The pressure is intensifying for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a cease-fire deal and gain freedom for scores of hostages, as President Joe Biden seems to question his motives and Hamas leaders emphasized Tuesday that any agreement must include a permanent cease-fire across the entire Gaza Strip.
The Hamas conditions would cut against Netanyahu’s repeated pledge not to end the war until Hamas is crushed. But his government on Monday confirmed the deaths of four more hostages, fueling protests and angst among the loved ones of those still held captive. The government says more than a third of the hostages − 43 of the 124 − are now confirmed dead.
“With every day that passes, more and more hostages die in captivity,” the International Red Cross warned Tuesday on social media. “This loss of human life is not inevitable. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Biden has repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu during the crisis while still vowing support for Israel. In a Time magazine interview conducted a week ago and published Tuesday, Biden was asked if Netanyahu was prolonging the war for his political self-preservation and, after initially declining to comment, said: ”There is every reason for people to draw that 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 farther-right partners, however, have warned they could dissolve the coalition government if such an agreement does not include destruction of Hamas.
Asked at the White House about the possibility Netanyahu may be “playing politics with the war,” Biden said he didn’t think so and added, “He’s trying to work out a serious problem he has.”
Hamas political official Osama Hamdan said Tuesday the militants could not agree to a deal that does not secure “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 is Hamas who is hampering the deal.”
Delegations from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar planned to meet Wednesday in Doha in an effort to revive truce negotiations, Egyptian media reported. Biden sent CIA director William Burns and Middle East envoy Brett McGurk to the region Tuesday to seek a pact, the Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu doubles down:IDF tells 4 hostage families loved ones are dead
Developments:
∎ Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said new intelligence confirmed the death of the four hostages, all male. Hagari said they died together in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis months ago while Israel was conducting military operations there. It was not yet clear whether they were executed or died in the assault.
∎ Five Americans hostages in Gaza are still believed to be alive; three are confirmed dead. Their families met Tuesday for a ninth time with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and said in a statement: “Israel has made their proposal; Hamas needs to take the deal. It is up to them to end this crisis.”
∎ The Israeli Defense Ministry announced a $3 billion deal with Lockheed Martin to buy 25 stealth F-35 jets. Up to five planes will be delivered annually starting in 2028, the ministry said in a statement.
∎ The Israeli military said it had seized rocket warheads stashed in U.N.-marked bags, destroyed a tunnel almost a mile long and killed multiple militants in targeted raids on the Sabra neighborhood of Rafah.
∎ Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the latest cease-fire proposal Tuesday with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Blinken said “it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a ceasefire,” the department said in a statement.
Israel targets UN school, says it was a base for Hamas
Israeli ground forces swept across a refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday while fighter jets struck Hamas targets from the air, the Israel Defense Forces said. The ground assault came hours after Israeli drones struck a Hamas outpost hidden within a U.N. school compound, the IDF said in a social media post. The site included headquarter buildings, weapon depots, rocket launch positions, observation posts and other infrastructure, the military said.
Palestinian authorities said three members of a family and eight police officers were killed in the earlier drone strikes. Israel has drawn global outrage for multiple strikes on U.N. buildings and equipment the military said was being used by the militants, including an attack two months ago that inadvertently killed seven World Food Kitchen aid workers. After Tuesday’s strike, the military published photos of weapons it said were seized at the site.
“The attack was carefully planned and carried out using precise weaponry and avoiding as much as possible harm to those not involved,” the military statement said.
Israel near decision on taking fight to Hezbollah
Israel is about to decide whether to turn up the heat on the conflict that has been simmering with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the war against Hamas began, the Israeli military chief of staff said Tuesday.
“We are prepared after a very good process of training up to the level of a General 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’s not looking to widen the conflict but will be ready if it happens.
Israel and its militant rival to the north − which is better armed than the other Iran-backed militias in the region − have been trading fire for months, prompting tens of thousands of residents from both sides to evacuate. The exchanges have been picking up in recent weeks, and their confrontations have raised concerns about the war in Gaza expanding regionally.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration wants to see the dispute resolved without military intervention. “We’ve heard Israeli leaders say the solution that they prefer is a diplomatic solution,” Miller said. “And obviously that is the solution that we prefer too and that we’re trying to pursue.”
Arab lawmakers in Israel pitch two-state solution
An Israeli legislative conference hosted by an Arab-Israeli lawmaker drew 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 Tuesday by Slovenia, whose parliament voted in favor of such recognition.
Over 20% of Israelis are Arab, and several lawmakers spoke 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 establishment of an independent Palestinian state and granting the Palestinian people their full rights.
“The vast majority of the countries of the world recognized the Palestinian state and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” El-Tawana said. “Only the fascist Israeli government insists on ignoring the rights of the Palestinian people and continuing the conflict.”
Lawmaker Tally Gotliv, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, drew boos for briefly arguing against Palestinian statehood before walking out of the conference. Polls show most Israelis oppose Palestinian statehood.
Iranian general reportedly killed in Israeli airstrike in Syria
Iranian government media reported that a Revolutionary Guard adviser stationed in Syria, Gen. Saeed Abyar, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the city of Aleppo. Several other people also were killed in the attack Monday, Syria’s defense ministry said. The attack comes two months after two senior Revolutionary Guard generals and five other officers were killed and a building was destroyed in an airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus. That strike led to retaliatory attacks by both sides that raised concerns about the war expanding beyond Gaza.
The Israeli military, contacted by USA TODAY, declined to confirm or comment on the report.
Contributing: Reuters
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