The problem of Hamas laying down arms and leaving Gaza STILL REMAINS……
THE IDF IS still on defensive status……
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night that Israel was “on the brink of a great achievement” and that he hoped to announce soon that the remaining Israeli hostages will be coming home from the Gaza Strip.
In a short speech in which he repeatedly rebuked those who have long demanded an end to the conflict in hopes of a hostage release, Mr. Netanyahu insisted that Hamas was only willing to free the hostages now because of the military and political pressure that he and President Trump had applied.
“I withstood immense pressure from home and abroad to end the war,” he said.
The prime minister’s speech came after Israel and Hamas had signaled a readiness to move forward with parts of President Trump’s cease-fire plan in what many hoped would lead to a diplomatic breakthrough.
Significant gaps still need to be negotiated to bring an end to the war in Gaza, but there have been hopeful signs over the last 24 hours. On Friday, Hamas said that it was ready to release all of its remaining hostages in exchange for prisoners in Israel, a key part of the White House peace plan, but the group did not directly address many other demands in it, including that they disarm and take no role in the postwar government of Gaza.
The Israeli government on Saturday morning said that it was preparing for the “immediate implementation” of the first steps of Mr. Trump’s proposal. Then Mr. Netanyahu said in his speech that the two sides were close to an agreement. Egypt said it would be hosting indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo on Monday.
Mr. Trump exuded confidence that a deal was imminent, saying it was a “big day” while also exhorting Israel to stop bombing Gaza. He conceded that negotiators still needed “to get the final word down in concrete.”
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Updates….
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Negotiations resume: Mr. Netanyahu said he was sending negotiators, led by his close aide, Ron Dermer, to Egypt to “finalize the technical deals to release our hostages.” The White House is sending Mr. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for the talks, according to a White House official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
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Trump’s pressure: On Saturday, Mr. Trump wrote in a post on social media that “Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off.” He added that he would “not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.” But it was unclear what that meant for Palestinians in Gaza, where around 66 people were reportedly killed on Friday, said local health officials, whose tolls do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
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Tel Aviv protest: Thousands of Israelis gathered in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to call for an end to the war and a deal to return the hostages still held in Gaza. Many said they were cautiously optimistic that a peace deal could be reached now. “Thank you, President Trump,” the Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi said as he opened his speech to the crowd. He criticized the Israeli prime minister for failing to secure the release of the hostages and urged him to “at least not interrupt Trump in making a deal to end the war.”
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Fighting continues: While Mr. Trump thanked Israel earlier on Saturday for pausing its bombardment of Gaza, Israeli officials say the military has been told only to shift to defensive operations. At least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a building in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, the enclave’s civil defense agency said. The Israeli military said it had attacked a Hamas militant who threatened Israeli soldiers in the area and that it was looking into reports civilians had been harmed…..
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Many American Jews against Netanyahu Gaza actions….
Many American Jews sharply disapprove of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes and about 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians, according to a Washington Post poll.
The findings are striking given the long-standing ties between the U.S. Jewish community and Israel, suggesting the potential for a historic breach over the Gaza war. Two years after Hamas militants poured into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, Israel’s retaliatory incursion has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, displaced many more, and led to widespread hunger in the territory.
Jews in the poll are almost evenly divided over Israel’s actions in Gaza, with 46 percent approving and 48 percent opposing. That remains more supportive than many other groups: Among all Americans, 32 percent approved of Israel’s actions and 60 percent disapproved, according to a July Gallup poll…..
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