JERUSALEM: Israel does not need to keep troops in the southern Gazan border area for security reasons and should not be used as a reason to prevent a deal to bring back remaining hostages from the Gaza Strip, a longtime military veteran said on Tuesday.
Benny Gantz, a former general and chief of staff who had been part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet until he quit in June, said Iran, not the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, was Israel’s main existential threat.
In a news conference in response to comments on Monday by Netanyahu, who held firm in his belief that Israel needed troops in Philadelphi, Gantz said that while the corridor was important to prevent Hamas and other Palestinian militants from smuggling weapons into Gaza, soldiers would be “sitting ducks” and won’t stop tunnels.
He also rebutted Netanyahu’s assertion that if Israel were to pull out from Philadelphi, international pressure would make it difficult to return.
“We will be able to return to Philadelphi if and when we are required,” Gantz said, also calling for new elections.
“If Netanyahu does not understand that after October 7 everything has changed ... and if he is not strong enough to withstand the international pressure to return to Philadelphi, let him put down the keys and go home.”
The issue of the Philadelphi corridor has been a major sticking point in efforts to secure a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and return Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Some 101 hostages are still being held in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s stance on the negotiations, which have been continuing for weeks while showing little sign of a breakthrough, has frustrated allies, including the United States, and widened a rift with his own defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
“The story is not Philadelphi but the lack of making truly strategic decisions,” said Gantz.
He added there was a plan in place to block underground Hamas tunnels with a barrier but that Netanyahu has not promoted this politically.
While Gantz, head of a centrist party that is seen as the largest threat to head a new government, was speaking as thousands of Israelis protested for a third straight day in Tel Aviv in support of a deal to bring back the hostages.
“We need to bring about a deal — either in stages or in one stage,” said Gantz, a former defense minister, who also said Israel needed to mount an attack on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to stop daily rocket fire and allow displaced citizens of the north to return home.
Responding to Gantz, Netanyahu said in a statement that since Gantz and his party left the government, Israel has eliminated key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and seized the Philadelphi corridor, “the lifeline by which Hamas arms itself.”
“Whoever does not contribute to the victory and the return of the hostages would do well not to interfere,” he said.
Netanyahu rival Gantz criticizes stance on Philadelphi, urges hostage deal
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Netanyahu rival Gantz criticizes stance on Philadelphi, urges hostage deal
- “We will be able to return to Philadelphi if and when we are required,” Gantz said, also calling for new elections
Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval
Egypt “asserts the importance of putting pressure on Israel to end the blockade on the (Gaza) Strip,” the foreign ministry said as hundreds of activists in a Gaza-bound convoy head to the Egyptian border on their way to the besieged Palestinian territory, but added “we will not consider any requests or respond to any invitations submitted outside the framework defined by the regulatory guidelines and the mechanisms followed in this regard.”
Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south
- Health ministry says Israeli drone strike hit the town of Beit Lif
BEIRUT: One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.
“The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured,” read a statement from the ministry.
The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house’s courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner’s car.
Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.
It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic.”
US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff
- State Department prepares to order departure of all nonessential personnel from US Embassy in Baghdad, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON: The State Department is preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest, two US officials said Wednesday.
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel, but the department also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.
That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.
The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of US personnel from US Embassy Baghdad, another US official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.
Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges
- Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after three-hour interrogation
BEIRUT: A former Lebanese Cabinet minister has been arrested and charged after an investigation into alleged financial crimes, judicial and security officials told The Associated Press.
Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after a three-hour interrogation about illegal use of ministry funds and use of suspicious contracts. The three judicial officials and one security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Lebanon has been trying to reform its battered economy, which for decades has been rife with profiteering.
Salam has been charged with forgery, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds. Local media said it was related to alleged extortion of private insurance companies and using funds from a committee that supervises those companies for his own expenses.
Salam did not directly comment. On Monday, however, he shared a video on social media that denied the reports and asserted that his use of those funds was to increase the committee’s efficacy and transparency.
Salam was economy minister for over three years. He was appointed in 2021 at a time when Lebanon’s economy had plummeted and the country was plagued by severe power outages, fuel shortages and stark food inflation.
Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy
- Pro-Palestinian activist convoy, bound for Gaza, arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block a hundreds-strong pro-Palestinian activist convoy from reaching Gaza, as the group arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
“I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza — an act that would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Israel Katz said in a statement.
