Hamas launches war on Israel

[Jimbuna]

Netanyahu demands US to send weapons on same day of Biden's ultimatum

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Washington speed up the delivery of weapons on the same day he was warned by President Joe Biden that future military aid may depend on how he addresses worries about civilian casualties and an escalating humanitarian crisis. Netanyahu delivered a defiant message in a meeting with visiting Republican members of Congress.

He pushed back firmly on calls for a two-state solution, which is the long-term goal of U.S. policy. In a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting Republicans, organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he said he had a three-pronged message.

'The first is we're going to win. Absolutely. Victory is within reach. It's very close, and there is no substitute for victory,' he said, according to a readout of the meeting provided by his office. 'The second is that it can be made quicker.

'I'll paraphrase someone you all have heard of, Winston Churchill. He said, "Give us the tools and we'll do the job." Give us the tools faster and we'll finish the job faster.' More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched an offensive in response to the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7.

The toll includes 200 aid workers and about 100 journalists. But the issue took on added significance in Washington this week when six foreign aid workers, including an American, and a Palestinian driver were killed when their convoy was hit by Israeli Defense Forces strikes.

The dead were working for World Central Kitchen, founded by chef Jose Andres who is well-connected among Washington's elite. In response, Biden ratcheted up the severity of his language and heaped pressure on Netanyahu during a 30-minute phone call on Thursday.

He called for an immediate ceasefire and concrete steps to protect civilians and enable aid to reach the besieged territory. And the White House readout of the call suggested that future military help may now be conditional on those goals.

'He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps,' it said. Netanyahu's office offered no readout of its own. But in his other comments Thursday he sounded defiant.

'The third thing is this is, there is a contrary move, an attempt to force, ram down our throats a Palestinian state, which will be another terror haven, another launching ground for an attempt, as was the Hamas state in Gaza,' he said, repeating his well-known opposition to the two-state solution that is backed by Washington and much of the world. 'That is opposed by Israelis, overwhelmingly.'

Later he met with his security cabinet. It approved steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in Gaza, a statement said. Moves included reopening the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel for aid. Israeli leaders had repeatedly rebuffed calls to reopen any more land crossings into Gaza.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...&ei=17#image=1

[Jimbuna]

Israel withdraws almost all troops from southern Gaza - as 'desperate' Netanyahu wants ceasefire deal

Only one brigade remains in Khan Younis and is tasked with securing the 'Netzarim corridor' that divides the Gaza Strip, according to a report from The Times of Israel.

The move comes six months to the day that Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis, prompting the war in Gaza.

The pullout of troops is linked to ongoing negotiations with Hamas over Israeli hostages and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "desperate" for a ceasefire deal, a senior source in the Israeli government told Sky's Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The killings of seven Gaza aid workers in an Israeli airstrike "changed everything", the source added.

Israel had planned a ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, claiming it is a hive of Hamas's remaining strongholds. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population are taking refuge in the city.

Israel had been warned of "disastrous consequences" if it went ahead with the ground invasion but insisted it would.

On Sunday morning, following the withdrawal of the troops, Sky News spoke to Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman, who said Benjamin Netanyahu would "absolutely" go ahead with a ground invasion of Rafah.

"If we don't go ahead with Rafah, we lose the war," he said.

"We're certainly entering a new phase of this war," says Sky's Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

"It looks like, as a lot of people have been putting pressure on Israel to do for some time now, it will move to more of a counter-terrorism strategy.

"So rather than a full blown, land occupation within Gaza, it will be operations that are based on intelligence going into certain areas."

Meanwhile, an Iranian official says none of Israel's embassies are safe any more, after a suspected Israeli strike on the Iran consulate in Damascus.

Twenty-eight Israeli embassies around the world temporarily closed on Friday due to fears of reprisal from Iran, the official said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f94c97d6&ei=13

[Skybird]

So much gets lost by refusing the little that is left to be done.



Netanjahu is not only an egocentric opportunist - he is an irresponsible idiot.



19 of 24 Hamas batallions should have been killed, media say, refering to Israeli military speakers. The remaining 5 batallions by now should have already been dead as well. Why aren't they? Because Netanjahu refuses to go all the way. Likely for perosnal reasons.



And has any media in the West ever cared to reflect on how many of the quoted 30,000 killed Palestinian Arabs - actually were Hamas fighters? It must have been thousands, many thousands. Instea dit always gets implid these 30,000 all were innocent civilians. As if the Palestinian civil society were innocent - they have raised their children from cradle on to hate and and dispise and wanting to kill Jews. Hamas recruits from the very centre of their "innocent" civil society.



And Biden? Cares for Arab voters and thus sings the palesatinian Arab'S song. Like he cares for his eleciton chances if gasoline prices got up and thus he demands Ukraine should stop to bomb Russian refineries.

Politicians. Religious fanatics. Both are egocentric scum. All of them. They ruin all things. They bring people up against each other. Think the ymust correct the greater scheme of things that are, sicne they see themselves as the blessed ones. They claim to be the solution for the problems they have created themselves and that without their formidable missionising spirit would not even exist.



🤮

[Jimbuna]

I tend to agree and this is just the latest example of the west betraying a loyal ally.

[Jimbuna]

Hamas says Gaza truce talks still deadlocked despite reports of progress

CAIRO (Reuters) -A Hamas official said on Monday no progress had been made at a new round of talks in Cairo on a ceasefire in the Gaza war after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising U.S. pressure for a deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get aid to Palestinian civilians. Qatari representatives also attended.

"There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel) and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "There is no progress yet."
Western powers have voiced concern over the high Palestinian civilian death toll and the humanitarian crisis arising from Israel's military onslaught to destroy Hamas in the densely populated Gaza Strip.

Some 33,207 Palestinians have been killed in six months of conflict, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Monday. Most of the enclave's 2.3 million people are homeless and many at risk of famine.

Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel in the cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that triggered the conflict, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli army says over 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat since.

On Monday, a day after Israeli forces pulled back from some areas in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said their teams had recovered more than 60 bodies from areas where the soldiers operated in the past months.

Hundreds of residents who had fled and been living in tents in the city of Rafah - where more than one million people were sheltering - returned to their devastated home areas.

Some rode on donkey carts, rickshaws and open-deck vehicles while some just walked. They were shocked at the destruction of buildings, roads and property they had left behind.

"It is a shock, a shock...the destruction is unbearable," said resident Mohammed Abou Diab. "I am going to my house and I know that it is destroyed. I am going to remove the rubble to get a shirt out," he added.

In Washington, a White House spokesperson said the United States was hoping to secure a hostage release deal as soon as possible since it would also lead to a ceasefire of around six weeks. Hamas is reviewing a new proposal now, John Kirby said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...f546b8af9&ei=9

[em2nought]

Maybe we should demand a new state for all of Sleepy Joe's illegal aliens be staked out in California or New York?

[Skybird]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68745681

In a recent statement, the IDF said it had killed about 13,000 Hamas fighters since the start of the war, although it did not say how it calculated that figure.
Israel also publishes the names of individual Hamas leaders it says have been killed.
A total of 113 people have been named in this way since October, the overwhelming majority of whom were reported killed in the first three months of the war. By comparison, the Israeli army did not report any senior Hamas leaders killed in Gaza this year until March.

With reports saying all in all 30,000 dead, that would make 17,000 civilians then and 13,000 terrorists. Roughly 4 dead civilians for 3 dead terrorists in their middle. Well. Who expects war to be clean and surgical? Honestly said, I would have expected far worse numbers, from a humanitarian POV.


That's war.

[Jimbuna]

Benjamin Netanyahu sets date for Rafah offensive as pressure grows

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has set a date for a military offensive into Rafah.

The Israeli army has been planning to send troops into the southern Gazan city for weeks, despite warnings it could lead to high civilian casualties.

Mr Netanyahu's apparent commitment to a date came after he faced calls by far-right government allies to intensify military actions against Hamas.

The prime minister's popularity has plummeted after six months of war.

With negotiations with Hamas ongoing in Egypt, Mr Netanyahu is being pushed to agree a hostage-prisoner swap and ceasefire deal by many Israelis - as well as key international allies, including the US.

But as discontent grows at home and abroad over how his government has conducted the war, he is also facing calls to ramp up operations against Hamas by far-right leaders he has relied on for political support.

Mr Netanyahu's rule is backed by a coalition that includes far-right, ultranationalist parties, some of whom are against the idea of making concessions to Hamas.

They say the war must continue and believe the Israeli military should go ahead with plans to launch an incursion into the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in tents and overcrowded camps.

Those calls intensified after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced it was pulling its troops out of Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza, effectively ending major ground operations in the area.

Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right national security minister, warned Mr Netanyahu that if he "decides to end the war without a broad attack on Rafah to defeat Hamas, he won't have a mandate to continue serving as prime minister".

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told the prime minister "we have to increase the pressure on Hamas in Gaza, which is the only way to bring back the [Israeli] hostages and destroy Hamas".

Speaking on Monday after those interventions, Mr Netanyahu said: "Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo - we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas.

"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date."

The remarks may be seen as an attempt to appeal to allies that sustain his coalition, as any offensive is unlikely to be imminent. Mr Netanyahu did not indicate which date he had decided on.

The US is opposed to an assault on Rafah, and the Israeli government has also been urged to halt the planned offensive in a joint statement signed by Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Writing in France's Le Monde newspaper, they warned the plan would have "dangerous consequences" and "threaten regional escalation", adding: "The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now.

They also said a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all Hamas-held hostages must be "fully implemented without further delay".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68766913

[Jimbuna]

Turkey imposes export restrictions on Israel until Gaza ceasefire

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey will restrict exports of a wide range of products to Israel, including steel and jet fuel, until a ceasefire is declared in Gaza, the Turkish Trade Ministry said on Tuesday, in Ankara's first significant measure against Israel after six months of war.

Turkey has denounced Israel for its campaign on Gaza, which was launched following Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage. Ankara has called for an immediate ceasefire, supported steps to try Israel for genocide, and sent thousands of tons of aid for Gazans.

However, Ankara also maintained commercial ties with Israel despite its strong rhetoric, prompting a domestic backlash.

In a statement following Ankara's announcement that it would be taking measures after Israel rejected its request to take part in an aid air-drop, the ministry said the restrictions would take effect as of Tuesday.
It said the measures would apply to the export of products from 54 different categories, including iron, marble, steel, cement, aluminium, brick, fertilizer, construction equipment and products, aviation fuel, and more.

"This decision will remain in place until Israel, under its obligations emanating from international law, urgently declares a ceasefire in Gaza and allows the unhindered flow of sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip," it said.

Shortly after the Israel-Hamas war started, Turkey and Israel pulled back their ambassadors. Tuesday's move is the first significant measure taken by Ankara against Israel since the start of the conflict. President Tayyip Erdogan has faced growing criticism over his government's commercial ties to Israel.

Police detained dozens of protestors demanding an end to the trade with Israel in Istanbul on Saturday. Authorities suspended two police officers involved in the incident, as the government works to restore popular support after a thumping opposition win in March 31 local elections.

Erdogan's stance toward Israel and the conflict in Gaza was a key factor for some of his party's losses in the vote, with the Islamist New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah) increasing its support on the back of a more hardline stance on Gaza.

According to the data published by the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), while trade with Israel has fallen since Oct. 7, exports to Israel have increased each month in 2024 so far, and were worth $423.2 million in March.

Total exports in the first quarter of the year amounted to $1.1 billion, down 21.6% year-on-year, TIM data showed.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...485d0d55&ei=19

[Skybird]

[FAZ] According to media reports, Israel's Defence Minister Joav Galant has told his US counterpart Llyod Austin that there is no date yet for a ground offensive against the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Galant thus contradicted the statement by his Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli newspapers Haaretz, Times of Israel and the news portal Axios reported unanimously on Tuesday evening, citing informed sources.

On Monday, Netanyahu had publicly stated that the date for the planned offensive in the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, which is currently overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of refugees, had been finalised. Galant, however, reportedly said in a telephone call with Austin that Israel was still finalising plans for the evacuation of the civilian population there.

[Jimbuna]

Netanyahu making a 'mistake', says Biden

US President Joe Biden has said he believes that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making a "mistake" in his handling of Gaza.

"I think what he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach," he said in an interview.

He said Gaza should have "total access to all food and medicine" for the next six to eight weeks.

Last week he warned ongoing US support for the war depended on Israel allowing in more food and medicine.

Israel has denied impeding the entry of aid or its distribution inside Gaza, and has accused UN agencies on the ground of failing to get the aid that is allowed in to the people who need it.

Weeks of talks have failed to produce a ceasefire agreement but international pressure is growing.

The hour-long interview was recorded last Wednesday - days after Israeli military strikes killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen - and it aired on Tuesday night on US Spanish-language network Univision.

Mr Biden said it was "outrageous" how the aid organisation's vehicles had been "hit by drones and taken out on a highway".

The Israel Defense Forces have since said "grave mistakes" led to the fatal targeting of the workers. An inquiry led to two senior officers being dismissed.

In the interview Mr Biden said: "What I'm calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country."

The president has previously said Hamas must agree to a pause and release remaining hostages.

Israel said recently that it would open a crossing to northern Gaza and a deep water port, to allow more aid to flow into the area. It has not yet detailed when or how these routes will operate.

Mr Biden is facing domestic pressure over Israel. Over the past weeks he has sharpened his rhetoric, including towards Mr Netanyahu, over the conduct of the war which has now lasted six months.

Meanwhile, military supplies including bombs, missiles and ammunition have continued to flow from the US to Israel uninterrupted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68766592

[Jimbuna]

David Cameron says Britain WON'T suspend arms sales to Israel despite the killing of three British veterans in an IDF airstrike in Gaza

Britain won't suspend arms sales to Israel despite the recent killing of three British veterans in an IDF airstrike in Gaza, David Cameron confirmed tonight.

The Foreign Secretary, speaking in Washington DC, said he had reviewed the most recent legal advice and this had left the UK's position 'unchanged'.

The deaths of James 'Jim' Henderson, John Chapman, and James Kirby, who were all former members of the Armed Forces, has piled pressure on the Government to take a tougher line on Israel.

They were among seven aid workers who died when a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy was hit by an Israeli air strike last week.

Calls for a halt to arms sales to Israel in the wake of the tragedy have come from MPs - including senior Tories - as well as a former national security adviser and retired senior judges.

But, speaking at a press conference this evening, Lord Cameron said: 'On Israel and international humanitarian law, as required by the UK's robust arms export control regime, I have now reviewed the most recent advice about the situation in Gaza and Israeli conduct of their military campaign.

'The latest assessment leaves our position on export licences unchanged. This is consistent with the advice that I and other ministers have received and as ever we will keep the position under review.

'Let me be clear though, we continue to have grave concerns around the humanitarian access issue in Gaza, both for the period that was assessed and subsequently.'

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has dismissed two officers over last Monday's drone strike, which it described as a 'grave mistake stemming from a serious failure'.

Mishandling of critical information and violations of the army's rules of engagement were cited as the reasons for the dismissal.

Three other senior officers were also reprimanded for their roles in the strike, which brought widespread international condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...d87b8f19&ei=43

[Skybird]

This is a very empowered, insightful and documentarily accurate analysis of the conflict, with a detailed appreciation of the role of collective psychology in particular. Very, very worth reading.

https://www.ft.com/content/459c1bad-...5-d639d6ca4073

It would be wrong to equate the situation of the Israelis with that of the Palestinians. They have different histories, live under different conditions and are exposed to different threats. But both have good reasons to believe that the other side wants to kill or expel them all. Consequently, they see each other not just as ordinary enemies, but as an existential threat. Unsurprisingly, both sides want to eliminate this threat. However, the Israeli desire to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Palestinians poses an existential threat to the Palestinians - and vice versa. For them, the only way to eliminate it completely seems to be to get rid of the other side.
The tragedy of this conflict is that the problem does not arise from unjustified paranoia, but from a well-founded analysis of the situation and their own fantasies. When Israeli and Palestinians take a close look at their own dark desires, they come to the conclusion that the other side has ample reason to fear and hate them. It is a diabolical logic. Each side says to itself: "Given what we want to do to them, it's only logical that they want to get rid of us - and that's why we have no choice but to get rid of them first."

^From a German re-translation, the English FT link I gave above does not allow paste&copy.

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by em2nought

Maybe we should demand a new state for all of Sleepy Joe's illegal aliens be staked out in California or New York?

Even better idea: We can end this now if we let HAMAS resettle in Michigan. They're already chanting

DEATH TO AMERICA!

up there anyway. Might as well add a few more nuts to the mix. Hurray for the democrat cartel!

HAMAS can't even find forty of the Israelis that they kidnapped!

[Jimbuna]

Hamas claims it hasn’t got 40 hostages Israel wants for first round of ceasefire

Hamas has claimed it does not have the 40 hostages needed to fulfil the demands of the first round of ceasefire negotiations, according to Israeli sources.

US president Joe Biden is pushing a plan for Israel and Hamas to agree to a six to eight-week ceasefire providing Hamas release hostages - a group that includes older men, civilians and both male and female Israeli soldiers who have been held for 187 days now.

According to Axios, in the terms of the agreement Israel would release 700 Palestinian security prisoners, including more than 100 serving life for attacks that killed Israelis.

However, Israel’s Channel 12 News cited mediators as saying that Hamas had “no ability to release 40 abductees as part of the humanitarian deal and insists on other numbers – less than [the number sought] by Israel”.
Israel had also requested the addition of a “single-digit number” of fighting-aged men to make up the shortfall to 40, according to reports.

The Israeli prime minister’s office also told CNN that of the 129 hostages from October 7 massacre, at least 33 are dead. But the latest discussions have sparked fears that more hostages may be dead than have been publicly revealed.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...b969e188&ei=44