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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Israel's settlement plan to split the West Bank in 2 gains momentum
LONDON -- A controversial Israeli settlement plan that would effectively split the West Bank in two is gaining momentum after a key government committee -- the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration under the Defense Ministry -- gave its approval. The settlement proposal approved by the Israel Defense Ministry on Wednesday consists of a plan to build 3,400 new housing units in an area known as E1 -- an area of land some 4.6 square miles in size separating Jerusalem from the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The E1 area is particularly significant, given it is one of the last areas linking the West Bank Palestinian cities of Ramallah in the north and Bethlehem in the south. The construction of Israeli settlements there -- which has been proposed for decades but until now not approved -- is considered by supporters and critics alike as a major obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state. MORE: 'Horror' in Gaza is 'incomprehensible,' says US doctor who treated patients there Any new settlement construction is expected to restrict the movement of Palestinians in the area. Israeli authorities maintain tight restrictions on Palestinian entry into and movement inside illegal settlements, as reported by the United Nations and a host of foreign, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. Bedouins – the descendants of historically semi-nomadic groups, many of whom now live in agricultural areas of the West Bank -- currently living in the area said this week that they have already received orders to leave. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said locals there had received notice of planned demolition works related to the plans. E1 is designated as part of Area C, which means Israel has full civil and security control there. Some 60% of the West Bank is designated as Area C, with only 18% classified as Area A, meaning it is under full Palestinian Authority control. Israel's far-right, pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the plan last week, saying it "definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state, simply because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize." "The seal has broken," Smotrich said at a press conference in Maale Adumim. "Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today, will receive our answer on the ground," he added, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "fully apply Israeli sovereignty" to the entire West Bank. Netanyahu has yet to comment on the plan. In a statement posted to X, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the E1 plan "undermines the prospects of implementing the two-state solution, embodying the Palestinian state on the ground, and fragments its geographical and demographic unity." "It entrenches the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons, disconnected from one another geographically, resembling actual prisons where movement between them is only possible through occupation checkpoints amidst the terror of armed settler militias spread throughout the West Bank," the ministry added. MORE: Israel begins attack on Gaza City, calling up to 60,000 reservists Locals have also condemned the move. Atallah Al-Jahelin, the representative of the Bedouin community of Jabal Al-Baba to the west of Maale Adumim, said some residents have already received orders to vacate their homes ahead of planned demolition works. Western governments have also expressed their opposition to the plan. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said of the proposal in a post to X, "If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution." The White House has not commented on the E1 settlement plan, but U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee this week signaled it will not interfere. "We will not dictate to Israel what to do, we will not interfere in the running of the country,' he said. 'It would be very strange to say that others can live in this area but Israelis cannot." Past U.S. administrations have opposed the construction of Israeli settlements in the E1 area. The German Foreign Ministry said Berlin opposed the plan as it "would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, effectively divide the West Bank into two halves and cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the West Bank." The French Foreign Ministry urged the Israeli government to abandon the plan, which it said "constitutes a serious violation of international law." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize an independent Palestinian state in September when the U.N. General Assembly convenes in New York unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and take other steps toward long-term peace. French President Emmanuel Macron has also announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the General Assembly. ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu says he will give approval for Gaza City takeover despite protests
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will give final approval for a takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all of Israel's remaining hostages and ending the war on Israel's terms. The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after the Israeli Prime Minister grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials. Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators which, if accepted by Israel, could forestall the offensive. The widening of the 22-month military offensive against Hamas appears to be proceeding despite protests in Israel and the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli military has been calling medical officials and international organisations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation. The military plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more. Israeli strikes killed at least 36 Palestinians across Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals. A renewed offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the territory, where the war has already killed tens of thousands and where experts have warned of imminent famine. Many Israelis fear it could also doom the remaining 20 or so living hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the October 7 2023 attack that ignited the war. Israeli troops have already begun limited operations in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, where they have carried out several previous major operations over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup. The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities. There has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe. Hundreds gathered in Gaza City on Thursday for a rare protest against the war and Israel's plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas. In Israel, families of some of the 50 hostages still being held in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv to condemn the expanded operation. Israel believes around 20 hostages are still alive. 'Forty-two hostages were kidnapped alive and murdered in captivity due to military pressure and delay in signing a deal,' said Dalia Cusnir, whose brother-in-law Eitan Horn is still being held captive. Mr Horn's brother Iair was released during a ceasefire earlier this year. 'Enough to sacrifice the hostages. Enough to sacrifice the soldiers, both regular and reservists. Enough to sacrifice the evacuees. Enough to sacrifice the younger generation in the country,' said Bar Goddard, daughter of Meni Goddard, whose body is being held by Hamas. Additional protests are planned for Thursday night in Tel Aviv. Plans for widening the offensive have sparked international outrage, with many of Israel's closest western allies — but not the US — calling on it to end the war. 'I must reiterate that it is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, and the unconditional release of all hostages to avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,' United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said. At least 36 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 14 who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military said it killed several armed militants in the Morag Corridor, a military zone where people seeking aid have repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, according to witnesses and health officials. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza had earlier reported that six people were killed in that area while seeking aid on Thursday. It was not possible to reconcile the two accounts. The Media Freedom Coalition, which promotes press freedoms worldwide, called for Israel to allow independent, foreign news organisations access to Gaza. Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media from the war which has killed at least 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers. 'Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war,' said a statement signed by 27 of the coalition's member countries. Witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office say Israeli forces have killed hundreds of people since May as they headed towards sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli-backed American contractor, and in the chaos surrounding UN aid convoys, which are frequently attacked by looters and overrun by crowds. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces. The GHF says there has been almost no violence at the sites, and that its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding. Israeli air strikes also destroyed a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, the only city in Gaza that has been relatively unscathed in the war and where many have sought refuge. Residents said the military warned them to flee shortly before the strikes set the camp ablaze, and there were no reports of casualties. Families, many with children, could later be seen sifting through the ashes for the belongings they had managed to take with them during earlier evacuations. Mohammad Kahlout, who had been displaced from northern Gaza, said they were given just five minutes to gather what they could and evacuate. 'We are civilians, not terrorists. What did we do, and what did our children do, to be displaced again?'
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Israeli citizen released from prison in Lebanon after nearly a year in captivity
Saleh Abu Hussein, an Israeli citizen who was imprisoned in Lebanon for about a year, was returned to Israel on Thursday. Lebanese authorities handed over Abu Hussein to Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing in the Prime Minister's Office, at the Rosh Hanikra/Ras Al Naqoura Crossing. After questioning and an initial medical examination, the IDF transferred the civilian to a hospital for a comprehensive medical examination, after which he met with his family. Abu Hussain is a mentally unstable resident of Rumana, near Nazareth in the Galilee, Ynet reported. Salah Abu-Hussein, an Israeli citizen, was released from prison in Lebanon. GPO/Michael Dimenstein The circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the security forces. No information was given on why he was imprisoned in Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'welcomed the return of the Israeli citizen who was repatriated from Lebanon,' according to a statement from Jerusalem. The Israeli-Lebanon border wall in Rosh HaNikra, north western Israel, in 2023. AFP via Getty Images 'This is a positive step and a sign of things to come,' it added. In May, Israel agreed to release five Lebanese detained during operations against Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon. On Aug. 5, the Lebanese government ordered the army to prepare a plan to disarm all armed militias, including Hezbollah, by the end of the year. Hezbollah said it would not comply. In November 2024, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that the Israel Defense Forces would respond 'forcefully' to all violations of the agreement by Hezbollah.
