IRC Sounds Alarm Over Crisis in Gaza
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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu to urge ‘full conquest' of Gaza as ceasefire talks reach an impasse
Negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza appear to be at an impasse, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaning towards expanded military operations and Hamas demanding the humanitarian situation be addressed before it returns to talks. Netanyahu will urge a meeting of the security cabinet on Tuesday to support the full 'conquest of the Strip' according to reports in Israeli media that were described as accurate by a source familiar with the matter. Israel's Ynet cited senior officials close to Netanyahu as saying: 'The die is cast – we're going for full conquest. If the Chief of Staff doesn't agree – he should resign.' The source told CNN that the defense establishment opposes an expansion of ground operations in areas where the hostages are believed to be held, as it would risk putting them in harm's way. The report was criticized by a group of mothers of Israeli soldiers, saying it would be fatal for both hostages and soldiers. The Palestinian Authority called on the international community to intervene. Asked about plans to widen the military campaign, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Monday it reflected 'a wish to see all the hostages come back, and the wish to see the end of this war after the talks for a partial deal were not successful.' It's unclear whether the Israeli government's approach is in line with that of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff spent three hours with the families of Israeli hostages on Saturday, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum quoted him as saying that the plan 'is not to expand the war but to end it. We think the negotiations should be changed to all or nothing. End the war and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time – that's the only way.' 'We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home,' Witkoff reportedly added. 'Someone will be to blame' if the remaining living hostages do not return to Israel still alive, he said, according to the forum. When asked, Witkoff's team did not offer any further information on the special envoy's comments. Trump said Sunday that Witkoff would likely be traveling to Moscow later in the week. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. There was widespread shock in Israel at the release of images by Hamas at the weekend of two of the hostages – Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski – looking weak and emaciated. Netanyahu said the images demonstrated that Hamas 'don't want a deal. They want to break us with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda they're spreading around the world.' However, the families forum warned the government against expanding the military campaign in Gaza. 'Netanyahu is preparing the greatest deception of all. The repeated claims of freeing hostages through military victory are a lie and a public fraud,' the forum said Sunday. The forum called on Israel and Hamas to commit to bringing 'the 50 hostages home, ending the war, and then rebuilding and reviving Israel,' the statement said. Hamas has insisted it is committed to negotiations but only when 'the catastrophic humanitarian situation' is addressed, according to Basem Naim, a senior Hamas political official. Another Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, told CNN last week there was 'no point' in continuing talks as long as Gaza's starvation crisis persists. Hunger-related deaths in Gaza spiked in July, the World Health Organization said last week. Malnutrition rates reached 'alarming levels,' with more than 5,000 children under five admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition in just the first two weeks of July, WHO said. The Hamas-controlled Government Media Office in Gaza said Monday that 600 truckloads of aid were needed every day to alleviate the hunger crisis and claimed that in the past week an average of 84 trucks a day had entered the territory. COGAT, the Israeli agency supervising the delivery of aid into Gaza, said Monday that more than 200 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations on Sunday. But many of the trucks that do get in are looted, either by desperate civilians or organized gangs. The United Nations said on Friday that nearly 1,400 people have been killed since the end of May while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of sites run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and 514 along the routes of food convoys. The UN said that 'most of the killings were committed by the Israeli military.' Thirty people were killed on Sunday while trying to get food, 19 of them in the north and 11 in the vicinity of an aid site run by the GHF in Rafah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. Opinion polls in Israel have consistently shown a large majority in favor of ending the conflict in Gaza and securing the release of the hostages. A new survey by the Institute for National Security Studies found that 38% of Israeli Jews thought it was not possible to disarm Hamas; 57% thought it was possible. On Monday, hundreds of retired Israeli security officials urged Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza. 'It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,' the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media on Monday. 'At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war,' said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service. But far-right members of the government are pushing for the occupation of much of Gaza and measures to encourage its population to leave the territory altogether.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hamas demands at least 250 aid trucks enter Gaza daily to resume negotiations, source tells 'Post'
US envoy Steve Witkoff told the families of the hostages that Israel and the United States are currently working on a framework to end the war and secure the release of all hostages. The terrorist organization Hamas is now demanding the entry of at least 250 humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip daily as a precondition for returning to the negotiating table, a source familiar with the details of the talks told The Jerusalem Post. This message was conveyed to the mediators in recent days, as part of Hamas' new policy of refusing to engage with Israel unless there is a significant improvement in the humanitarian situation. 'There is a growing understanding that Hamas is not interested in a deal,' an Israeli official said. 'We are in discussions with the Americans. As a result, the prime minister is pushing for the release of the hostages while pursuing a military resolution, combined with the provision of humanitarian aid to areas outside the combat zones and, to the extent possible, to regions not under Hamas control.' Following the visit of US President Trump's envoy,Steve Witkoff, to Israel and his meetings with senior Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding discussions regarding the future of the war in Gaza. A broader meeting on the matter is expected to convene on Tuesday, an Israeli official told the Post. Witkoff told the families of the hostages that Israel and the United States were currently working on a framework to end the war and secure the release of all hostages. At this stage, it is unclear when this plan will be presented and whether it will include an ultimatum to Hamas – either accept the deal or face a full-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. A source involved in the talks said that 'formulating a deal with Hamas to end the war will take months. These will be very complex negotiations.' Hamas releases hostage videos After the release of distressing images by terrorist groups showing hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Julien Harneis, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation to the Middle East. Netanyahu urged him to immediately intervene to ensure the hostages receive food and medical care. 'I told him clearly: 'Hamas's lie about starvation is being spread around the world, but the reality is that systematic starvation is being carried out against our hostages – men and women who are subjected to severe and brutal physical and psychological abuse. The world cannot remain indifferent to these horrific images, which evoke memories of Nazi crimes,'' the prime minister said in an official statement. In addition, Netanyahu called for international condemnation of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad – and for an end to all forms of support for them, whether direct or indirect. 'I emphasized to him [Julien Lerisson] that the actions of these terrorist groups violate international law and the Geneva Convention,' the prime minister said. Hostage Rom Braslavski is seen lying on a mattress, saying he has pain in his foot and has difficulty standing, and is suffering from severe hunger, in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad video originally published on Thursday. The Braslavski's family on Sunday night approved the publication of the contents of the propaganda video. 'I've run out of food and water. They would give me a little bit of food, but today, nothing at all,' he said in the propaganda video. 'Only three pieces of falafel, that's what I ate today. Yesterday I barely ate a plate of rice. Bring in food, a liter of water. I am on the verge of death.' The video also shows Braslavski writing in a notebook in Hebrew: 'Get me out of here now!' With a drawing of a hostage pin. The date on the notebook indicates that it was filmed on July 20 last month. PIJ claimed that this was the last footage of Braslavski before contact with his guards was lost two days later. Tami, Braslavski's mother, said: 'I tried to suppress the reality, but when I watched the video, reality hit me. When you hear him saying these things out loud, it becomes truth, despite how difficult it is to believe. 'The nightmare I was only afraid to imagine is real. The fear we live with has become more tangible than ever, and it's important that the whole world sees this, despite my personal difficulty in publicly showing my Rom in the dire condition he's in. 'I have never seen my son like this. Rom is not shouting or angry –he speaks quietly, in a weak voice like a person who has accepted the fact that there's nothing left to fight for and may not come out of there alive,' she continued. 'They say that when words run out, tears speak. Rom, my life, I am crying with you.' Braslavski's family said they were 'deeply shaken' by the video's contents. Braslavski was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, where he was working security. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tel Aviv rally calls for war's end, as hunger reigns in Gaza and ceasefire talks collapse anew
Standing inside a mass protest in Habima Square to demand an end to the war in Gaza, Roy Rieck said the atmosphere felt more charged than at previous demonstrations. TEL AVIV — Standing inside a mass protest in Habima Square to demand an end to the war in Gaza, Roy Rieck said the atmosphere felt more charged than at previous demonstrations. The difference, he said, is that it's not just the plight of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages weighing on those who turned out. 'There was more of a feeling that people want to stop the war not only to bring back the hostages, but also from the understanding that the war has gone too far — that the cost to soldiers is too high, and that the suffering in Gaza has become unbearable,' he said. The rally Thursday night came as images of starving children and accounts of unrelenting hunger poured out of Gaza, where Israel has been fighting for more than 21 months, breaking through the discourse even among those inclined to support the war. But an even more urgent development took center stage. The rally, organized by a coalition of bereaved families, relatives of hostages, and parents of combat soldiers, came hours after US envoy Steve Witkoff blamed Hamas for torpedoing the ceasefire and hostage negotiations in Doha, resulting in the return of Israeli and US delegations from the Qatari capital. Israeli sources reported that Hamas had introduced a new demand for the release of some members who participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The apparent collapse of talks dashed hopes, stoked in recent days, that a deal to release at least some of the remaining hostages — of whom 20 are thought to be alive — was near. How did it go? The rally opened with a moment of silence for fallen soldiers, followed by a prayer for the safety of the troops and the return of the hostages. Speakers included Effie Shoham, whose son Yuval was killed fighting in Gaza and who alluded to the crisis in Gaza. 'These days we face tough choices between choosing life and good, or war, hunger, death, and evil. We must choose life,' an emotional Shoham told the crowd. 'I call on the Israeli government, on behalf of the people of Israel gathered here today, to stop the war.' Noam Tibon, a retired major general who personally rescued family members from Hamas attackers on Oct. 7, 2023, said the war no longer had a 'viable security aim.' 'It's become a political war, managed by a failed government that sent our children to die while passing a shameful draft-dodging law,' he said, referring to a proposed bill granting expanded military exemptions to haredi Orthodox yeshiva students. The IDF is 'sinking deeper into the bleeding swamp of Gaza,' Tibon said. Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held hostage in Gaza, said her son chose to serve in a tank unit out of 'Zionism and love of the land,' but now 'the country he loves so much is not defending him.' She accused the government of pushing for partial hostage deals that could leave her son behind. Raphi Ben-Shitrit, whose son Elroi was killed on Oct. 7, told the crowd that prolonging the war threatened 'the future of the Zionist enterprise.' Ending the war, he said, was not a sign of weakness but a reflection of 'the sanctity of life, the heroism of the Jewish spirit, and the strength of the Israeli spirit.' A group of leftwing protesters held signs accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and calling on soldiers to refuse service. Not far from them, others held banners identifying with 'dignified Religious Zionism.' 'There is a growing sense that every day soldiers are dying for no good apparent reason,' said Yehuda Mirsky, an American-Israeli who had made the trip from Jerusalem, where he is a religious activist and scholar of Jewish thought. He added that while early reports of famine in Gaza were once considered 'disputable,' it now seemed clear Israel had taken on roles in Gaza it couldn't sustain. Like Tibon, Mirsky cited the ultra-Orthodox draft exemptions as proof that Netanyahu was prolonging the war for political gain. But as much as Rieck was heartened by the protest's size, he lamented that the protest fell short of past mass movements. It lacked the sustained momentum of the 2023 judicial overhaul demonstrations, he said, when hundreds of thousands filled the streets week after week, and nor did it approach the scale of the 1980s antiwar rallies, when more than 400,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv after the Sabra and Shatila massacres during the Lebanon War. 'We're not yet seeing a critical mass,' Rieck said. 'And look around you here in Tel Aviv — everywhere else, people are carrying on as usual.'
