The negotiations on the Biden peace deal go on in public…..
WHAT IS THE DEAL?
Netanyahu is under pressure to settle and NOT to settle….
Hezbollah opens fire on North Israel….
US and British fire on the Houthi’s….
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Israeli airstrikes on Syria kill a general from a branch Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
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An Israeli military official said he expected ‘difficult questions’ about how the hostages died.
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For those who fled Rafah, even finding a place to pitch a tent is hard.
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‘Claims that we have agreed to a cease-fire without our conditions being met are incorrect,’ Netanyahu says.
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A Hezbollah barrage ignites fires in northern Israel, and other news…..
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel maneuvered into rougher political waters on Monday, as two far-right partners threatened to bring down his government should Israel agree to a cease-fire deal that would end the war in Gaza without eliminating Hamas.
Mr. Netanyahu told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Monday that President Biden had not presented the “whole picture” when he described a proposed cease-fire from the White House last week, according to a person who attended the meeting and requested anonymity.
Mr. Netanyahu, however, expressed openness to a 42-day pause in the fighting, the person said, embracing at least part of the first phase of the three-part cease-fire plan.
Mr. Biden called the three-phase proposal, which he said was put forward by Israel, a road map to an “enduring cease-fire” and to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. If Hamas abided by the agreement’s terms, the president said, it would ultimately lead to the “cessation of hostilities permanently.”
“It’s time to end this war,” Mr. Biden said
Two-far-right members of Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said on Monday that they could not accept any deal that stops short of completely eliminating Hamas…..
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The stalemate continues as international pressure grows on both parties. Egypt’s foreign minister urged Israel and Hamas on Monday to accept the cease-fire plan, telling reporters: “Hamas’s initial statements indicate that it received the deal proposal positively, and we are waiting for the Israeli response,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said.
The proposal, which the White House has called an Israeli proposal, has divided public opinion in Israel, where more than 100,000 people filled the streets of Tel Aviv this past weekend in support of the deal, demanding that the Israeli government accept it to hasten the release of hostages held in Gaza….
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The Israeli military on Monday confirmed that four more hostages were killed several months ago in Hamas custody. The four were “killed while together in the area of Khan Younis during our operation there against Hamas,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a Monday briefing. The IDF notified the families Monday.
The news increases the pressure on Netanyahu to seek a deal that will bring the remaining hostages back home….
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Opposition leader Yair Lapid, however, has said that he would provide backing to Netanyahu’s government to keep it from collapsing if it accepts the deal.
“The Israeli government must agree to the Netanyahu proposal and send a delegation to Cairo today to finalize the details,” he said. “I am repeating my offer to give Netanyahu a political safety net to carry out the deal.”…
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The main point of contention for this and past proposals, however, remains how and when the war will officially end. Israel insists on the complete destruction of Hamas. Hamas says it wants a permanent cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip….
Jun 3, 2024 – ISW Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 3 that Israel will not agree to a permanent ceasefire until Israel achieves its war objectives. US President Joe Biden outlined the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal and encouraged both Hamas and Israel to accept it during a speech on May 31. He said that the proposal includes an initial six-week ceasefire with a partial Israeli military withdrawal and the release of some hostages while Hamas and Israel negotiate a permanent end to hostilities. Netanyahu said on June 3 that Biden’s outline of the proposal was only “partial.”