THAT is probably NOT enough for hardliners in the Israeli Government….
Meanwhile?
Protest’s continue AGAINST the Netanyahu Government’s seemingly ignoring the plight of the hostages….
The Prime Minster is knocking the protests….
Egypt says it is willing to put troops on the ground in Gaza to make the ‘deal’ work….
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Hamas officials say they have accepted a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal that would include the release of half of the remaining 20 living hostages as part of a phased resolution to the war, as Gaza health officials said 62,000 Palestinians had now died in the 22 months of war.
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The UK government is working “at pace” to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to Britain for urgent medical treatment, Downing Street has said. Prime minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said a cross-government task force is “up and running”, but warned that it is a “sensitive and complex process”.
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Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised massive street protests against his handling of the Gaza war, and failure to secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages, suggesting demonstrators were giving comfort to Hamas’s position in negotiations. The Israeli prime minister made his comments against the backdrop of the largest protests in almost two years of war, with estimates that upwards of 400,000 joined marches across Israel on Sunday.
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The latest Gaza ceasefire proposal agreed by Palestinian group Hamas includes a suspension of military operations for 60 days and could be seen as a path to reach a comprehensive deal to end nearly two-year-long Gaza war, an Egyptian official source told Reuters on Monday. The period of suspension would see the exchange of Palestinian prisoners in return for release of half of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, the source said.
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Egypt said on Monday it was willing to join a potential international force deployed to war-torn Gaza, but only if backed by a UN security council resolution and accompanied by a “political horizon”, as ceasefire efforts pressed on in Cairo, AFP reports.
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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called for another nationwide strike on Sunday, urging the Israeli government to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages, following a similar protest held yesterday. The Times of Israel reported that the forum said yesterday’s protests “prove in a clear manner and a strong voice what most of the country wants: the nation of Israel supports the return of hostages and the end of the war!”
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Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza, citing testimonies of displaced Palestinians and medical staff treating malnourished children in the territory. Israel, while heavily restricting aid allowed into the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly rejected claims of deliberate starvation in the 22-month-old war. Contacted by AFP, the military and foreign ministry did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s findings, AFP reports.
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The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war, including 1,965 people killed while seeking aid or near aid distribution sites, the Associated Press reports.
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Ahmed Mheisen, a Palestinian shelter manager in Beit Lahiya, a war-devastated suburb abutting eastern Gaza City, said 995 families had departed the area in recent days for the south, Reuters reports. With the Israeli offensive looming, Mheisen put the number of tents needed for emergency shelter at 1.5 million, saying Israel had allowed only 120,000 tents into the territory during a January-March ceasefire.
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UK prime minister Keir Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to “impose immediate sanctions” on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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On an official trip to Egypt, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa has been visiting the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, alongside Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty. The pair visited aid warehouses in Al-Arish and a field hospital.
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Israel on Monday announced it will provide emergency humanitarian aid to South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries in the midst of renewed violent political instability, AFP reports. The announcement by foreign minister Gideon Saar comes after media reports that Israel held talks with the African state to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – a claim South Sudan has firmly rejected.
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Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following a review of its Israeli investments. The $2tn wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude, but said these would be made public once the divestment was completed, Reuters reports.
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US envoy Tom Barrack called on Israel to honour its commitments under a ceasefire that ended its war with Hezbollah, after the Lebanese government launched a process to disarm the militant group. Under the truce agreement, weapons in Lebanon were to be restricted to the state and Israel was to fully withdraw its troops from the country, although it has kept forces in five border points it deems strategic. “I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack said following a meeting in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun…..