlier this month, Representative Texas introduced the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act to revoke visas for ICC officials who investigate or prosecute US officials or American allies.
Meanwhile, human rights attorney Amal Clooney is among the experts who advised the ICC prosecutor to seek the arrest warrants.
The wife of actor George Clooney in a statement said explained how she had found herself advising ICC chief prosecutor Khan.
“I served on this panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives. The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict,” Clooney said in the statement shared on the shared on the Clooney Foundation for Justice website.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to achieve “total victory” against Hamas…reports Asian Lite News
The Biden administration does not see it likely or possible that Israel will achieve “total victory” in defeating Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Monday.
While US officials have urged Israel to help devise a clear plan for the governance post-war Gaza, Campbell’s comments are the clearest to date from a top US official effectively admitting that Israel’s current military strategy won’t bring the result that it is aiming for.
“In some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is,” Campbell said at a NATO Youth Summit in Miami. “Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of….a sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,” he said.
“I don’t think we believe that that is likely or possible and that this looks a lot like situations that we found ourselves in after 9/11, where, after civilian populations had been moved and lots of violence that…the insurrections continue.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to achieve “total victory” against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.
In response, Israel unleashed a relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 35,000 people, according to the figures of the Gazan health ministry, and reducing the densely populated tiny enclave to a wasteland.
Campbell’s comments come as Washington is warning Israel not to go ahead with a major military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where over a million people who have already been displaced by Israeli attacks are taking shelter.
Likening the situation in Gaza to that of a recurring insurgency that the United States faced in Afghanistan and Iraq after its invasions there following the Sept. 11 attacks, Campbell said a political solution was required.
“I think we view that there has to be more of a political solution…What’s different from the past in that sense, many countries want to move toward a political solution in which the rights of Palestinians are more respected,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s ever been more difficult than right now,” he added.
Netanyahu said, “Israel won’t take lectures from someone who supports Hamas, which is anti-Semitic….reports Asian Lite News
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an anti-Semite in the wake of Petro’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with the State of Israel. In announcing his decision, Petro accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu responded by saying, “Israel will not be lectured by an anti-Semitic supporter of Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that massacred, raped, mutilated and burned alive 1,200 innocent people on October 7. Shame on you President Petro!”
Israeli tanks enter Jabalia refugee camp
As the Rafah invasion continues to grow more intense, there are more developments taking place in ongoing operations in the area, with Israeli military tanks going deeper into the Jabalia refugee camp, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
They, Israeli tanks, notably crossed Salah al-Din Street into the camp on early Sunday morning as the battle rages between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces.
During the earlier military incursion in the refugee camp, the residents had been moved to different places, and now, they are bound to leave again amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza.
Numerous Palestinians have been compelled to evacuate various parts of Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Rafah. Initial responders from the Palestinian Civil Defence claimed they were unable to attend to numerous requests for assistance coming from both regions and Rafah, according to Al Jazeera.
People in eastern Rafah were told to evacuate last week by Israel and head west to the packed tent camp known as the “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi.
Meanwhile, Israel, over the past seven months, has time and again issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in the strip including critically ill patients from hospitals, often with unclear instructions.
All residents of Gaza City and the north were given a 24-hour notice to leave the area south of Wadi Gaza by the Israeli army on October 13 last year
Whereas, in December again, the residents of the Bureij refugee camp and other central Gaza localities were ordered to evacuate and relocate to Deir el-Balah by Israel.
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said his country denounced Netanyahu’s call, adding that Gaza is currently under Israeli occupation….reports Asian Lite News
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lashed out on Saturday at a suggestion from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join a potential civil administration in the post-war Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu suggested in a recent interview that a civilian administration with Gazans and possibly with the aid of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries could run Gaza after the war.
On Saturday, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said his country denounced Netanyahu’s call, adding that Gaza is currently under Israeli occupation.
“The State of Emirates stresses that the Israeli Prime Minister has no legitimate capacity authorising him to take this step,” the Emirati official said in an Arabic post on X.
“The [UAE] state rejects being drawn into any plan aimed to provide cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip,” he added.
The UAE became the first Gulf state to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. However, the wealthy country has repeatedly criticised Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, the UAE condemned Israel’s “control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, an operation that has halted humanitarian aid deliveries via the facility into the heavily populated strip.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza for months since Hamas militants launched unprecedented bloody attacks on Israel in October last year that included civilian massacres.
Netanyahu’s statement came as negotiations resumed in Egypt to strike a deal for a pause in Israel’s Gaza offensive
Amid ongoing talks for a ‘pause’ and mounting demands for the release of hostages, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asserted that his country will not accept Hamas’s demands to end the Gaza war, reports said.
“We are not ready to accept a situation in which the Hamas battalions come out of their bunkers, take control of Gaza again, rebuild their military infrastructure, and return to threatening the citizens of Israel in the surrounding communities, in the cities of the south, in all parts of the country,” he said, the BBC reported.
“Israel will not agree to Hamas’ demands,” he reiterated.
His statement came as negotiations resumed in Egypt to strike a deal for a pause in Israel’s Gaza offensive in return for the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
The prime dispute is whether the pause – pegged to be around 40 days for the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails – will be permanent, as Hamas wants – or not.
Netanyahu contended the proposed deal would keep Hamas in control of Gaza, and remaining a threat to Israel, the BBC said.
A Hamas official, who is an adviser to senior leader Ismail Haniyeh, said the group was looking at the latest proposal with “full seriousness” but repeated their demand that any deal explicitly includes Israel forces withdrawing from Gaza and a complete end to the war.
Motivating the demonstrations was the frustration of families of Hamas hostages who accused Netanyahu of prioritizing his political survival over securing the release of the captives….reports Asian Lite News
Protests swept across Israel over the weekend as tens of thousands of Israelis demanded the ousting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrators converged in front of the Israel Defence Force headquarters in Tel Aviv, marking the largest protest against Netanyahu since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Similar protests erupted in Jerusalem, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, Caesarea, and other cities, with an additional demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Sunday. Police deployed water cannons and made 16 arrests during Saturday’s protests.
Motivating the demonstrations was the frustration of families of Hamas hostages who accused Netanyahu of prioritizing his political survival over securing the release of the captives. Shira Albag, the mother of one hostage, voiced the sentiment, stating that Israel won’t forgive anyone hindering a deal to bring back the hostages after months of waiting.
Netanyahu faced internal opposition from both the Israeli war cabinet and his own party regarding his approach to hostage negotiations. While some advisers advocated for flexibility to reach a deal, Netanyahu rejected proposals, deeming them too lenient on Hamas.
Additionally, many protesters condemned Netanyahu’s attempt to circumvent the Israeli High Court’s decision to suspend funding to ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jewish schools, thereby making students eligible for the military draft. Netanyahu aimed to extend the deadline for Haredi exemption from military service, a policy dating back to June 2023, while the government deliberates on new draft legislation. This exemption has long been a contentious issue, with most Israeli citizens required to serve in the military upon reaching 18 years of age.
On Sunday, IDF reservists staged a protest in the Haredi neighbourhood of Mea Shearim, advocating for their conscription and chanting slogans in favour of military enlistment.
