Latest news with #military offensive
CBS News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Netanyahu defends planned Gaza City military offensive, says it's the only way to defeat Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended a planned military offensive into Gaza City, saying Israel "has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas." Speaking to foreign media in Jerusalem, Netanyahu asserted that Israel's goal was not to occupy Gaza, but to "free Gaza." The Israeli leader said there is a "fairly short timetable" in mind for the next steps in Gaza. The goals in Gaza, he said, include demilitarizing the enclave, maintaining the Israeli military's "overriding security control" and putting a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge. The news conference came two days after Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan for the Israeli military to take over Gaza City. The move sparked condemnation inside and outside Israel, and fears that the plan would exacerbate the Gaza Strip's humanitarian problems and put the remaining living hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, in further danger. Netanyahu's address came just before the United Nations Security Council holds an emergency meeting on Israel's plan to take control of Gaza City. This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Netanyahu defends his planned military offensive in Gaza
Palestinians collect humanitarian aid packages from the United Arab Emirates after they were airdropped into Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel 'has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas.' He is speaking to foreign media in Jerusalem and defending a planned military offensive. He asserts that 'our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza.' He is also pushing back against what he calls a 'global campaign of lies' as condemnation of the plan grows both inside and outside Israel. Netanyahu said there is a 'fairly short timetable' in mind for next steps in Gaza. The goals there, he said, include demilitarizing Gaza, the Israeli military having 'overriding security control' there and a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge. The prime minister also said he had directed Israel's military in recent days to 'bring in more foreign journalists' — which would be a striking development as they have not been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds. Netanyahu again blamed many of Gaza's problems on the Hamas militant group, including civilian deaths, destruction and shortages of aid. Wafaa Shurafa, Sam Metz And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Netanyahu: Israel ‘has no choice but to finish job and complete defeat of Hamas'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel 'has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas'. He was speaking to foreign media in Jerusalem and defending a planned military offensive. Advertisement He asserted that 'our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza'. Mr Netanyahu is also pushing back against what he calls a 'global campaign of lies' as condemnation of the plan grows both inside and outside Israel. He said there is a 'fairly short timetable' in mind for next steps in Gaza. The goals there, he said, include demilitarising Gaza, the Israeli military having 'overriding security control' there and a non-Israeli civilian administration in charge. Advertisement The prime minister also said he had directed Israel's military in recent days to 'bring in more foreign journalists' — which would be a striking development as they have not been allowed into Gaza beyond military embeds. Mr Netanyahu again blamed many of Gaza's problems on the Hamas militant group, including civilian deaths, destruction and shortages of aid.
BreakingNews.ie
06-08-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Dozens killed seeking aid in Gaza as Israel considers further military action
At least 38 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Gaza Strip while seeking aid from United Nations convoys and sites run by an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. Advertisement The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up as they wait to enter the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip (Khaled Elfiqi/AP) Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some two million Palestinians into famine. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. Advertisement US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he was not aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel'. At least 28 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced towards them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American contractor. Advertisement The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. People inspect the damage at the Sheikh Radwan al-Taba UNRWA clinic following an Israeli army bombardment in Gaza City (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Another 12 people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the two hospitals. The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Advertisement Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for two-and-a-half months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. Advertisement It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is 'an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law'. The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and the GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. Palestinians at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City mourn their relative who was killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering the northern Gaza Strip through the Zikim crossing with Israel (Jehad Alshrafi/AP) Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammed al-Momani condemned the attack, which he said had shattered the windscreens of the trucks, according to the Jordanian state-run Petra News Agency. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted another 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Of the 50 still held in Gaza, around 20 are believed to be alive. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. It is part of the now largely defunct Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source for the number of war casualties.
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Trump's 50-day ultimatum gives Russia a chance to wear down Ukraine
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, a serviceman prepares to fire a howitzer toward Russian army positions near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on June 14, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP, File) U.S. President Donald Trump's ultimatum to Russia to accept a peace deal in Ukraine within 50 days or face bruising sanctions on its energy exports has given the Kremlin extra time to pursue its summer offensive. The dogged Ukrainian resistance, however, makes it unlikely that the Russian military will make any quick gains. President Vladimir Putin has declared repeatedly that any peace deal should see Ukraine withdraw from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured. He also wants Ukraine to renounce its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on its armed forces -– demands Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected. A chronic shortage of manpower and ammunition has forced Ukrainian forces to focus on holding ground rather than launching counteroffensives. But despite a renewed Russian push — and an onslaught of aerial attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks — Ukrainian officials and analysts say it remains unlikely that Moscow can achieve any territorial breakthrough significant enough in 50 days to force Ukraine into accepting the Kremlin's terms anytime soon. Russia's main targets Since spring, Russian troops have accelerated their land gains, capturing the most territory in eastern Ukraine since the opening stages of Moscow's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russian forces are closing in on the eastern strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, methodically capturing villages near both cities to try to cut key supply routes and envelop their defenders — a slow offensive that has unfolded for months. Capturing those strongholds would allow Russia to push toward Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, setting the stage for the seizure of the entire Donetsk region. If Russian troops seize those last strongholds, it would open the way for them to forge westward to the Dnipropetrovsk region. The regional capital of Dnipro, a major industrial hub of nearly 1 million, is about 150 kilometers (just over 90 miles) west of Russian positions. The spread of fighting to Dnipropetrovsk could damage Ukrainian morale and give the Kremlin more leverage in any negotiations. In the neighboring Luhansk region, Ukrainian troops control a small sliver of land, but Moscow has not seemed to prioritize its capture. The other two Moscow-annexed regions — Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — seem far from being totally overtaken by Russia. Early in the war, Russia quickly overran the Kherson region but was pushed back by Ukrainian forces from large swaths of it in November 2022, and retreated to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River. A new attempt to cross the waterway to seize the rest of the region would involve massive challenges, and Moscow doesn't seem to have the capability to mount such an operation. Fully capturing the Zaporizhzhia region appears equally challenging. Russian attempts to establish a 'buffer zone' Moscow's forces captured several villages in northeastern Ukraine's Sumy region after reclaiming chunks of Russia's Kursk region from Ukrainian troops who staged a surprise incursion in August 2024. Ukraine says its forces have stopped Russia's offensive and maintain a presence on the fringe of the Kursk region, where they are still tying down as many as 10,000 Russian troops. Putin recently described the offensive into the Sumy region as part of efforts to carve a 'buffer zone' to protect Russian territory from Ukrainian attacks. The regional capital of Sumy, a city of 268,000, is about 30 kilometers (less than 20 miles) from the border. Putin said Moscow doesn't plan to capture the city for now but doesn't exclude it. Military analysts, however, say Russian forces in the area clearly lack the strength to capture it. Russian forces also have pushed an offensive in the neighboring Kharkiv region, but they haven't made much progress against fierce Ukrainian resistance. Some commentators say Russia may hope to use its gains in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions as bargaining chips in negotiations, trading them for parts of the Donetsk region under Ukrainian control. 'A scenario of territorial swaps as part of the talks is quite realistic,' said Mikhail Karyagin, a Kremlin-friendly political expert, in a commentary. Wearing down Ukraine with slow pressure Ukrainian commanders say the scale and pace of Russian operations suggest that any game-changing gains are out of reach, with Moscow's troops advancing slowly at a tremendous cost to its own forces. While exhausted Ukrainian forces are feeling outnumbered and outgunned, they are relying on drones to stymie Moscow's slow offensive. Significant movements of troops and weapons are easily spotted by drones that are so prolific that both sides use them to track and attack even individual soldiers within minutes. Russian military commentators recognize that Ukraine's drone proficiency makes any quick gains by Moscow unlikely. They say Russia aims to bleed Ukraine dry with a strategy of 'a thousand cuts,' using relentless pressure on many sectors of the front and steadily increasing long-range aerial attacks against key infrastructure. 'The Russian army aims to exhaust the enemy to such an extent that it will not be able to hold the defense, and make multiple advances merge into one or several successes on a strategic scale that will determine the outcome of the war,' Moscow-based military analyst Sergei Poletayev wrote in an analysis. 'It's not that important where and at what speed to advance: the target is not the capture of this or that line; the target is the enemy army as such.' Western supplies are essential for Ukraine Ukrainian troops on the front express exasperation and anger about delays and uncertainty about U.S. weapons shipments. Delays in U.S. military assistance have forced Kyiv's troops to ration ammunition and scale back operations as Russia intensifies its attacks, Ukrainian soldiers in eastern Ukraine told The Associated Press. The United States will sell weapons to its NATO allies in Europe so they can provide them to Ukraine, according to Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Included are Patriot air defense systems, a top priority for Ukraine. Speeded-up weapons shipments from European allies are crucial to allowing Ukraine to stem the Russian attacks, according to analysts. 'The rate of Russian advance is accelerating, and Russia's summer offensive is likely to put the armed forces of Ukraine under intense pressure,' Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute in London said in a commentary. But most of the capabilities that Ukraine needs — from drones to artillery systems — can be provided by NATO allies in Europe, he said. 'In the short-term, Europe can cover most of Ukraine's needs so long as it can purchase some critical weapons types from the U.S.,' Watling said.
