Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again humiliated President Joe Biden when the U.S. president said Israel agreed to a ceasefire, only to have the Israelis dismiss the agreement and once again tack on new details that were called untenable.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Monday that there is “momentum” building up for an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel, according to a report.
Tens of thousands of Israelis held rallies across the country on Saturday demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet agree to a deal with Hamas that would free up the remaining hostages in exchange for a ceasefire.
The leader of Hamas who lost 60 family members to Israeli forces—including a blast last week that killed 10 relatives—said he will not agree to a ceasefire unless it means a permanent end to the fighting.
As Israeli forces crack down on the Palestinian West Bank population and top government officials openly talk about annexing the entire territory, support for Hamas has surged in recent weeks, according to a new poll.
Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist Israeli settler and country’s finance minister, said in an audio that Israel is carrying out a “mega-dramatic” effort to prevent the West Bank from becoming a part of a Palestinian state and that will enable his country to seize authority over the entire region—in a scheme that will avoid international scrutiny.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, admitted to an Israeli broadcaster last week that a total defeat of Hamas is not possible, angering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said that is one of his chief goals of the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview on Sunday that he will not agree to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas is completely eliminated, which even his own military said is an impossible task.
A top official from Hamas rejected Washington's claim that the group proposed new changes to the U.S.-backed ceasefire deal and then called U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “part of the problem, not the solution” in the war.
Top U.S. officials and agencies posted words of encouragement for Israel after its latest massacre in Gaza on Saturday that resulted in at least 297 deaths and about 700 injured—in an effort to save four Israeli hostages.