Concerns grew yesterday over the chances of securing a Gaza truce, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected making any “concessions” in stalled talks toward a hostage release deal.
Netanyahu told a televised press conference at the end of a day of nationwide protests that he would “not give in to pressure” to renege on demands in indirect negotiations with Hamas to end the war, now nearing its 12th month.
Gripped by grief and fury after six dead hostages were recovered from Gaza, Israelis took to the streets on Sunday and Monday to ramp up pressure on their government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The military said the six were all captured alive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war, and shot dead by the captors shortly before troops had found them.
“These murderers executed six of our hostages,” said Netanyahu, who has increasingly faced accusations from critics in Israel, as well as Hamas officials and analysts, of prolonging the war for political gain.
US President Joe Biden, who on Monday met negotiators working alongside Qatar and Egypt to try to secure a truce deal, replied “no” when asked by reporters in Washington if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
“I will not give in to pressure,” Netanyahu told the press conference, saying Israel must control Gaza’s border with Egypt to stop Hamas from rearming.
Israeli daily Haaretz said Netanyahu was “masking his motives with security concerns,” but said he was primarily concerned with his own political survival.
“His coalition... might unravel if a Gaza deal goes through,” it said.
Netanyahu again called for “maximum pressure on Hamas” and stated that “the achievement of the war’s objectives” requires control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Adding to the pressure on Israel, Britain on Monday said it would suspend some arms exports, citing a “clear risk” they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, fighting raged on in Gaza, where civil defense rescuers reported two killed, including a child, in an Israeli strike that hit a displacement camp near Khan Yunis yesterday.
The civil defense agency as well as witnesses and war correspondents reported more airstrikes and artillery shelling across southern and central Gaza.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS