Israel's Gaza City offensive may be weeks away, leaving time for ceasefire
Two officials who were at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday to approve the plan told Reuters that the evacuation of civilians from affected areas may only be completed by the start of October, giving time for a deal to be pursued.
The plan raised international alarm over the harm it could bring to the shattered enclave, where a hunger crisis has worsened. On Sunday, Netanyahu summoned foreign journalists to explain the blueprint, which includes what he described as a surge of humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu said that Israel will first allow civilians to leave the battle zones before forces move in on Gaza City, which he described as one of Hamas' last two remaining strongholds, whose defeat will bring an end to the war.
But Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a security cabinet member who has demanded even tougher action, said the plan was designed to pressure Hamas back to the negotiating table, rather than defeat the group and urged Netanyahu to scrap it.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that would have included the release of half the hostages still in Gaza ended last month in a deadlock, with major gaps still between both sides.
The mediators, Egypt and Qatar, have not given up on reviving negotiations, according to an Arab diplomat who said Israel's decision to broadcast its new Gaza City offensive plan may not be a bluff, but it also serves to bring Hamas back to the negotiating table.
The diplomat said that there was a new willingness from Hamas to engage in constructive talks toward a ceasefire after they had seen Netanyahu's seriousness about taking all of Gaza.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the group had informed the mediators that it was still interested in reaching a ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu has not ruled out eventually opting for a deal. A source close to the prime minister said that if a relevant proposal were to emerge, it would be brought before Israel's security cabinet.
Asked on Sunday whether he would halt the new offensive in favour of a ceasefire, Netanyahu publicly took a tougher stance.
"We are aiming for the release of all the 20 (living hostages) with the goal of defeating Hamas. We were talking about a partial deal, we went for a partial deal but we were led astray," he said. "We are going to destroy Hamas, we are not stopping, we are advancing," he added.
He also said he had instructed the Israeli military to speed up its plans for the new offensive.
"I want to end the war as quickly as possible and that is why I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to shorten the schedule for seizing control of Gaza City," he said. The timeline, he said, was "fairly quickly".
But the plans laid out at the security cabinet on Thursday could take around five months to complete, according to the two officials present at the meeting.
Netanyahu's remarks on Gaza City being the last bastion whose downfall would hasten Hamas' defeat echoed statements ahead of another offensive, in southern Gaza, more than a year ago.
In April 2024, during a previous round of failed ceasefire negotiations, Netanyahu vowed to press on with a long promised assault in Rafah that would achieve "total victory" after tackling Hamas' last remaining brigade there.
Israel moved on Rafah in May 2024, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the area. The group's leader and mastermind of the 2023 attack that triggered the war, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces there around five months later.
But even with its top leaders dead and fighters long reduced to a guerilla force scattered among the ruins of Gaza, Netanyahu faces scepticism over the new plan - including from his military chief who called it a death trap - and of any hopes that it will end the war soon.
"This move is a danger to Israel and its security and it is pointless," said Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid. "The hostages will die, soldiers will die, the economy will fall apart and Israel's international standing will crumble."
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Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
Ukraine's allies, after fears of sellout, signal hope for Trump-Putin talks
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Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
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Toronto film festival 'pulls October 7 documentary because Hamas did not give permission to use bodycam footage'
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Telegraph
19 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump to present minerals deal to Putin in Alaska
Donald Trump is preparing to offer Vladimir Putin access to rare earth minerals to incentivise him to end the war in Ukraine. The US president will arrive at the much-anticipated meeting with his Russian counterpart on Friday armed with a number of money-making opportunities for Putin. They will include opening up Alaska's natural resources to Moscow and lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia's aviation industry, The Telegraph can reveal. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, is understood to be among administration figures briefing Mr Trump ahead of his sit-down with Putin in Anchorage. Mr Bessent is exploring the economic trade-offs the US can make with Russia in order to expedite a ceasefire agreement. Proposals include giving Putin access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia. Ukraine is thought to hold 10 per cent of the world's reserves of lithium, used in the production of batteries. Two of its largest lithium deposits are in areas held by Russia, and Putin has staked his claim to the valuable minerals found in the regions his forces occupy. 'There are a range of incentives, in which a potential mineral/rare earth deal could be one,' a source with knowledge of the proposals told The Telegraph. In May, the US signed a rare earth mineral deal with Kyiv, allowing it to exploit Ukraine's ample natural resources. Washington will need to establish new mining operations, which could be accelerated by Russian co-operation. The president's America First policy has seen him strike several mineral deals since his return to the Oval Office, most notably with Ukraine and Kazakhstan. After Olzhas Bektenov, the Kazakhstani prime minister, visited the White House, the State Department said it was 'looking forward to working with Kazakhstan to deepen economic ties in... critical minerals sectors'. Other incentives include lifting export bans on parts and equipment needed to service Russian planes, swathes of which have fallen into disrepair. Western countries have restricted Moscow's access to crucial spare components and other equipment since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, forcing airlines and the military to cannibalise old aircraft for replacement parts. Nearly 30 per cent of Russia's western-made planes, cut off from maintenance, could be grounded within the next five years, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostec, Russia's state-owned defence conglomerate, suggested this year. Removing sanctions on Russian aircraft Lifting sanctions on Russian aircraft could prove lucrative for American manufacturer Boeing. With a fleet of more than 700 planes dominated by Airbus and Boeing, Russian airlines could return to the American suppliers for critical parts and maintenance. Recent major incidents highlight an urgent need to prevent the fleet degrading. In late July, a Soviet-era Antonov An-24, built in 1976, crashed in the country's far east, killing all 48 people on board. Days later, flag carrier Aeroflot grounded dozens of flights following a crippling cyber-attack. Mr Trump is also considering offering Russia opportunities to tap into the valuable natural resources in the strait which separates it from the US. Alaska, which is separated from Russia by by just three miles of the Bering Strait, is estimated to hold significant undiscovered oil and gas reserves, including 13 per cent of the world's oil. Developing Russia's presence in the strait would bolster Putin's strategic interests in the arctic region, which accounted for 80 per cent of Russia's gas production in 2022. British government sources told The Telegraph that such incentives could be acceptable to Europe, as long as Putin was not seen to be rewarded for the invasion. 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European diplomats say there has been no notable change in Putin's overall war aim, which is to topple Mr Zelensky's government and replace it with a Moscow-friendly proxy. The Russian president's aides described the tet-a-tet primarily as a discussion on 'Russian-American relations', hinting at boosting trade cooperation. A White House official said: 'We do not comment on deliberative conversations that may or may not be happening. 'From the beginning, the president has been clear about his commitment to ending the bloodshed and achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire. 'As the president stated: everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and that is what he is working towards.'
