Netanyahu: Israel ‘has no choice but to finish job and complete defeat of Hamas'
He asserted that 'our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza'.
Mr Netanyahu is also pushing back against what he calls a 'global campaign of lies' as condemnation of the plan grows both inside and outside Israel.
He said there is a 'fairly short timetable' in mind for next steps in Gaza.
The goals there, he said, include demilitarising Gaza, the Israeli military having 'overriding security control' there and a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge.
The prime minister also said he had directed Israel's military in recent days to 'bring in more foreign journalists' — which would be a striking development as they have not been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds.
Mr Netanyahu again blamed many of Gaza's problems on the Hamas militant group, including civilian deaths, destruction and shortages of aid.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Israel says Gazans free to exit while Hamas attends Cairo ceasefire talks
CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Militant group Hamas' chief negotiator held talks with Egyptian mediators over a potential ceasefire in the Gaza war on Wednesday while Israel struck the territory's main city prior to a planned takeover and again invited Palestinians to leave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave the enclave housing more than 2 million people after nearly two years of conflict. "They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit," he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us." Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba" (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war. Israel's planned re-seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages. Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun. Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel's military did not comment. Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and "ending the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement. Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons. A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel pulls out. However, "Laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave. About half of Gaza's residents live in the Gaza City area. Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached "unimaginable levels" and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid. Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys. The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the U.N. and international organizations in the past 24 hours along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid. The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
CCA apologises for handling of pro-Palestinian protests after two-month closure
The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow has apologised for its response to protests by pro-Palestinian activists and announced changes to its board. The institute on Sauchiehall Street has been closed since June 24, when Art Workers for Palestine Scotland began a week-long demonstration occupying the building's public courtyard. The group planned to stage events in the 'liberated zone', including workshops, screenings and discussions that centred on Palestinian liberation and 'interrogate the complicity of Scottish cultural institutions in the ongoing genocide in Gaza'. The action was announced in response to the CCA's Board's refusal to endorse the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). The PACBI advocates for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. Police were called to the CCA building after activists began their takeover, resulting in a 63-year-old woman being arrested and injured. Nearly 50 days on, the CCA has said it 'sincerely regrets' the outcome of its decision on June 24 and that an individual was injured. STV News Art Workers for Palestine Scotland action at CCA In a statement, it acknowledged the 'disruption, confusion and harm experienced over recent weeks, particularly by our community, artists, staff, tenants and partners'. 'We recognise that a lack of clarity on our choices had real human consequences, and for this we are deeply sorry', the statement adds. The centre said it is 'committed to meaningful engagement first within the organisation, and then with all those we work with and serve'. It goes on: 'We are listening and know that trust cannot be repaired with words alone, but through consistent, honest, and long-term work. 'We are working to refresh our processes to ensure leadership reflects our principles, to amplify staff voices and to meet the changing needs of CCA. 'Through this, we remain committed to meaningful engagement first within the organisation, and then with all those we work with and serve. 'This includes constructive dialogue with those who have raised concerns. Reopening will require a collective effort across our entire community. We now ask for your support and patience as we undertake this process of reflection and repair.' Following the closure, plans to change the Board membership are set to be accelerated. New members, including a finance minister, will be recruited, and the current chair will finish her term in October. The new leadership is set to revisit the decision not to endorse PACBI, with the centre saying it 'respects the calls for CCA to endorse PACBI' and is 'grateful to those who have challenged us and held us to account and have clearly and powerfully expressed the need for cultural institutions to take a stand'. 'We condemn the violence of the Israeli state, the ongoing occupation, genocide, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza', the statement adds. 'We stand firmly against all forms of oppression and in support of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.' The CCA said it is working towards reopening on August 25, following a period of work with artists and communities to rebuild trust. Art Workers for Palestine Scotland described the statement as a 'moment of real institutional change and real decolonisation'. Commenting, the group said: 'It is huge win for pro-Palestinian campaigners, organisers, staff, artists and members of the CCA's community, and shows us how we can use our collective power to successfully demand that arts organisations represent the views of the people who constitute them, and stand in unequivocal solidarity with Palestine and against the genocidal settler-colonial state. 'We will now hold CCA to account and ensure that a formal endorsement of PACBI, the cultural boycott of Israel, is made as soon as a new board is in place.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Belfast Telegraph
an hour ago
- Belfast Telegraph
We must do everything to get them out, plead mothers of hostages
Israel plans a much-criticised new Gaza offensive to take control of Gaza City in the almost two-year-old war against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Bombardment of the city is underway but the timing of the full offensive is uncertain and efforts to salvage a ceasefire continue. 'When I heard that our government intends to extend the war in Gaza, I as a mother am afraid, because we know that Hamas gives kill the hostages whenever [our military] is getting close to them,' said Viki Cohen, the mother of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas during the deadly October 7, 2023 cross-border attacks. Ms Cohen, who is in Geneva alongside other hostages' mothers to appeal to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help them, called instead for a deal for their release. 'We must do everything to take them out from there,' she said, holding up a photo of her now 21-year-old son, with his two previous ages since his captivity crossed out. Galia David, the mother of Evyatar David who appeared skeleton-like in a Hamas video this month where he was seen digging what he described as his own grave, said she was 'really afraid' ahead of the offensive. 'We know from hostages who were released that there are hard stories, that they are even more evil with them when there is fighting,' she told reporters. She said she also worries that her son could die of starvation within days – a fear shared by Cohen's mother. Malnutrition rates and hunger-related deaths are rising in Gaza, humanitarian groups say, amid Israeli restrictions on aid. Israel denies responsibility for spreading hunger in Gaza, accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which Hamas denies. Of the original 251 hostages captured by Hamas, around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom about 20 are thought to still be alive. Hamas has repeatedly denied abuse of the hostages and said Israel is starving the whole population in Gaza, including the hostages and their captors.
