Location at a glance: Netanyahu announces war expansion and peace talks

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced negotiations on the release of all hostages in the Gaza Strip – while he also drives the plans to take the city of Gaza. “We are in the crucial phase,” he said in a video in front of the Gaza Division headquarters. “I came to confirm the plans of the army to take the city of Gaza and to victory over Hamas”. At the same time, he ordered “immediately taking negotiations on the release of all of our hostages and the end of the war on conditions that are acceptable for Israel”. Both go hand in hand, said the head of government.

In the meantime, residents reported intensive air strikes of the Israeli military in the area of ​​the city of Gaza in the north of the sealed coastal strip. There and in the south there were many deaths and injuries, it said from medical circles. There are also children among the victims. Israel’s army wanted to check the reports. Israel has announced the income of the city of Gaza and is already in the suburbs. According to the media, Netanyahu wanted to appreciate the plans for taking the city of Gaza at consultations with Defense Minister Israel Katz and with the military.

Netanyahu is not clearly expressed

Netanyahu’s statements took place a few days after the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas said that it had agreed to a proposal by the intermediaries for a ceasefire. This provides for the release of first half of the hostages and the initiation of conversations about the end of the war and the release of the other kidnapped. After Israel had previously agreed to a similar proposal, Netanyahu was recently only available for an agreement, according to media reports, if all hostages are released at once and the war on Israel’s conditions ends.

It is unclear whether Netanyahu’s current statements mean a change in this attitude. In any case, it is not clear from this whether he rejected the offer of Hamas or not. It was also unclear whether the head of government was coordinated with one of the Arabic mediators, wrote the “Times of Israel”. They continued to be waiting for a reaction of Israel for the proposal for a ceasefire that Hamas had agreed on Monday.

According to the media, this is an adapted version of a previously negotiated proposal by the US specialist Steve Witkoff. He provides for a 60-day break, while the ten living hostages are released in return for Palestinian prisoners. In total there are still 50 hostages in Gaza, of which at least 20 are still alive.

No place for new negotiations yet

So far, indirect negotiations of Israel and Hamas about a new ceasefire have been unsuccessful and were recently interrupted. However, the intermediaries – the USA, Qatar and Egypt – are trying to resume the talks. The “Times of Israel” quoted a rank -high Israeli official, according to which Netanyahu will order the sending of an Israeli delegation as soon as a place is set for new negotiations.

Netanyahu is among growing pressure internationally to end the war. At the same time, he sees threats to his right -wing extremist coalition partners who would leave his government if he makes an agreement with Hamas about a ceasefire. Netanyahu had recently stated that he was no longer ready for a “partial agreement”. Instead, one strives for a deal that provides for the release of all hostages, the disarmament and removal of Hamas as a military and governing force in Gaza and Israel’s security control over the area. Critics accuse him of wanting to sabotage an agreement with his conditions for an end of the war.

Preparations for evacuation from the city of Gaza run

At the beginning of August, the security cabinet approved the capture of the city of Gaza and the evacuation of the population to the south. According to estimates, around one million people are currently estimated in the largest city in the sealed coastal area. Preparations for their relocation to the south have already started according to the Israeli army. Health authorities and international aid organizations in the Gaza Strip have been asked to move medical equipment from the city to the south.

Israel also started to bring tents and accommodations there. More medical goods should also follow. It is unclear how exactly the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people should work. It is feared that the offensive will worsen the already catastrophic situation of the civilian population. According to aid organizations, the health system is already on the ground in the coastal area largely devastated by the war.

Lebanon brings the first weapons under state control

Meanwhile, in Israel’s neighboring country Lebanon, the government there is under pressure to enforce the ceasefire between Israel and the Hisbollah militia. This includes that all weapons in the country – including those of the Hisbollah – get under state control. Now the army has collected light weapons for the first time in a Palestinian refugee camp. The State Agency NNA reported incidents. In the coming weeks there would be further gun handles to the state, Prime Minister Nauaf Salam wrote to X and welcomed the beginning of the process.