Israeli Prime Minister 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.
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.
The Israeli Prime Minister added that “no amount of pressure” will stop Israel from “defending itself”…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the US threat to halt some weapon shipments.
“If Israel is forced to stand alone — Israel will stand alone,” said Netanyahu in a public speech made on Sunday’s Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day and posted on his official X account on Thursday.
The Israeli Prime Minister added that “no amount of pressure” will stop Israel from “defending itself” as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
During a CNN interview on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that he would halt some shipments of US weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where more than one million Palestinians are taking refuge.
“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas,” Biden added.
The US President admitted that Israel used US bombs on civilians in Gaza.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres,” Biden said.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the US had already paused “one shipment of high payload munitions” to Israel.
The US has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel since the ongoing conflict broke up on October 7, 2023, according to reports from US news outlets.
According to Israeli media reports, the country’s proposal called for a deal to accept the release of 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in exchange for freeing Palestinian security prisoners jailed in Israel…reports Asian Lite News
Officials within the Israeli government fear that the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) might be considering issuing an arrest warrant against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant and other top officials. Tel Aviv has activated all diplomatic channels, along with the involvement of the country’s Foreign Ministry, to try and block the ICC from issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and other military officials over war crimes, as per Israeli media reports.
A source within the Israeli government said that the US is also “part of the last-ditch diplomatic effort” to prevent the ICC from issuing the arrest warrants. The ICC, on the other hand, told NBC News that its independent investigation in connection to the situation in Palestine is currently ongoing.
The Hague-based court, however, did not comment on the arrest warrants it is considering against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant along with top Israeli officials. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to accept Israel’s latest and “extraordinarily generous” proposal for a possible truce deal and secure the release of hostages amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
According to Israeli media reports, the country’s proposal called for a deal to accept the release of 40 of the roughly 130 hostages believed to be still held in exchange for freeing Palestinian security prisoners jailed in Israel. The second phase of the proposal of a truce consisted a ‘period of sustained calm’.
The ‘period of sustained calm’ refers to Israel’s compromise response to Hamas’ demand for permanent ceasefire. On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the country’s embassies abroad to prepare for a severe antisemitic backlash if the Court takes any action.
Moreover, a senior Hamas source told Reuters the ceasefire talks in Cairo will take place between the group’s delegation and Qatari and Egyptian mediators. “Hamas has some questions and inquiries over the Israeli response to its proposal, which the movement received from mediators,” he said.
As Israel is facing pressure over its offensive in Gaza and Hamas’ demand of a ceasefire, a US State Department spokesperson said that Washington has found 5 units of the country’s forces responsible for gross violations of human rights.
The father of Omri Miran, one of the two hostages seen in the propaganda video released by the Hamas, said that he is worried about his son’s condition...reports Asian Lite News
Amid the impending hostage deal, thousands of protesters rallied across Israel against the government on Saturday night, following the release of videos by Hamas showing signs of life from several Israeli hostages held captive by them, according to The Times of Israel.
The hostage families and anti-government protesters in Jerusalem came together, organising a strong-march throughout the heart of the city. The protest also had speeches, which were delivered on Ben Yehuda Street there.Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, three separate protests converged near Azrieli Mall while dozens of demonstrators led by some hostage relatives attempted to block Ayalon Highway, spelling out the word “halas [enough]” by igniting fires on the road, according to The Times of Israel.The police officials said that they arrested seven protesters on Saturday evening.
The father of Omri Miran, one of the two hostages seen in the propaganda video released by the Hamas, said that he is worried about his son’s condition. He narrated the ordeal of how his son was taken captive by the Hamas in front of crowd of thousands in Israel.In the edited three-minute video released by Hamas, Miran and fellow inmate Keith Siegel introduce themselves, address their families, and express their hope for a solution that would allow them to return home with the other captives, according to The Times of Israel.After protests held by hostages’ families and an anti-government rally convened outside Azrieli mall in Tel Aviv, demonstrators began running down Begin Street, bypassing police barriers and skirmishing with law enforcement. (ANI)
The White House would not specify what could change about policy, but it could include altering military sales to Israel and America’s diplomatic backup on the world stage…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
Biden and Netanyahu ‘s roughly 30-minute call just days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza added a new layer of complication to the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship. Biden’s message marks a sharp change in his administration’s steadfast support for Israel’s war efforts, with the U.S. leader for the first time threatening to rethink his backing if Israel doesn’t change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The White House would not specify what could change about U.S. policy, but it could include altering military sales to Israel and America’s diplomatic backup on the world stage.
Netanyahu’s office said early Friday that his Security Cabinet has approved a series of “immediate steps” to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including the reopening of a key crossing that was destroyed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Administration officials had said before that announcement that the U.S. would assess whether the Israeli moves go far enough.
Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement following the leaders’ call. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Biden also told Netanyahu that reaching an “immediate cease-fire” in exchange for the estimated 100 hostages that are still being held in Gaza was “essential” and urged Israel to reach such an accord “without delay,” according to the White House. Administration officials described the conversation as “direct” and “honest.”
Netanyahu’s office said the Erez crossing, which for years served as the only passenger terminal for people to move in and out of Gaza, would be temporarily reopened. It also said Israel would allow its Ashdod port to be used to process aid shipments bound for Gaza and allow increased Jordanian aid shipments through another land crossing. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson welcomed the moves by Netanyahu, adding that the plan “must now be fully and rapidly implemented.”
“As the President said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers,” Watson said.
The leaders’ conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur José Andrés to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed seven of the group’s staff members, including an American citizen. The White House has said the U.S. has no plans to conduct its own investigation.
Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that U.S. support would be curtailed if Israel doesn’t make significant adjustments to how it’s carrying out the war. “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy,” he said.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed the call for “tangible” and “concrete” changes to be taken by the Israelis beyond reiterating long stated calls for allowing additional aid to get into Gaza.
“If there’s no changes to their policy in their approaches, then there’s going to have to be changes to ours,” Kirby said. “There are things that need to be done. There are too many civilians being killed.”
The demands for Israel to bring the conflict to a swift close were increasing across the political spectrum, with former President Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive nominee to face Biden this fall, saying Thursday that Israel was “absolutely losing the PR war” and calling for a resolution to the bloodshed. “Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people. And that’s a very simple statement,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “They have to get it done. Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to — you have to get back to normalcy and peace.”
The new law grants the prime minister and communications minister the authority to order the temporary closure of foreign networks operating in Israel…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to close down Al Jazeera news network following the passing of a comprehensive law on Monday, granting the government authority to ban foreign networks perceived as posing a threat to national security, CNN reported.
Netanyahu stated his intention to do so, and said “to act immediately in accordance with the new law” to stop the Qatari-based news outlet’s activity in the country, according to a post on social media platform X following the passage of the law.
Al Jazeera Media Network, which has produced dogged, on-the-ground reporting of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, slammed the decision in a statement, vowing it would not stop the network from continuing its “bold and professional coverage,” as per CNN.
The new law grants the prime minister and communications minister the authority to order the temporary closure of foreign networks operating in Israel.
According to CNN, parliament’s approval of the law on Monday comes amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas and growing public discontent and protests against Netanyahu over his handling of operations in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s government has consistently complained about Al Jazeera’s operations, alleging an anti-Israeli bias.
In his statement on Monday, the prime minister accused the network of being a trumpet for Hamas and accused it of “actively participating in the October 7 massacre and inciting against IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers.”
Al Jazeera, which is funded in part by the Qatari government, said these were “slanderous accusations” that “jeopardize” not only the reputation of Al Jazeera but also the safety and rights of its employees worldwide.
Rights groups condemned the move to shutter Al Jazeera and the law’s potential implications.
It was “deeply concerned” by the new legislation, “the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.
“The law grants the government the power to close any foreign media outlets operating in Israel, posing a significant threat to international media within the country,” program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said, adding it would “contribute to a climate of self-censorship and hostility toward the press.”
Blocking Al Jazeera “marks an alarming escalation, and Israeli efforts restrict the freedom of the press and further limit the access that citizens of the world have to the daily realities in Israel and Palestine,” Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine Director Omar Shakir told CNN.
The White House also declared the reports of the move to shutter Al Jazeera “concerning.”
The Israeli PM also met the border guards of the Military Police Corps. He said, “We will enter Rafah and ensure total victory.”…reports Asian Lite News
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “will be killed at any cost”.
The Israeli Prime Minister was speaking to mediapersons on Sunday night and said that “just as Haman was killed in the ancient city of Purim, Sinwar would also be killed”.
He said, “We will unite, fight and win just as we did in ancient times,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, has also earlier said that Israel has vowed to kill Yahya Sinwar, who is widely believed to be the brain behind the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel.
The Israeli PM also met the border guards of the Military Police Corps. He said, “We will enter Rafah and ensure total victory.”
Netanyahu addressed Republican senators via videolink on Wednesday saying his government would continue its efforts to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US Republican Senators that ‘Israel’s war on Gaza will continue’, despite increasing criticism from Democratic leaders over the escalating humanitarian crisis in the ‘besieged’ Palestinian enclave, Aljazeera reported.
Netanyahu addressed Republican senators via videolink on Wednesday saying his government would continue its efforts to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to lawmakers.
“He’s going to do what he said he’s going to do. He’s going to finish it,” Senator Jim Risch said.
According to Aljazeera, the Prime Minister’s remarks followed Senator Chuck Schumer’s recent criticism of Netanyahu as an “obstacle to peace” due to his government’s policies, particularly regarding aid delivery to Gaza.
Schumer said Netanyahu was no longer fit to govern Israel because of his government’s “dangerous and inflammatory policies,” particularly around getting aid into Gaza, as pressure mounts within the ruling Democratic Party in the US to discontinue its unconditional political and military support for Israel.
While facing criticism from Democratic quarters, Netanyahu has maintained support from Republican circles. Senator John Barrasso criticised Schumer’s remarks, affirming Israel’s right to self-defence.
Responding to Netanyahu’s speech, a spokesperson for Schumer said the Israeli PM had offered to speak to the Democrats as well, but he declined, saying the conversation should not be partisan, according to Aljazeera.
“I care deeply about Israel and its long-term future. When you make the issue partisan, you hurt the cause of helping Israel,” Schumer told reporters.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden cautioned Netanyahu in a call this week against a potential invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza without a clear humanitarian plan during a recent phone call. Biden urged Netanyahu to send a delegation of intelligence and military officials to Washington, DC, to address concerns about the potential invasion.
“I made it clear to President Biden in our conversation, in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of Hamas in Rafah as well,” Netanyahu said of the call in a statement on X.
Rafah, on the Gaza Strip’s southernmost tip, has seen its population balloon from 300,000 to about 1.5 million people, as Israel has forcefully pushed hundreds of thousands of displaced residents fleeing bombardments in north and central Gaza since the start of the war in October.
Western countries, including Israel’s European allies, have cautioned against a ground attack on Rafah, which serves as a key hub for humanitarian aid coming through the Egyptian border.
United Nations experts have cautioned about an impending famine in parts of Gaza due to severe shortages of food and water. Oxfam has accused Israel of deliberately impeding the entry of essential supplies into Gaza through bureaucratic obstacles at border crossings under Israeli control.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, has reiterated calls for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, denouncing the use of starvation as a “weapon of war.”
Recent Israeli attacks in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of over 100 Palestinians, with Gaza’s Ministry of Health reporting a total of at least 31,988 Palestinians killed and 74,188 wounded since October 7. (ANI)
Netanyahu said that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate….reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed Sunday against growing criticism from top ally the United States against his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
In recent days, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way.” President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech,” and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza.
Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.
“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”
When asked by CNN whether he would commit to a new election after the war ends, Netanyahu said: “I think that’s something for the Israeli public to decide.”
The U.S., which has provided key military and diplomatic support to Israel, also has expressed concerns about a planned Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, told Fox the U.S. still hasn’t seen an Israeli plan for Rafah.
The U.S. supports a new round of talks aimed at securing a cease-fire in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
The Israeli delegation to those talks was expected to leave for Qatar after Sunday evening meetings of the Security Cabinet and War Cabinet, which will give directions for negotiations.
Despite the talks, Netanyahu made it clear he would not back down from the fighting that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. More than five months have passed since Hamas attacked southern Israel, killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.
Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu said calls for an election now — which polls show he would lose badly — would force Israel to stop fighting and paralyze the country for six months.
Netanyahu also reiterated his determination to attack Hamas in Rafah and said that his government approved military plans for such an operation.
“We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen,” he said. The operation is supposed to include the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians, but it is not clear how Israel will do that.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi reiterated his warning that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would have “grave repercussions on the whole region.” Egypt says pushing Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula would jeopardize its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of regional stability.
“We are also very concerned about the risks a full-scale offensive in Rafah would have on the vulnerable civilian population. This needs to be avoided at all costs,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after meeting with el-Sissi.
And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday, warned that “the more desperate the situation of people in Gaza becomes, the more this begs the question: No matter how important the goal, can it justify such terribly high costs, or are there other ways to achieve your goal?”
Germany is one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe and, given memories of the Holocaust, often treads carefully when criticizing Israel.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in Washington for St. Patrick’s Day, said during a White House reception that the Irish people were “deeply troubled” by what’s unfolding in Gaza. He said there was much to learn from Ireland’s peace process and the critical U.S. involvement in it.
Varadkar said he’s often asked why the Irish are so empathetic to the Palestinians.
“We see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement, dispossession, and national identity questioned and denied forced emigration, discrimination and now hunger,” he said.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul-general in New York and an outspoken critic of Netanyahu, said that the prime minister’s comments fit with his efforts to find someone else to blame if Israel doesn’t achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.
“He’s looking on purpose for a conflict with the U.S. so that he can blame Biden,” Pinkas said.
Both sides have something to gain politically from the dispute. The Biden administration is under increasing pressure from progressive Democrats and some Arab-American supporters to restrain Israel’s war against Hamas. Netanyahu, meanwhile, wants to show his nationalist base that he can withstand global pressure, even from Israel’s closest ally.
The statement of the Israel Prime Minister has come just as hectic mediatory talks for a temporary ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages were taking place at the behest of the US, Qatar and Egypt…reports Asian Lite News
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a military operation in Rafah was necessary to ensure victory in the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza strip.
Speaking to Hebrew media on Sunday night, PM Netanyahu said that once the Israel Army begins the Rafah operation, the war would be completed in a few weeks with full victory.
The Israel Prime Minister said, “We won’t give up.”
He also said that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have destroyed 18 of the 24 battalions of the Hamas terror force, but added that four of the remaining battalions were concentrated in Rafah. He said that these battalions have to be taken care of to ensure total victory and to wrap up the war as soon as possible.
The statement of the Israel Prime Minister has come just as hectic mediatory talks for a temporary ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages were taking place at the behest of the US, Qatar and Egypt.
Meanwhile, the IDF presented to the War Cabinet its plan to both evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and to militarily destroy some of the last Hamas battalions in the area of Gaza near the Egyptian border.
The Israel Prime Minister’s office in a statement said, “The Israel war cabinet has approved a plan late Sunday night to provide humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip in a manner that will prevent the looting that has occurred in the northern Strip and other areas,”
It may be noted that there are over 1.3 million Palestinians in the Rafah area, many of whom fled to this area to escape the IDF bombing in the north of Gaza. The US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that Israel, Egypt and Qatar had come to an understanding in Paris about the “basic contours of a hostage deal for a temporary ceasefire”.
Speaking to the International media, Sullivan said, “There will now be indirect discussions by Qatar and Egypt with Hamas because ultimately they will have to agree to release the hostages. That work is underway. And we hope that in the coming days, we can drive to a point where there is a firm and final agreement.”
