The international mediators are pushing for an agreement. In Israel, the USA’s biggest push to date is leading to a breakdown. And what is Hamas doing? The news at a glance.
Following US President Joe Biden’s push to end the Gaza war, pressure is growing on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Tel Aviv alone, around 120,000 people took to the streets on Saturday evening for an agreement and demanded new elections.
President Yitzhak Herzog thanked Biden for his efforts and said he had assured Netanyahu and the government of “my full support for a deal that will lead to the release of the hostages.” According to Jewish tradition, there is no greater duty than the return of prisoners and hostages, “especially when it comes to Israeli civilians whom the State of Israel was unable to defend,” the president said.
In Berlin, the latest proposals for further negotiations have sparked optimism. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sees this as a tangible prospect of an end to the war, said the Federal Government spokesman.
Right-wing ministers warn Netanyahu
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, however, threatened to collapse the coalition if Israel agreed to the deal. Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the deal, saying it would mean a “victory for terrorism” and a “total defeat” for Israel. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X that the plan would end the war without achieving the war goals.
Gaza ceasefire in three steps
On Friday, Biden surprisingly presented details of a draft deal in three phases, which Israel has already agreed to, according to the US government. The first phase provides for a complete and unrestricted ceasefire of six weeks and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas in Gaza. A specific group of hostages would initially be released – including women, the elderly and the injured. In return, hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In a second phase, the fighting would then cease permanently and the remaining hostages would be released. In a final phase, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would begin.
A Hamas spokesman based in Lebanon expressed his support on Saturday. He said that the Israeli offer presented by Biden would be examined. However, according to information from the Wall Street Journal, Hamas’ military leader Jihia al-Sinwar, who is staying in tunnels under the Gaza Strip, is only willing to make an agreement if it ensures the survival of Hamas as a military and political force in Gaza. Netanyahu, in turn, made it clear on Saturday that Israel’s conditions for an end to the war had not changed: the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar, which are acting as mediators in the conflict, called on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement in a joint statement.
Netanyahu’s advisor: Many details still unclear
Israel has agreed to the agreement proposal presented by Biden, but many details are still unclear, stressed Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu, to the British newspaper “The Sunday Times”. “It is not a good deal, but we absolutely want the hostages to be released, all of them,” he said. “There are still many details to be clarified,” Falk reiterated, pointing out that Israel’s conditions have not changed: in addition to the release of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas. “The idea that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are met is a non-starter,” Netanyahu said.
The plan presented by Biden was also discussed in a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Scholz on Sunday. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit subsequently stated: “The German government supports Washington’s appeal: Hamas must finally put an end to its murderous activities and release the hostages – with the Israeli offer, there is now a tangible prospect of an end to the fighting and an end to the war.”
Is Hamas playing for time?
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sinwar, whose consent is required for any agreement, believes that time is on his side and that the war is dragging Israel deeper into a quagmire, the Wall Street Journal reported. Civilian casualties in Gaza are contributing to making Israel an international pariah, Sinwar told his contacts in notes from underground, the newspaper reported. While many of the exiled representatives of Hamas’ political wing want to show that Hamas is committed to ending the suffering of civilians, Sinwar wants to ensure that Hamas remains a major political force in Gaza.
The New York Times reported that the proposed agreement presented by Biden did not mention who would take control of the Gaza Strip after the war. If no other agreements are reached, this could lead to Hamas taking de facto control of the area again. From the Islamists’ point of view, this would be a strategic victory after almost eight months of war, the newspaper said.
Israel reserves the right to continue the war
Meanwhile, an Israeli official made it clear to the Times of Israel that in the offer outlined by Biden, Israel reserves the right to resume fighting at any time should Hamas violate the terms of the proposed agreement.
A breakthrough in the stalled talks is possible, but the differences of opinion on detailed issues will probably be difficult to overcome given the major differences between the war aims and political interests of Israel and Hamas, the Wall Street Journal quoted negotiators involved as saying.
The war was triggered by a massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7. They murdered more than 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 hostages to Gaza. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 36,400 people have been killed so far. The number, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, is difficult to verify independently.
UN: All 36 shelters in Rafah now empty
Meanwhile, all 36 shelters of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip are now empty, according to the organization. “Due to the operations of the Israeli forces, thousands of families were forced to flee,” UNRWA wrote on X.
The number of internally displaced people in the neighboring city of Khan Yunis and in the central part of the Gaza Strip is estimated at 1.7 million. In total, around 2.2 million people live in the narrow coastal strip. “The humanitarian areas continue to shrink,” wrote the UN organization, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Aid organizations repeatedly warn that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – Two dead in Lebanon
There was renewed heavy mutual shelling on Israel’s border with Lebanon. The Lebanese news agency reported that two civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Houla in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack with several drones on an Israeli military base in the occupied Golan Heights and reported casualties. There was initially no Israeli confirmation of this.
The Israeli army said its air force had attacked a military base belonging to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in the interior of the country. Hezbollah had previously fired a missile at an Israeli drone that was flying in Lebanese airspace.
The air force also attacked another Hezbollah facility in Bint Jubail and operations centers in other locations in southern Lebanon during the night.
Chile joins South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel
Chile wants to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “We will never, never stop being outraged by the indiscriminate and totally disproportionate actions of the Israeli armed forces against innocent civilians, especially Palestinian women and children,” said Chile’s President Gabriel Boric in a speech to parliament. The South American country will therefore “join and support” the lawsuit against Israel at the ICJ in The Hague.
In his speech, Boric also condemned the terrorist attacks by the Islamist Hamas on October 7 in Israel and called for the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. “I want to make it very clear here that there is no room for a draw and I do not accept choosing between barbarities.” In a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Platform X, it was said that Chile was calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the recognition of two states – Palestine and Israel.
South Africa had already filed a lawsuit against Israel at the end of 2023, accusing the country of violating the Genocide Convention. In an emergency ruling, the UN court had ordered Israel to take protective measures to prevent genocide. Israel must also allow more humanitarian aid to the people in the Gaza Strip. At the end of May, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately end the controversial military operation in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
