Some of us did not believe one could be done that would hold….
We’ll see….
Israeli warplanes launched a wave of strikes in Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 38 Palestinians, according to hospital officials, as talks over a ceasefire in the devastated territory reached a critical point.
Officials at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said 18 people were killed by strikes in al-Mawasi, a nearby coastal area that is crowded with tented encampments of those displaced by fighting elsewhere.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, 80 people were killed and 304 wounded in Israeli attacks there over the last 24 hours.
Late on Sunday the Israeli military also said it had attacked Houthi targets in the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, and the Ras Qantib power plant in Yemen.
This was in response to repeated attacks by the Iran-aligned group on Israel, the Israeli military said.
Israel has escalated its Gaza offensive in recent days, as momentum gathers in negotiations over a US-sponsored proposal that could lead to an end to the 21-month war.
Speaking as he left Israel for talks with Donald Trump in Washington on the ceasefire and other regional issues, Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Sunday that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel, reiterating promises he has made repeatedly throughout the conflict.
He also spoke of regional opportunities in the aftermath of Israel’s brief war with Iran last month, which was ended by a US-imposed ceasefire after Trump sent bombers to attack three Iranian nuclear sites.
“We have never had such a friend in the White House … We have already changed the face of the Middle East beyond recognition, and we have an opportunity and the ability to change it further and to enable a great future for the state of Israel, the people of Israel and the entire Middle East,” Israel’s prime minister told reporters at the airport.
It will be Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.
Trump said he believed a hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached this week, which could lead to the release of “quite a few hostages.”
“I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week,” Trump told reporters before flying back to Washington after a weekend golfing in New Jersey.
A draft of the proposed agreement for a 60-day pause in hostilities seen by the Guardian specifies that Trump himself would announce a deal, which some hoped could be concluded before his meeting with Netanyahu scheduled for Monday evening US time….
It’s Israel’s Middle East now….
After three-quarters of a century fighting hostile neighbors, the tiny Jewish country, about the size of New Jersey, has all but vanquished its enemies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthis in Yemen and now even Iran itself, the one backing them all.
The exercise of raw power has allowed Israel, for the first time since its creation in 1948, a future mostly free from immediate threats. The risk of a nuclear Iran is diminished, or perhaps gone. Israel has stable, if uneasy, relations with Persian Gulf Arab states. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cemented his partnership with President Trump.
The new reality in Israel, said Yaakov Amidror, a retired Israeli general and former top aide to Mr. Netanyahu, is that places once under constant threat from Lebanon, Syria or Gaza “will be more secure than Manhattan.”
But at what cost?
Mr. Netanyahu’s relentless and unapologetic military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 people hostage has cemented the view of Israel as a pariah, its leadership accused of genocide and war crimes, and disdained by some world leaders. In opinion polls globally, most people have a negative view of Israel.
In Gaza, the war against Hamas has taken a devastating toll, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving more than a million homeless and hungry. Much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble. Poverty and hopelessness are rampant.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have also been killed and officials believe about 20 living hostages are still imprisoned in Hamas tunnels after 631 days.
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Opinion surveys reveal the deep divisions that remain within the Israeli public even as the country’s military strikes in Iran have bolstered Mr. Netanyahu’s popularity. In one poll, two-thirds of Israelis said they wanted to end the war in Gaza with a settlement that could bring the hostages home….
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