The hard work of trying top get a cease-fire and possible long term solution for Gaza IS in progress….
Internal Israeli problems in the Netanyahu government…..
HUGE Israeli protest pushing their government for a deal to get the hostages back…
Hamas is trying to come out still running the place, something one would think Israel will NOT agree to…..
Israel did cut back the size of its Rafah operation under pressure from the US…..
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Israel’s defense minister outlined a framework for a “governing alternative” to Hamas in the Gaza Strip after a briefing at the military’s southern command on Sunday. The minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a statement that the country’s defense establishment was considering how to create an a new postwar administration in the Palestinian enclave. “We will isolate areas, remove Hamas operatives from these areas and introduce forces that will enable an alternative government to form — an alternative that threatens Hamas,” he said, without offering further details. He added that “creating the potential for a governing alternative” would help enable Israel to achieve its goals.
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John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told ABC News on Sunday that the Biden administration had “every expectation” Israel would move forward with a proposed cease-fire plan laid out by President Biden if Hamas “agrees to the proposal.” Two far-right coalition partners of Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened on Saturday night to quit his government should he do so. If both of those far-right parties left the coalition, it could mark the end of Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
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The Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, will ban holders of Israeli passports, the office of its president, Mohamed Muizzu, said on Sunday. The office said that the cabinet decided to amend laws to prohibit Israeli passports from entering the country, where Islam is the official religion, and that the cabinet established a subcommittee to oversee the process.
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Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing petitions on Sunday to end the decades-long practice of exempting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men of draft age from military service. The mass exemptions granted to yeshiva students has become one of the most polarizing social and political issues in a country where most 18-year-olds are drafted for years of obligatory service, and at a time when the military says it needs more soldiers to fight in Gaza. The court hearing comes after temporary legislation regulating the draft expired.
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Mr. Netanyahu indicated that he planned to accept an invitationto address a joint meeting of Congress in Washington, saying he wanted to “present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us.” The four top congressional leaders formally invited Mr. Netanyahu on Friday in a show of bipartisan unity that masked a fraught behind-the-scenes debate over receiving him. No date has been set….
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The proposal, revealed in a surprise speech by President Biden on Friday, calls for a six-week pause in fighting, during which hostages taken from Israel by Hamas would be released in phases in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and there would be a significant boost in aid shipments to the Gaza Strip. The key sticking point — the same one that has doomed past negotiations — is how and when the war will officially end.
Netanyahu’s office said Friday that it had “authorized” the text of the proposal. On Saturday, however, it added that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed” and that any deal that does not allow for the complete destruction of Hamas, the release of all hostages and the end of Gaza’s security threat to Israel was a “non-starter.”
Hamas said Friday that it viewed Biden’s speech on the deal “positively,” but that its willingness to engage was “based on a permanent cease-fire” and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the Strip.
“We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal … that Israel would say yes,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”
But nothing in Israeli politics is so simple….
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Bezalel Smotrich, another ultranationalist member of the coalition, said on X that he told Netanyahu he would also quit the government if the deal went through. “We demand the continuation of the fighting until the destruction of Hamas and the return of all the hostages,” he said.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government would not necessarily collapse without Ben Gvir and Smotrich, and that he would be willing to provide a “safety net” to see it through the implementation of a cease-fire….
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As political leaders traded barbs on social media, more than 120,000 people took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday, according to organizers. They viewed Biden’s announcement as a turning point after eight months of agonizing limbo….
More…
Jun 2, 2024 – ISW Press
Unspecified US and Israeli officials said that Israel adjusted its military operations in Rafah to avoid crossing the US Joe Biden administration’s red lines. Israel originally planned to deploy two divisions to conduct clearing operations in Rafah. The United States expressed concern that such action could increase civilian casualties significantly. President Biden said on May 8 that the United States will stop supplying Israel with certain weapons if Israel conducts a major military operation into Rafah. The latest reporting is consistent with other reports that Israel was planning a limited attack targeting Hamas in Rafah and that the IDF is moving “more deliberately” in Rafah.