Latest news with #Ynet
India.com
2 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
Israel plans to punish Hamas more as Netanyahu refuses to accept US ceasefire deal, , Israeli government says...Donald Trump now plans to...
Tel Aviv: In a major development, Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly refused to accept the ceasefire proposal offered by the United States in Gaza. According to a senior Israeli official, the new ceasefire and hostage deal are unacceptable for any Israeli government. The official has stated that the conditions set by Hamas for the ceasefire would weaken Israel's war objectives and its ability to rescue hostages. The war has been ongoing in Gaza since October 2023 and claimed more than 53,000 people, and there has been massive destruction. Why Has Israel Rejected The Deal? An Israeli official stated that the deal is akin to surrendering to Hamas, according to a report by Ynet. The agreement includes conditions such as releasing only five live hostages on the first day and another five after 60 days. Additionally, under U.S. supervision, Israel would be required to withdraw its forces to the positions held two months ago and allow extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza. Hamas has also demanded that the agreement be signed by its senior official Khalil al-Hayya and by Witkoff. We Will Not Accept Hamas' Terms An Israeli official said, 'Hamas will decide whether we get five more hostages after two months. We'll have to plead even for the bodies of our own people. No Israeli government will agree to this.' The official further added that these conditions differ from the framework initiated by Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to which Israel is committed. Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, drafted this ceasefire proposal. It includes a 70-day truce and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of ten Israeli hostages in two groups. The proposal was sent to the Palestinian group Hamas through mediators, and Israel was also asked to give its opinion on it.
Middle East Eye
5 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Majority of Israelis support expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, poll finds
An overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews support the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, according to a poll by Pennsylvania State University. The survey, conducted in March and published by Haaretz newspaper on Thursday, found that 82 percent of Israeli Jews support the forced expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, Israel launched the "Operation Gideon's Chariots" in the besieged strip, which, according to the Israeli news outlet Ynet, is intended to advance US President Donald Trump's plan to "clean out" Gaza. Ynet reported that during the operation, the Israeli army plans to push as many Palestinians as possible towards the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, where food and aid will be delivered. The new military plan is also aimed at promoting the "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians, according to Ynet. The new plan has garnered support among the majority of the Israeli public, even though the Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, warned that it would pose a danger to the lives of the Israeli captives in Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to a separate Channel 13 poll, 44 percent of the Israeli public supports the operation while 40 percent oppose it. The same poll showed that the Israeli public also supports the continuation of the full blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of March. It found that 53 percent of the Israeli public think that Israel should not allow humanitarian aid into the enclave. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that one of Israel's war goals is to implement Trump's proposed plan to expel the Palestinians from Gaza. At a press conference, Netanyahu said that he was willing to end the war but only "under clear conditions that will ensure the safety of Israel: all the hostages come home, Hamas lays down its arms, steps down from power, its leadership is exiled from the strip". "And we carry out the Trump plan - a plan that is so correct and so revolutionary," he added. Secular public supports expulsion According to the Penn State poll, support for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the enclave was also found among 70 percent of the secular Jewish public, parts of which are considered liberal. Meanwhile, support among the Masortim (traditionalists), religious, and ultra-Orthodox communities exceeds 90 percent. The sweeping and cross-political and social support for the expulsion of Palestinians does not stop at the borders of the occupied Gaza Strip. According to the poll, 56 percent of Israeli Jews support the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel from their land. Donald Trump's Gaza plan: Ethnic cleansing or crime against humanity? Read More » While the highest levels of support for the move were recorded amongst the Masortim, religious, and ultra-Orthodox communities, exceeding 60 percent, there was also significant backing among the secular public. Thirty-eight percent of secular Israeli Jews support the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel from the country, the poll reported. Commenting on the results survey, Shay Hazkani, a professor of history and Jewish studies at the University of Maryland, and Tamir Sorek, a professor in the history department at Penn State University, wrote: "There are those who see the shock and anxiety that befell the Israeli public in the wake of the events of October 7th as the only explanation for this radicalization. "But the massacre only seems to have unleashed demons that have been nurtured over decades in the media and in the legal and educational systems." Throughout the war, Israeli media outlets have echoed calls for the expulsion and killing of Palestinians. Recently, Israeli human rights organisations submitted a request to the Supreme Court to open an investigation against Channel 14, seen as loyal to Netanyahu, on suspicion of "incitement to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity". The education system has also played a role in shaping extremist views among young Israelis. Hazkani and Sorek say that since the early 2000s, it has undergone a process of radicalisation. According to the poll, only 9 percent of Jewish men under the age of 40, representing most of the soldiers in regular and reserve duty, were fully opposed to the ideas of expulsion and transfer. Religious language It was only last March that the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a petition filed by human rights organisations seeking to compel the government to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. In the ruling, one of the justices used religious language to justify the verdict. Since the beginning of the war, religious language has been widely used in Israel to describe the war in Gaza. One frequently invoked term is 'Amalek' - referring to an ancient enemy of the Israelites, against whom Jewish tradition commands an all-out war. Trump says 'clean out that whole thing' as part of his plan for Gaza Read More » A week after the 7 October Hamas-led attack, Netanyahu urged ground troops preparing to enter Gaza to "remember what Amalek has done to you". Religious discourse in Israel, however, is not limited to the religious public. The poll found that 65 percent of the Jewish population believes there is a modern-day "Amalek". And of those, about 93 percent think the "mitzvah" , or commandment, to 'wipe out the memory of Amalek' should still apply today. Meanwhile, 47 percent of the Jews answered yes to the question: "Do you support the claim that the [Israeli army] in conquering an enemy city, should act in a manner similar to the way the Israelites did when they conquered Jericho under the leadership of Joshua, ie to kill all its inhabitants?" The reference is to the biblical account of the conquest of Jericho. "Zionism, in addition to being a national movement, is also a movement of immigrant-settlers, which seeks to push the local population out," wrote Hazkani and Sorek. "The aspiration for absolute and permanent security can lead to an operative plan to eliminate the opposing population, and therefore every settlement project has the potential for ethnic cleansing and genocide."
Roya News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Roya News
Freed 'Israeli' captive reveals how Hamas guard saved his life in Gaza
American-'Israeli' captive Edan Alexander, who was released in a one-off gesture of goodwill by Hamas, revealed how dangerously he came close to being killed in 'Israeli' strikes in his last month of captivity. In a report by Yedioth Ahronoth, it said that on April 14, bombs dropped by the 'Israeli' Air Force on the shaft of a tunnel, where Edan Alexander was held, made it collapse. 'I thought that was it, I'm dead. I managed to miraculously survive for a year and a half, but now it's the end. I'm going to suffocate here in the tunnel,' Edan Alexander said, according to Ynet. However, the quick thinking of one of the Hamas guards saved his life; by activating the ejection doors to prevent toxic gases from the bomb from entering the tunnel. The incident claimed the life of one of the guards. 'We started to run away, and there was some kind of corridor — a very, very long corridor — I don't know what was there on the other side, probably a connection to another route. We started running in that direction and then, suddenly, another bomb fell right above,' Alexander says recalling how they tried to relocate him to another tunnel. The second bomb collapsed a ceiling and injured his shoulder. 'When the second bomb fell, and everything collapsed and we were buried underneath, it was the scariest moment of all time in captivity,' he continued, describing the 'Israeli' Air Force strikes as 'earthquakes.' He also injured his hand while trying to dig his way out after the strikes. 'The injuries to his hands that everyone saw are the result of trying to extricate himself from the scene,' his father said to Ynet. Incidentally, the strikes that endangered Edan Alexander's life were on April 14, the same day when the 'Israeli' army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said: 'the operation in Gaza does not endanger the hostages. Every move was made with the approval of Maj Gen. Nitzan Alon, the IDF's hostage pointman.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Israeli officer refuses to fight in Gaza over 'abandonment' of hostages, sent to jail
An Israeli officer who refused to serve in the war in the Gaza Strip over the 'abandonment' of hostages has been sent to jail. He said that he could no longer serve in a war that had been reduced to an 'endless death of innocent people' and has a 'lack of a political vision'. read more Israeli military patrols near the Al Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City amid the ongoing ground operation against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo: Reuters) An Israeli army officer who refused to serve in the Gaza Strip over the direction of the war has been sent to jail. The officer, Captain Ron Feiner, had previously served in Gaza as well as Lebanon in the ongoing war, but he has refused to answer to latest summons over the 'abandonment' of hostages. Feiner told Ynet that he refused to serve for another tour of duty as Netanyahu had dropped the return of hostages to 'the bottom of the priority' list and that he could not neither commit nor convince soldiers under his command to commit the kind of war crimes that Israeli far-right seeks. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Earlier this month, Netanyahu said that the top-most objective of the war is not the return of hostages but the war against Hamas. Similarly, his principal far-right ally, Bezalel Smotrich, has said that the return of hostages is not the 'most important goal'. Earlier this week, Netanyahu also said that the war would only end when he has expelled all Palestinians from Gaza under US President Donald Trump's plan for the US takeover of the strip. 'I am appalled by never-ending in Gaza' Feiner said that he is appalled by the never-ending war in Gaza. Instead of his refusal to serve, he said that the war itself has become a threat to Israel's security. Feiner said, 'What is currently harming the security of the state is the war itself, not people like me who refuse to report for duty. I believe that the government's policy today does not reflect the values of the State of Israel. In the future, when we return to a situation where the government contributes to the true defense of the country, we will be able to return to service. I am at peace with my decision.' Feiner and Daniel Yahalom, another soldier was sent to prison for refusal to serve, belong to an organisation called 'Soldiers for the Hostages' that. The organisation said that Feiner participated in three rounds of active combat in Gaza, commanded battles in Gaza, and led a force under fire to extract a wounded in an operation in which six soldiers were killed. Feiner told Ynet he was driven by the same values that the State of Israel was founded with. Feiner said, 'I am driven by the same values that led me to serve and fight — I love the country and feel my future here slipping through my fingers. When the government openly declares that the hostages are at the bottom of the priority list, when Smotrich apologizes to his public for not starving the residents of Gaza and not committing these war crimes, when the fighters in my platoon are called for hundreds of days of reserve duty, I can no longer convince them to report for duty. I take responsibility as a commander. I am also refusing for them.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Feiner further said that the war had been reduced to the 'endless death of innocent people' and it has a 'lack of a political vision' that are behind his decision to no longer serve in the war. Feiner said, 'Although the government is willing to throw their future away, I still care. I am appalled by the never-ending war in Gaza, the abandonment of the hostages, the endless death of innocent people, and the lack of a political vision, and I feel that I am morally unable to continue serving as long as this does not change. I need to resist in every possible way for the war to end.'
Al Bawaba
7 days ago
- Al Bawaba
Initial reports: airstrikes target Sanaa, Yemen
Published May 22nd, 2025 - 07:48 GMT ALBAWABA - initial reports claimed that airstrikes were reported in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Israeli news outlet Ynet said on Thursday. A video allegedly showing smoke rising into the sky and a person in the background saying "they attacked Sanaa Airport" was posted on the X platform. In the clip shared online, a person was saying that an airstrike targeted Sanaa Airport, and then he turned the camera as travellers were seen next to a plane. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
