The Israeli Prime Monist says he’s sorry but will continue hunting Hamas and NOT bend for a hostage/POW cease-fire
…
Brushing aside pleas from allies and the demands of Israeli protesters for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday vowed to maintain Israeli control along the border between Egypt and Gaza, a contentious plan that appeared to dim, if not dash, prospects for a truce.
In his first news conference since the bodies of six slain hostages were recovered over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters on Monday night that, to ensure its security, Israel needed to assert control over the Gazan side of the border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, calling it the lifeline of Hamas.
Hamas has said Israeli control of the corridor is a nonstarter in negotiations for a truce, demanding instead a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Netanyahu made the comments a day after the Israeli military announced that the six hostages had been found dead in a tunnel underneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The discovery devastated Israelis and spurred both the mass protests on Sunday and a widespread work stoppage by the country’s largest labor union.
But despite the national grief, the strike on Monday was a mixed success, and subsequent protests throughout the day were relatively muted, revealing a country deeply divided over how to end the war in Gaza.
Many Israelis support a cease-fire deal to bring home the hostages. But others, particularly on the right, support Mr. Netanyahu’s security conditions and reject any agreement with Hamas.
In the hours before Mr. Netanyahu spoke on Monday night, two close allies of Israel signaled mounting frustration with the direction of the war in Gaza….
…
The Biden administration has insisted that it retains hope for a cease-fire in Gaza and the return of the approximately 100 hostages who still remain in Gaza, dozens of whom are presumed dead by the Israeli authorities. Asked on Monday by reporters whether he was planning to present a final hostage deal this week, Mr. Biden responded: “We’re very close to that.”
But both Israeli and Hamas officials have voiced skepticism over positive cease-fire predictions by the Biden administration. They say the differences between the two warring parties are still entrenched, particularly over issues like the Philadelphi Corridor.
Tor Wennesland, a senior U.N. official who visited Gaza on Monday, painted a picture of desolation and despair….
…
In a rare, hour-long televised news conference Monday evening, Netanyahu said that he was sorry he was unable to bring the six hostages home alive but insisted that the Israeli military would remain along the strategic Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, a demand that many say has delayed the conclusion of a deal that would involve the release of hostages.
Netanyahu said an Israeli withdrawal from the area, after the killing of the hostages, would send Hamas a message — “murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions.”
The prime minister’s comments came at the end of a day of mourning and amid calls for the government to make a deal to bring home the nearly 100 hostages who remain in Gaza. Polin, who with his wife, Rachel Goldberg, has spearheaded American Israeli hostage family delegations to the United States and recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention, said about Hersh that he hoped that “maybe, just maybe, your death is the fuel that will bring home the remaining hostages.”…
Sep 2, 2024 – ISW Press
The Masoud Pezeshkian administration is continuing to signal its willingness to pursue nuclear negotiations with the West. Iranian media reported on September 2 that Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi appointed Majid Takht Ravanchi as deputy foreign affairs minister for political affairs. Araghchi has not officially announced Ravanchi’s appointment at the time of this writing. Ravanchi was part of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team under former President Hassan Rouhani that helped conclude the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1.
Sep 1, 2024 – ISW Press
A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander reiterated Iran’s support for Hamas’ maximalist ceasefire demands on September 1.
image….Israeli protest scene….AFP/Getty