Israel's Gaza strategy stirs internal division
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
30 minutes ago
- Arab News
Trump says he will meet with Putin ‘very shortly' to discuss the war in Ukraine
DNIPROPETROVSK REGION, Ukraine: US President Donald Trump said Friday that he will meet 'very shortly' with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine and that he will announce the location soon.'We're going to be announcing later, and we're going to have a meeting with Russia,' Trump told reporters at the White comments came as Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war and Trump's deadline arrived Friday for the Kremlin to make that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for troops say they are ready to keep fightingUkrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn't interested in peace.'It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,' Buda, a commander of a drone unit in the Spartan Brigade, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military.'I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,' he the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion.'We are on our land, we have no way out,' he said. 'So we stand our ground, we have no choice.'Putin makes a flurry of phone callsThe Kremlin said Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi 'expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.'Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that he also had a call with Putin to speak about the latest Ukraine developments. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25 percent tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, which the American president says is helping to finance Russia's calls followed his phone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin calls suggested to at least one analyst that Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia's most important allies about a potential settlement that could be reached at a summit with Trump.'It means that some sort of real peace agreement has been reached for the first time,' said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based say Putin is aiming to outlast the WestTrump said Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War comments followed a statement from Putin that he hoped to meet with Trump as early as next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. The White House said it was still working through the details of any potential Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that 'Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process.''Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia's side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West,' it said.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Plans to take Gaza City are met with defiance from war-weary Palestinians and anger by many Israelis
'What does (Israel) want from us? ... There is nothing here to occupy,' said a woman in Gaza CityRuby Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose son, Itay, is a hostage held in Gaza, told AP that the decision puts the remaining hostages in dangerTEL AVIV: Israel's decision to take over Gaza City was met with resignation and defiance by Palestinians who have survived two years of war and repeated raids. Many Israelis responded with fear and anger, worried it could be a death sentence for hostages held in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israel would intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, large parts of which have been destroyed by past bombardment and ground incursions.A major ground operation is almost sure to cause more mass displacement and worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.'What does (Israel) want from us? ... There is nothing here to occupy,' said a woman in Gaza City who identified herself as Umm Youssef. 'There is no life here. I have to walk every day for more than 15 minutes to get drinking water.'Ruby Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose son, Itay, is a hostage held in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the decision puts the remaining hostages in danger.'What is the plan now that is different from the last 22 months?' he Olmert, a former prime minister and harsh critic of Netanyahu, told the AP 'there's not any objective that can be achieved that's worth the cost of the lives of the hostages, the soldiers' and civilians, echoing concerns expressed by many former top security officials in Israel.'I will die here'Netanyahu says military pressure is key to achieving Israel's war goals of returning all the hostages and destroying Hamas. On Thursday, he told Fox News that Israel intends to eventually take over all of Gaza and hand it over to a friendly Arab civilian Hamas has survived nearly two years of war and several large-scale ground operations, including in Gaza City. In a statement, the militant group said the people of Gaza would 'remain defiant against occupation' and warned Israel that the incursion 'will not be a walk in the park.'Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war, the first of several mass displacements. Many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year. Now, residents say they are too busy searching for food and trying to survive amid the city's bombed-out buildings and tent camps to think about another exodus.'I have no intention to leave my home, I will die here,' said Kamel Abu Nahel from the city's urban Shati refugee already controls and has largely destroyed around 75 percent of the Gaza Strip, with most of its population of some 2 million Palestinians now sheltering in Gaza City, the central city of Deir Al-Balah and the sprawling displacement camps in the Muwasi area along the offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of casualties, while Israel disputes Zaydah said he and his family had remained in Gaza City throughout the war.'This is our land, there is no other place for us to go,' he said. 'We are not surrendering ... We were born here, and here we die.''This madman called Netanyahu'Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Though most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals, 50 are still in Gaza, less than half of them believed by Israel to be of many of the hostages and their supporters have repeatedly protested against the continuation of the war, demanding that Israel reach a ceasefire with Hamas that would include the return of their loved ones. The long-running talks broke down last month.'Somebody's got to stop this madman called Netanyahu,' said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held hostage. He said faith in the United States to help is also dwindling. 'I lost hope with Donald Trump ... he's letting Netanyahu just do whatever he likes,' he other Israelis voiced support for the decision.'They need to go after Hamas,' said Susan Makin, a Tel Aviv resident. 'Why are they not asking why Hamas has not given back the hostages and put (down) their arms?'The agony around the plight of the hostages has worsened in recent days as Palestinians militants have released videos showing two of the captives emaciated and pleading for their lives. Families fear their loved ones, who may be held in other parts of Gaza, are running out Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel's Defense and Security Forum, said there are a few hostages in Gaza City and the army will have to decide how to manage the said they might be able to surround the hostages and negotiate directly with their captors or leave those areas untouched. Under pressure, Hamas might decide to release the captives, he strategy carries great risk. Last year, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages who were killed by their captors when troops approached the tunnel where they were being held.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
UK Foreign Office under pressure over unreleased Gaza genocide risk assessment
LONDON: The UK's Foreign Office is under growing pressure after it emerged it failed to publish a 2024 internal assessment that reportedly found no serious risk of genocide in Gaza, and refused to say whether a new assessment has since been carried out. Amnesty International filed a freedom of information request in June to obtain a copy the document and ask whether any reassessment has taken place amid the escalating violence in the territory. After receiving no response within the specified time frame for such requests, Amnesty lodged a formal complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office, The Guardian reported on Friday. The government has come under fire for what critics describe as a contradictory stance, and calls for transparency are mounting. While ministers have insisted that only international courts can determine whether or not genocide is taking place, they told a domestic court, during a recent case brought by human rights group Al-Haq, that officials had reviewed the issue and found 'Israel's actions and statements did not create such a risk.' Extracts from the unpublished 2024 assessment were disclosed in court. One part stated: 'No evidence has been seen that Israel is deliberately targeting civilian women or children. There is also evidence of Israel making efforts to limit incidental harm to civilians.' Another said: 'There is no evidence of a high-level strategic decision, passed down through military chains of command, like that which was in evidence for the massacre and deportations at Srebrenica that were found in the Bosnian genocide case to constitute genocide (the ICJ's only finding of genocide to date),' referring to the International Court of Justice. The document reportedly concluded that Israel's conduct could be 'reasonably explained as a legitimate military campaign waged as part of an intensive armed conflict in a densely populated urban area,' and also cited the use of human shields by Hamas. However, Amnesty argued that parts of the assessment appear to be outdated, and said the government might have updated its conclusions without disclosing them. Kristyan Benedict of Amnesty said: 'The government's refusal to engage with us on this raises the suspicion that the government has made a further genocide assessment, and it is likely to be different from the 2024 claim that there was no serious risk of a genocide.' More than 60 MPs wrote to the Foreign Office in May urging it to publish any updated assessments regarding the risk of genocide in Gaza. The debate comes amid growing international concern about developments in the territory, with some legal experts and Israeli nongovernmental organizations accusing Israeli authorities of showing genocidal intent. On Friday, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey described Israel's latest plan, to occupy Gaza City and displace tens of thousands of Palestinians, as 'ethnic cleansing.'
