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:
The Israeli airline's Paris office is vandalized with graffiti
Vandals have sprayed red paint on the Paris office of El Al, the Israeli airline.
El Al said the offices were unoccupied at the time of the vandalism, which was discovered Thursday morning, and no one was harmed.
Red paint and the words 'El Al genocide airline' were sprayed across the glass doors and walls of the airline's office.
El Al called the incident 'deeply disturbing.' It occurred as tensions are running high between France and Israel over France's decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned what it called an antisemitic attack and urged the French government to ensure the safety of El Al staff and offices and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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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Reuters
34 minutes ago
- Reuters
Israel's Gaza City offensive may be weeks away, leaving time for ceasefire
JERUSALEM, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Israel's new offensive in Gaza City could take weeks to start, leaving the door open for a ceasefire, officials say, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would get underway "fairly quickly" and end the war with Hamas' defeat. 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."
BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
Yvette Cooper: Some 'don't know the full nature' of Palestine Action
Yvette Cooper has said that some supporters of Palestine Action "don't know the full nature" of the group, following the mass arrest of more than 500 people at the the organisation's proscription, she stressed it was "not a non-violent organisation".The home secretary said tens of thousands protested lawfully about the "horrendous events" in Gaza without involving Palestine Action, which was banned under terror legislation last Action won permission to challenge the ban, with a hearing set for November, and Amnesty International described the arrests as "deeply concerning". The proscription made membership of or support for Palestine Action a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and happened after followers caused an estimated £7m of damage to jets at RAF Brize Saturday, hundreds of protesters simultaneously pulled out placards supporting Palestine Action outside Parliament at 13:00 BST. In all, 532 people were home secretary stood by her decision to proscribe Palestine Action, which she said had been "involved in violent attacks" and "major criminal damage against national security infrastructure".She told the BBC: "There may be people who are objecting to proscription who don't know the full nature of this organisation, because of court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way."But it's really important that no-one is in any doubt that this is not a non-violent organisation."Cooper added there had been "clear security assessments and advice" ahead of the human rights charity Amnesty International's chief executive Sacha Deshmukh suggested the response to the protest was said: "We have long criticised UK terrorism law for being excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression. These arrests demonstrate that our concerns were justified."Asked whether there was any reconsideration of the decision to proscribe Palestine Action, the prime minister's official spokesman said it was based on strong security told journalists Palestine Action had been considered to have committed three separate terrorism acts by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, although he declined to say what these were."Palestine action was proscribed based on strong security advice – following serious attacks the group has committed involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage," he said, adding: "Whilst many people may not yet know the reality of the organisation – those assessments are very clear."The spokesman said the police had carried out their duties "without fear or favour", which he said was "a foundational principle of policing by consent". Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned Israel he will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes "substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza".The move has been strongly criticised by Israel who said it "rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism".The UN's humanitarian agency said on Friday that the amount of aid entering Gaza continues to be "far below the minimum required to meet people's immense needs", and last month, UN-backed global food security experts warned the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out".Israel has continued to deny there is starvation in Gaza and has accused UN agencies of not picking up aid at the borders and delivering launched its offensive in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken then, 61,430 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel's military campaign, according to the health ministry. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘If these words reach you … Israel has succeeded in killing me': the last words of a journalist killed in Gaza
The following statement was posthumously published on Anas al-Sharif's X account, after an attack on a tent for journalists near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Seven people in total were killed including al-Sharif, the Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to Al Jazeera. This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings. Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabaliya refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (al-Majdal). But Allah's will came first, and His decree is final. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification – so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half. I entrust you with Palestine – the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls. I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland. I entrust you to take care of my family. I entrust you with my beloved daughter, Sham, the light of my eyes, whom I never got the chance to watch grow up as I had dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I had wished to support and accompany through life until he grew strong enough to carry my burden and continue the mission. I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress and whose light guided my path. I pray that Allah grants her strength and rewards her on my behalf with the best of rewards. I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah (Bayan), from whom the war separated me for many long days and months. Yet she remained faithful to our bond, steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend – patient, trusting in Allah, and carrying the responsibility in my absence with all her strength and faith. I urge you to stand by them, to be their support after Allah Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting. O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family. Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I kept my promise and never changed or betrayed it. Do not forget Gaza. And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
