GAZA: Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire negotiations that an independent government of non-partisan figures run post-war Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a member of the Palestinian Islamist movement’s political bureau said Friday.
“We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza and the West Bank after the war,” Hossam Badran said in a statement about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
“The administration of Gaza after the war is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties,” Badran added.
A Hamas official told AFP the proposal for a non-partisan government was made “with the mediators.”
The government will “manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial phase after the war, paving the way for general elections” said the official, who did not want his name disclosed.
Badran’s remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Israel retain control of the Philadelphi corridor, Gaza territory along the border with Egypt. This condition conflicts with Hamas’s position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.
Netanyahu said on Thursday that control of the Philadelphi corridor is part of efforts to prevent “weapons to be smuggled to Hamas from Egypt.”
The negotiations are occurring in Doha, Qatar and Cairo, Egypt with the aim of bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the return of hostages still held there by Hamas.
The war began on Oct. 7 with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the military says are dead.
Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,345 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza
Hamas calls for independent Palestinian government in post-war Gaza
https://arab.news/pwsux
Hamas calls for independent Palestinian government in post-war Gaza
- Negotiations occurring in Doha, Qatar and Cairo with aim of bringing about ceasefire in Gaza
- Netanyahu demanded Israel retain control of Philadelphi corridor along border with Egypt
Biden voices hope Iran will stand down but is uncertain
- Hamas said it had begun a “broad consultation process” to choose a new leader three days after the assassination of Haniyeh, who was the face of the group’s international diplomacy
- Israel has killed more than 39,550 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials
WILMINGTON, Delaware/RAMALLAH: US President Joe Biden expressed hope Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge the assassination of Hamas’ leader in Tehran, as fears mounted that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.
Regional tensions have soared following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ top leader, on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing, and they, together with Hezbollah, have vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility.
Asked by reporters whether Iran would stand down, Biden said on Saturday in response to a shouted question, “I hope so. I don’t know.”
Seeking to bolster defenses in the Middle East in response to threats from Israel’s foes, the Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the region.
Haniyeh’s death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the Gaza war nears its 11th month, and it fueled concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.
Hamas said it had begun a “broad consultation process” to choose a new leader three days after the assassination of Haniyeh, who was the face of the group’s international diplomacy.
The US and international partners including France, Britain, Italy and Egypt continued diplomatic contacts on Saturday seeking to prevent further regional escalation.
The US urged its citizens who wish to leave Lebanon to start making plans immediately, and the British government advised its nationals to “leave now.” Canada warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the regional armed conflict endangered security.
VIOLENCE IN GAZA AND WEST BANK
Violence continued on Saturday in the Palestinian territories.
An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced persons in Gaza City killed at least 15 Palestinians on Saturday, hours after two strikes in the occupied West Bank killed nine militants including a local Hamas commander, Hamas said.
The Israeli military said the first of two West Bank airstrikes hit a vehicle in a town near the city of Tulkarm, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an attack.
A Hamas statement said one of those killed was a commander of its Tulkarm brigades, while its ally Islamic Jihad claimed the other four men who died in the strike as its fighters.
Hours later, a second airstrike in the area targeted another group of militants who had fired on troops, Israel’s military said, during what it described as a counterterrorism operation in Tulkarm.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said four people had died in that strike, and Hamas said all nine of those killed in the two Israeli attacks in the West Bank were fighters.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials. The offensive was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted, according to Israeli tallies.
A high-level Israeli delegation made a brief visit to Cairo on Saturday in an attempt to resume Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egyptian airport authority sources said. The Israeli officials returned to Israel hours later, Israeli media said.
Chances of a breakthrough appear low following the latest incidents in Lebanon and Iran.
Israel has not said whether or not it was behind Haniyeh’s assassination. But Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel had delivered crushing blows to Iran’s proxies of late, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah says it has launched ‘dozens’ of rockets at Israel
BEIRUT: Hezbollah said Saturday it had launched dozens of Katyusha rockets at Israel, the latest in a series of attacks it says is in support of the Palestinian people.
The Iran-backed group said its latest attack, on Beit Hillel in northern Israel, was in response to Israel’s attacks on Kfar Kela and Deir Siriane in Lebanon which, it said, had injured civilians there.
Egypt tells Iran recent events jeopardize regional stability
- On July 31, Palestinian militant group Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran, an act both Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out and have pledged to retaliate against
CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed in a phone call with Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani that recent developments in the region were “unprecedented, very dangerous” and threatening to stability, Egypt’s government said.
On July 31, Palestinian militant group Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran, an act both Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out and have pledged to retaliate against.
Canada warns citizens to avoid all travel to Israel
- It may result in travel disruptions, including airspace closures and flight cancelations and diversions,” the travel advisory said
OTTAWA: Canada on Saturday warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, saying the regional armed conflict endangered security.
“The security situation can deteriorate further without warning,” the Canadian government said in a travel advisory issued to raise the risk level for travel to Israel.
“If the armed conflict intensifies, it could impact your ability to depart by commercial means. It may result in travel disruptions, including airspace closures and flight cancelations and diversions,” the travel advisory said.
US, France call for ‘utmost restraint’ in Middle East
PARIS: The French and US foreign ministers called on all sides in the Middle East “to exercise the utmost restraint” to prevent a regional conflict, France’s foreign ministry said Saturday.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne discussed the rising tension in the region by telephone with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, said a ministry spokesman.
“They agreed to continue to call on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to prevent any regional conflagration that would have devastating consequences for the countries in the region,” he added.
They will also continue their joint efforts for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, the spokesman added.
The meeting comes amid growing concern took place at a time when concerns about a possible military escalation in the Middle East, with Iran and its allies stepping up their threats against Israel.
Iran, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah blamed Israel for the death in Tehran Wednesday of the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Ismail Haniyeh.
His assassination came just hours after a strike claimed by Israel killed the Lebanese movement’s military chief, Fouad Chokr, on Tuesday evening near Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was at a “very high level” of preparation for any scenario, “both defensive and offensive.”
