The Latest: Netanyahu facing opposition to reported plan for reoccupation of Gaza
The meeting could result in an order for the full reoccupation of Gaza for the first time since Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers two decades ago. Such a move would be aimed at boosting Israel's security, but is fraught with humanitarian and diplomatic risks.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday evening, but it is not clear if it will lead to any immediate decision.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 in an Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They still hold 50 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Here's the latest:
Indonesia offers help to Palestinians
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, is preparing Galang, an uninhabited island on the northwest side of the country, to treat around 1,000 wounded people from the Gaza Strip.
The announcement was made Thursday by Indonesia's Foreign Minister Sugiono, who like other Indonesians uses one name only.
Indonesia's president first announced in April a plan to temporarily house and treat wounded Palestinians, particularly women and children. The country's top clerics have criticized the plan due to a lack of guarantees that evacuated Gazans would be able to return home, something they worry could partly enable the depopulation of Gaza.
Wounded Palestinians would be taken to a medical facility where COVID-19 patients and Vietnamese refugees have been treated in the past. Thursday's announcement marks the first time the location was named, but no other details were given.
The relatives of hostages protest
Almost two dozen relatives of hostages being held in Gaza set sail from southern Israel on Thursday towards the maritime border with Gaza, where they broadcast messages of protest from loudspeakers.
The families denounced Netanyahu's reported plan to expand military operations. Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza, said from the boat that Netanyahu is prolonging the war to satisfy extremists in his government and to prevent it from collapsing.
'Netanyahu is working only for himself,' he said, pleading with the international community to put pressure on Netanyahu to stop the war and save his son.
More death in Gaza
At least 29 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said 12 of the fatalities were from people attempting to access aid near a distribution site run by a U.S. and Israeli-backed private contractor. At least 50 people were wounded, many from gunshots, the hospital said.
Neither the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation nor the Israeli military, which helps secure the group's sites, immediately commented on the strikes or shootings. The Israeli military has accused Hamas of operating in densely populated civilian areas.
Palestinians receive body of a slain activist and mourn him
Israeli authorities returned the body of a Palestinian activist allegedly killed by an Israeli settler last week, after female Bedouin relatives launched a hunger strike to protest the authority's decision to hold his body in custody. The hunger strike was a rare public call from Bedouin women who traditionally mourn in private.
Witnesses said Awdah Al Hathaleen was shot and killed by a radical Israeli settler during a confrontation caught on video last month. Israeli authorities said they would only return the body if the family agrees to certain conditions that would 'prevent public disorder.' Despite dropping some of their demands, family members said Israel set up checkpoints and prevented many mourners from outside the village from attending.
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Toronto Star
43 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Israel plans to widen coming offensive beyond Gaza City into last areas not under its control
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to widen its coming offensive beyond Gaza City to the last areas not yet under Israeli control, and where most of Gaza's 2 million residents have sought shelter as the territory slides toward famine. The mobilization of forces is expected to take weeks, and Israel may be using the threat of a wider offensive to try to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages or surrendering after 22 months of war sparked by its Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel.
Winnipeg Free Press
43 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Israel plans to widen coming offensive beyond Gaza City into last areas not under its control
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to widen its coming offensive beyond Gaza City to the last areas not yet under Israeli control, and where most of Gaza's 2 million residents have sought shelter as the territory slides toward famine. The mobilization of forces is expected to take weeks, and Israel may be using the threat of a wider offensive to try to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages or surrendering after 22 months of war sparked by its Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel. Any expansion of Israeli operations is likely to bring even more death and destruction to the war-ravaged territory, around 75% of which is already largely destroyed and controlled by Israel. A wider offensive would also force more people to flee and further disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid during a severe hunger crisis. The plans have also sparked controversy in Israel. Families of the remaining hostages fear another military escalation could doom their loved ones, while former senior security officials have said there is little to be gained militarily. Netanyahu says Israel will go into the central camps Israel announced last week its plans to take over Gaza City, where it has already carried out major raids and heavy bombardment throughout the war. On Sunday, Netanyahu told a news conference that operations would be expanded into the 'central camps' and beyond. He appeared to be referring to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza that date back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. Israel has carried out near-daily airstrikes in the camps since the start of the war but no major ground operations. Netanyahu referred to Gaza City, the central camps and Muwasi — a vast cluster of displacement camps along the coast — as Hamas strongholds. These areas, along with the central city of Deir al-Balah, are the only parts of Gaza that have not been almost completely destroyed in previous Israeli operations. They are also areas where Hamas may be holding hostages in tunnels or other secret locations. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss aspects of the plans that have not been made public, said the operation will not begin immediately and will take a significant amount of time to scale up. One indication will be the potential mobilization of thousands of reservists. The official said the announced plans were partly aimed at putting pressure on various parties. Few places left to flee Netanyahu said Israel will allow civilians to flee to 'designated safe zones,' where 'they will be given ample food, water and medical care, as we have done before.' He did not say where they would go. Israel designated Muwasi as a humanitarian zone earlier in the war. The barren stretch of sandy coastline was soon filled with tents housing hundreds of thousands of people with little in the way of food, running water, toilets or trash collection. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes against what it said were militants hiding out there, often killing women and children. Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly floated the idea of transferring Gaza's population to a so-called 'humanitarian city' that the military would build on the ruins of the southernmost city of Rafah — now a largely uninhabited Israeli military zone — on the border with Egypt. Netanyahu has vowed to eventually relocate much of Gaza's population to other countries through what he refers to as voluntary emigration. The Palestinians and much of the international community see it as forcible expulsion because Israel's offensive has made much of Gaza uninhabitable. They fear that concentrating people in the south would be a step toward implementing such plans. A possible negotiating tactic Netanyahu has said he will end the war if Hamas gives up power, lays down its arms and releases the remaining 50 hostages — around 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive. Israel would still maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and facilitate the departure of those who wish to leave, according to Netanyahu. He has said Arab forces friendly to Israel would administer the territory, but none are known to have volunteered, aside from an Israeli-backed armed group known for looting aid. Hamas has said, in line with international demands, that it would release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group says it is willing to hand over power to other Palestinians but will not give up its weapons as long as Israel occupies lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Israel may hope that ratcheting up pressure will yield further concessions from Hamas in U.S.- and Arab-mediated talks that appear to have broken down last month. But the hostages are Hamas' only remaining bargaining chip, and it is unlikely to give them up if it believes that Israel will then resume the war, attempt to eradicate the group and carry out plans to depopulate Gaza. Israel ended a previous ceasefire in March that had facilitated the release of 25 hostages and the remains of eight others. Since then, it has imposed a 2 1/2 month blockade that pushed the territory toward famine, launched daily airstrikes across Gaza, expanded its buffer zone and ordered mass evacuations. Hamas has only released one hostage during that time, as a gesture to the United States. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others in the 2023 attack. More than half of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed around 61,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and run by medical professionals, does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but it says women and children make up around half of the fatalities. The agency's numbers are considered a reliable estimate by the U.N. and independent experts. Israel disputes them but has not offered its own figures. ___ Associated Press Writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
U2 members speak out on Gaza: ‘A test of our shared humanity'
Adam Clayton, Bono, Larry Mullen Jr, and The Edge from U2 in 2022. The legendary band U2 has always been outspoken about their views and they are now sharing their thoughts about the conflict in Gaza. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images via CNN Newsource) The legendary band U2 has always been outspoken about their views and they are now sharing their thoughts about the conflict in Gaza. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr., took to their official site to post statements condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, speaking out in support of the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages and calling for access to critical care for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 'Everyone has long been horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza - but the blocking of humanitarian aid and now plans for a military takeover of Gaza City has taken the conflict into uncharted territory,' their site reads. 'We are not experts in the politics of the region, but we want our audience to know where we each stand.' 'Apart from the attack on the Nova music festival on October 7th, which felt like it happened while U2 were on stage at Sphere Las Vegas, I have generally tried to stay out of the politics of the Middle East,' Bono wrote in his individual statement. 'This was not humility, more uncertainty in the face of obvious complexity,' he added. 'I have over recent months written about the war in Gaza in The Atlantic and spoken about it in The Observer, but I circled the subject.' He went on to write that as 'a cofounder of the ONE Campaign, which tackles AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, I felt my experience should be on the catastrophes facing that work and that part of the world' before stating that 'there is no hierarchy to such things.' Seeing 'images of starving children on the Gaza Strip' has been deeply grieving, Bono added, given his experience witnessing famine first hand in Ethiopia years ago. 'To witness chronic malnutrition up close would make it personal for any family, especially as it affects children,' he wrote. 'Because when the loss of non-combatant life en masse appears so calculated… especially the deaths of children, then 'evil' is not a hyperbolic adjective… in the sacred text of Jew, Christian, and Muslim it is an evil that must be resisted.' 'As someone who has long believed in Israel's right to exist and supported a two-state solution, I want to make clear to anyone who cares to listen our band's condemnation of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's immoral actions and join all who have called for a cessation of hostilities on both sides,' Bono wrote. 'If not Irish voices, please please please stop and listen to Jewish ones.' 'We are all deeply shocked and profoundly grieved by the suffering unfolding in Gaza,' his bandmate, The Edge, wrote. 'What we are witnessing is not a distant tragedy—it is a test of our shared humanity.' 'We know from our own experience in Ireland that peace is not made through dominance,' he continued. 'Peace is made when people sit down with their opponents—when they recognize the equal dignity of all, even those they once feared or despised.' Clayton and Mullen Jr. also shared individual statements, calling for preservation of civilian life and an end to the conflict.
