TEL AVIV: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions.
Izzat Al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”
US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday, which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.
Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have meanwhile killed at least 48 people over the past day, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher Al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press. He said the toll could rise as hospitals update their records.
A phased withdrawal and hostage release with potential pitfalls
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and the Israeli military believes around a third and up to half of them are dead.
Under the deal reached Wednesday, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. it does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced some 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people, according to the United Nations.
Israel says final details still being worked out
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US are expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the agreement. They have spent the past year holding indirect talks with Israel and Hamas that finally resulted in a deal after repeated setbacks.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump’s team are taking credit for the breakthrough.
Many longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. It also blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations brought by South Africa that Israel has committed genocide. The International Criminal Court, a separate body also based in The Hague, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war.
Israel and the United States have condemned the actions taken by both courts.
Hamas, a militant group that does not accept Israel’s existence, has come under overwhelming pressure from Israeli military operations, including the invasion of Gaza’s largest cities and towns and the takeover of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, have been killed.
But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.
Netanyahu says ‘last minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal
https://arab.news/wq9z6
Netanyahu says ‘last minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal
- Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down
- Senior Hamas official said group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement,” which was announced by mediators
Palestinian president meets Red Cross chief in Ramallah
- Mirjana Spoljaric assessed the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
- Mahmoud Abbas underlined the significance of the upcoming ICRC conference in Switzerland
LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah on Thursday.
Abbas expressed gratitude to Spoljaric for visiting the Gaza Strip this week to assess the humanitarian needs of nearly 2 million Palestinians who have endured 15 months of war with Israel.
Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, attended the meeting.
The PA is dedicated to allowing Red Cross teams to deliver humanitarian relief materials to the Gaza Strip without restrictions, the Palestine News & Information Agency reported.
Abbas outlined to Spoljaric the significance of the ICRC conference in Switzerland in March, which will address issues concerning Palestine, including the treatment of prisoners in Israeli jails and the occupation policies in the Palestinian territories.
US envoys working to resolve last-minute dispute over Gaza deal, US official says
- The dispute was over the identities of several prisoners that Hamas is demanding to be released
- Working on the issue is President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk
WASHINGTON: A last-minute glitch surfaced on Thursday in the details of the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal and US envoys are working to resolve it, a US official said.
The dispute was over the identities of several prisoners that Hamas is demanding to be released, the official said. The official said the issue is expected to be resolved soon.
Working on the issue is President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, and President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. They are both in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, the official said.
“We’re aware of these issues and we are working through them with the Israeli government, as well as other partners in the region. We are confident these implementing details can be hammered out and that the deal will move forward this weekend,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said separately.
The agreement, reached on Wednesday, is supposed to begin to be implemented on Sunday.
Bootleg alcohol claims lives of at least 30 people in Turkiye
- Six people were detained for allegedly selling the counterfeit drinks and two suspects were charged with "deliberate murder"
- Many people resort to cheaper alternatives or homemade spirits as the prices of alcoholic beverages continue to rise
ANKARA: At least 30 people have died in Istanbul over the past three days after drinking bootleg alcohol, Turkiye’s state-run news agency reported Thursday, as authorities intensified a crackdown on counterfeit drinks.
The dead were among some 80 people who sought treatment in hospitals around Istanbul, Anadolu Agency reported. At least 31 patients were in intensive care units.
Deaths from counterfeit alcohol has become increasingly frequent in Turkiye, where the prices of alcoholic beverages continue to rise. Many people, confronted with ever-increasing costs, resort to cheaper alternatives or homemade spirits, increasing the risk of poisoning from toxic substances.
A combination of soaring inflation and government taxes has driven beverage prices to all-time highs.
On Wednesday, six people were detained for allegedly selling the counterfeit drinks while two other suspects were charged with “deliberate murder,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
Authorities also seized 29 tons of bootleg alcohol in raids around Istanbul since Jan. 1 and revoked the licenses of 64 businesses for allegedly selling counterfeit or smuggled alcohol, according to the statement.
“We consider those who cause the death of dozens of our citizens by producing or selling fake alcohol to be no different from the terrorists who kill people,” the statement said. “Our fight against the scoundrels who attempt to kill our people for material gains will continue unabated.”
Netanyahu bets on political survival with Gaza ceasefire
- Parents of soldiers fighting in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of derailing months-long efforts to end the fighting for political gain
- Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to quit his administration over any ceasefire deal
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure for months from political allies and the families of hostages and soldiers to end the Gaza war, but analysts say he now hopes the ceasefire will help him stay in power.
The ceasefire and hostage release deal announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday represents a pivotal moment for the Israeli leader.
Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Netanyahu has faced sharp public criticism for not securing the release of hostages sooner.
Parents of soldiers fighting in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of derailing months-long efforts to end the fighting for political gain, as he battles corruption charges in a lengthy trial.
Some 800 parents of soldiers earlier this month sent him a letter saying they could no longer “allow you to continue sacrificing our children as cannon fodder.”
More than 400 troops have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war.
But far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have threatened to quit his administration over any ceasefire deal and pushed for an even harder response in Gaza.
Despite the conflicting pressures, analysts say that the obstacles clouding his mandate in recent months are unlikely to bring down the leader long seen as a political survivor.
After the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, Netanyahu vowed to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages.
During their assault, militants took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
While Hamas has not been defeated, Israel has decimated its leadership and its military structure.
It has also massively weakened its Lebanese foe Hezbollah in a parallel war to the north that took out the Iran-backed group’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and a string of other commanders.
Netanyahu could now seek a way to use the ceasefire agreement to his advantage, potentially by pivoting away from the far-right coalition partners he has relied on since 2022.
The deal could even pave the way to a long-sought normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, backed by incoming US president Donald Trump.
“The key is not the situation but how you play the game, and the bottom line is that (Netanyahu) is the best player of the game there is,” said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the political studies department at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
Before the Hamas attack, Israeli ally the United States was close to clinching a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
“The question is what is Netanyahu getting out of the deal beyond the hostage release and the ceasefire and that is where we get into the Saudi question,” said Anshel Pfeffer, a journalist and author of a 2018 biography of Netanyahu.
He said it was possible that the agreement “could be part of something much bigger... Trump wants a deal” between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
While Netanyahu’s far-right partners have vowed to oppose the ceasefire, Pfeffer said it was unlikely any disagreements in the ruling coalition would bring him down.
Still, the ceasefire will be “a moment of truth” for Netanyahu, where he might try to “pivot away from the far right in the coalition to some sort of legacy-defining deal with the Saudis.”
After all but crushing his enemies in Hamas and Lebanon, Gayil Talshir, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu may no longer need to rely on the far right.
Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, and Itamar Ben Gvir, the security minister, are both far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet and have expressed their opposition to the deal.
“It may well be that both Smotrich and Ben Gvir will not be part of such a deal, which means that behind heavy curtains, it may be the case that Netanyahu is preparing for that day,” Talshir said.
She noted that former defense minister Benny Gantz, opposition leader Yair Lapid and other figures have already indicated they would work with Netanyahu if he reaches an agreement to free the hostages or if he strikes a deal with Saudi Arabia.
Aviv Bushinsky, a political commentator and Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, said that despite some turbulence sparked by the ceasefire, “politically, it’s not a game changer.”
Nonetheless, the October 7 attack would continue to cast a shadow over Netanyahu, he said.
The prime minister “will want people to remember the ones he has managed to bring back but not the ones he was unable to bring back,” Bushinsky said.
“But this thing will continue to haunt him... It will be the first time since Israel was established” that its military was unable to rescue missing civilians, he added.
UAE president welcomes Egyptian counterpart in Abu Dhabi
- Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in the UAE capital on Thursday
LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Presidential Airport in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the deputy chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan, adviser to the UAE president; and Ahmed Al-Mazrouei, chairman of the President’s Office for Strategic Affairs, were present during the reception for El-Sisi.
