Hamas killing is further snub to Biden administration, which does not share methods or objectives of Israeli leader
Standing alongside Donald Trump in Florida a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was vague on the latest prospect of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
“I hope we are going to have a deal. Time will tell,” the Israeli prime minister said, two days after his controversial address to a joint session of the US Congress.
Continue reading...Ministers and mobs protesting at arrests for torture of Palestinians shows diminishing respect for rule of law and human dignity
The far-right mob attack on two Israel Defense Forces bases in support of soldiers accused of sexually torturing a detainee did not come out of the blue – the parallels to a 2016 incident were immediately obvious.
In March that year, Elor Azaria, an IDF soldier serving in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, calmly walked over to Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, an injured Palestinian knife attacker lying on the ground, and shot him in the head. A video of the killing released by a human rights group led to political uproar.
Both the political and military establishments in Israel have been willing to deny or turn a blind eye to the repeated allegations of torture at Sde Teiman
Continue reading...US diplomatic efforts to constrain Israel’s reaction continue as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a ‘harsh’ response
Two barrages of rockets fired from Lebanon have killed one Israeli civilian in a kibbutz and injured another person, in attacks likely to add to political pressure inside Israel for a strong strike against Hezbollah and complicate a US-led push to de-escalate regional tensions.
America has been leading a global diplomatic effort to deter Israel from hitting Beirut or Lebanese infrastructure in retaliation for a weekend rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children as they played football.
Continue reading...US backed Israel in blaming Hezbollah for strike on Golan Heights but is ‘working on a diplomatic solution’
Global leaders were engaged in intensive diplomacy on Sunday to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon, amid fears that a wider regional war could erupt in response to a rocket strike that killed 12 children playing football in the occupied Golan Heights.
As the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a meeting of his national security cabinet, the White House backed Israeli statements that blamed Saturday’s attack on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying: “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
Continue reading...Jets strike south of country after rocket attack that killed 12 children in Golan Heights blamed on Hezbollah
Israeli jets struck southern Lebanon overnight as diplomats worked frantically to prevent a regional war after a rocket strike that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, visited the scene of Saturday’s rocket attack in Majdal Shams, a predominantly Druze village, calling the strike “a terrible tragedy”.
Continue reading...Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed revenge for strike on football pitch that left children among the dead
Israeli warplanes carried out attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday night, Israel’s military said on Sunday, in apparent retaliation for a rocket attack on the Golan Heights that killed 12 people, including children.
“Overnight, the IAF struck a series of Hezbollah terror targets both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon, including weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, and Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El Thalathine, Khiam, and Tayr Harfa,” the military said.
Continue reading...Labour government announces its biggest step yet in overhauling the UK’s approach to the Middle East
Labour has announced its biggest step yet in overhauling the UK’s approach to the Middle East, dropping its opposition to an international arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu despite pressure from Washington not to do so.
Downing Street announced on Friday that the government would not submit a challenge to the jurisdiction of the international criminal court, whose chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is seeking a warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
Continue reading...Amid anger at US vice-president’s call to end Gaza war, many families of hostages held by Hamas agree with her
Members of Israel’s rightwing government have hit back at Kamala Harris over her demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after she met Benjamin Netanyahu during his US visit.
After a brief meeting with the Israeli prime minister, which Harris described as “frank and constructive”, the US vice-president and presidential candidate said it was “time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination”.
Continue reading...Democratic presidential contender strikes tough tone in public remarks following meeting with Israeli prime minister on US visit
Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has pressed Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu on the “dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza in talks that she described as frank, adding “I will not be silent.”
In comments that were closely watched for signs of a shift from Joe Biden’s policy approach, the US vice-president said after the meeting: “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”
Continue reading...Netanyahu meets Biden to discuss end to nine-month war in Gaza and has separate meeting with Kamala Harris
White House officials said Israel and Hamas were “closer now than we’ve been before” to reaching a ceasefire deal as Benjamin Netanyahu met Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss an end to the nine-month conflict in Gaza.
The talks at the White House came amid unprecedented political turmoil in the US and domestic pressure on the Israeli prime minster to rescue the dozens of hostages still being held captive after Hamas’s 7 October attack. Netanyahu also met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate for November’s election.
Continue reading...We factcheck the Israeli prime minister’s statements about letting aid trucks into Gaza, safeguarding civilians and negotiations with Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was filled with combative remarks, as well as claims about the war in Gaza, now almost in its tenth month.
Israel’s assault on the territory was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, and has so far killed more than 39,000 people, with thousands more believed to be buried underneath the rubble.
Continue reading...Sole Palestinian American in Congress protests as other progressives call for Israel arms embargo and Gaza ceasefire
Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and address to a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday was met with a personal protest in the chamber by the sole Palestinian American member of Congress, while some lawmakers gave the Israeli prime minister a standing ovation, others stayed away, and demonstrations by thousands of protesters took place outside.
The Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib, a leading progressive Democrat and fiercely outspoken opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, held up a sign that said “war criminal” as Netanyahu was speaking. She also wore a Palestinian flag pin and a keffiyeh, the black and white scarf that has been linked with the Palestinian struggle for over half a century.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can read our full story on Biden’s address at the link below:
Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican House speaker, has described attacks by his former colleagues on Kamala Harris claiming that she was hired as part of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are “stupid and dumb”.
McCarthy, speaking to NBC News’ Meet the Press NOW last night, said:
I disagree with DEI, but she is the vice-president of the United States, she is the former US senator. These congressmen saying it, they are wrong in their own instincts.
If President Biden is committed to passing the torch to his vice president, and wants to be able to seed her campaign with the current Biden for President campaign war chest, he’ll first have to become his party’s legal nominee. After shuffling through the Democratic National Committee’s planned roll call vote he’d be free to drop out. Ms Harris could seamlessly slip into the driver’s seat.
Continue reading...Police mount major security operation to seal off US Capitol from protesters before Israeli prime minister to speak
Capitol Hill is on high alert for a day of protest from thousands of demonstrators representing a broad coalition of groups voicing opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, when he addresses a joint session of the US Congress.
With tensions over Israel’s 10-and-half-month war in Gaza running high, police mounted a major security operation to seal off the US Capitol from protesters long before Netanyahu is due to speak at 2pm ET.
Continue reading...Independent senator says in floor speech invitation to Israeli PM, due to give address on Wednesday, is ‘disgrace’
The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has condemned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to the US Congress, calling him a “war criminal” presiding over a “rightwing extremist government”.
Sanders delivered his remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday as Congress expects Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The speech comes after an underwhelming arrival to the US, just after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November’s elections.
Continue reading...Israeli PM will visit US amid political tumult and his meeting with Biden will be a test of US president’s influence
Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in Washington on Monday at a moment of historic political tumult, as he is scheduled to meet the outgoing US president, Joe Biden, and address a divided Congress amid fears of a growing regional war in the Middle East.
The Israeli prime minister’s arrival will come just a day after Biden bowed out of the presidential race, and will be a major test of Biden’s ability to project US influence and restraint on Israel in the lame duck period of his presidency. Netanyahu will be forced to walk a tightrope as he balances between the Donald Trump-led Republican party and a reinvigorated Democratic campaign that may unite behind the vice-president, Kamala Harris.
Continue reading...Houthi military says US ship in Red Sea also targeted after Israeli strikes on oil facilities and power station in Yemen
Israeli forces have said they intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen targeting the southern city of Eilat, in retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
Meanwhile, forest fires engulfed parts of northern Israel after a barrage of rocket fire from Lebanon.
Continue reading...PM tells parliament he wants to ‘beat Hamas’ before investigation into deadliest attack in Israel’s history
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected calls for an immediate independent inquiry into the security failures that allowed the deadliest attack in his country’s history.
Speaking to Israel’s parliament, Netanyahu told lawmakers: “First, I want to beat Hamas.”
Continue reading...Targets include ‘humanitarian zone’ and school harbouring displaced people, where IDF says there were Hamas fighters
At least 60 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, health officials have said, including in an attack on a school sheltering displaced people and another on an Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone”, as ceasefire talks in the nearly 10-month-old conflict appeared to stall again.
The Red Crescent said on Tuesday that 17 people were killed in a bombing near a petrol station in Mawasi, an area on the Mediterranean shoreline packed with hundreds of thousands of displaced people that Israel had previously declared an evacuation zone. Another 16 were killed in a strike that targeted the UN-run al-Awda school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, medics at a nearby hospital said.
Continue reading...Evacuation order follows deadly airstrikes on locations including schools and shelters in past few days
The Israeli military told all Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza City and head south on Wednesday as it stepped up a military offensive in the territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours.
The evacuation order, carried out by dropping leaflets urging “all those in Gaza City” to take two “safe routes” south to the area around the central town of Deir al-Balah, came after a series of deadly strikes over the past two days in other parts of Gaza.
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