U.S. envoy receives the Lebanese government's response to Hezbollah disarmament proposal
The U.S. envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, spoke to journalists after meeting President Joseph Aoun, saying he will study the government's seven-page response. Barrack said the American and Lebanese sides are committed 'to get a resolution.'
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News24
an hour ago
- News24
5 Israel soldiers killed in Gaza as Trump asserts ‘things are going along very well'
Five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip, Israel's military said on Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas held indirect talks in Qatar on an elusive ceasefire. Two of the soldiers 'fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip', the Israeli military said in a statement, adding that three others were killed and two severely wounded in the same incident. The wounded soldiers were 'evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment and their families have been notified', the military said. The latest round of negotiations on the nearly two-year war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives of Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas seated in different rooms in the same building. Monday's talks ended with 'no breakthrough', a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP. The Hamas and Israeli delegations were due to resume talks, with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff also set to join them this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire. READ | Trump hosts Netanyahu to discuss 'good chance' of Gaza ceasefire The US proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages, taken during its October 2023 attack on Israel, and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel, two Palestinian sources close to the discussions earlier told AFP. Hamas was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system, they said. Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war. Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalise on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran. 'I don't think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well,' Trump told reporters at the start of the dinner when asked what was preventing a peace deal. Sitting on the opposite side of a long table from the Israeli leader, Trump also voiced confidence that Palestinian group Hamas was willing to end the conflict in Gaza, which is entering its 22nd month. 'They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if clashes involving Israeli soldiers would derail talks. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images The meeting in Washington came as Israel and Hamas held a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on an elusive ceasefire. Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize - the US president's long-held goal - presenting him with a letter he sent to the prize committee. 'He's forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other,' Netanyahu said. But Netanyahu was more cagey on peace with the Palestinians and ruled out a full Palestinian state, saying that Israel will 'always' keep security control over the Gaza Strip. 'Now, people will say it's not a complete state, it's not a state. We don't care,' Netanyahu said. Several dozen protesters gathered near the White House as Trump and Netanyahu met, chanting slogans accusing the Israeli prime minister of 'genocide'. Trump has strongly backed key US ally and fellow conservative Netanyahu, lending US support in Israel's recent war by bombing Iran's key nuclear facilities. But at the same time, he has increasingly pushed for an end to what he called the 'hell' in Gaza. Trump said on Sunday he believes there is a 'good chance' of an agreement this coming week. 'The utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Leavitt said Trump wanted Hamas to agree to a US-brokered proposal 'right now' after Israel backed the plan for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives seated in different rooms in the same building. Monday's talks ended with 'no breakthrough', a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Experts Break Down Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Roadblocks
Demonstrators gather in Tel Aviv calling on the government to end the war in Gaza and for the release Israeli hostages, July 5. Credit - Mostafa Alkharouf - Getty Images Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House Monday comes amid renewed efforts for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. The first round of indirect talks ended without any progress on Sunday night, but it is understood that Qatari and Egyptian mediators will regroup to try again. Netanyahu's in-person meeting with President Donald Trump will be the third this year. Trump said last week that Israel had agreed to conditions for a 60-day cease-fire. He urged Hamas to take the deal for 'the good of the Middle East', warning that 'things will only get worse' if they do not. Before boarding his flight to Washington, D.C., Netanyahu, who recently achieved a cease-fire between Israel and Iran, said he had a 'clear commitment' in mind for his U.S. visit. 'To bring back all the hostages, to eliminate Hamas' rule and capabilities, and to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to the State of Israel,' he said, repeating the stance he's shared many times before. TIME asked experts about the difficulty in procuring a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Here are the main roadblocks they identified: The war was triggered after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Since then, Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has been clear in its objective to bring the hostages home and prevent further attacks by 'eliminating Hamas.' There have been some successful hostage-prisoner swaps, but as of June 22, it is understood that 50 hostages are still in captivity. Israel believes 27 of those are dead. Hamas, meanwhile, has vowed not to disband and is demanding a full withdrawal of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) from Gaza. Peter Krause, associate professor of political science at Boston College, says that the opposing desired outcomes from Israel and Hamas make a successful, lasting cease-fire incredibly difficult to achieve. 'From Hamas' perspective, their only remaining bargaining chips are these hostages, and so if they give some or all of them back, they'll want to have assurances that the conflict is going to end,' Krause said. 'From the Netanyahu Administration's perspective, they're very happy to have a pause [in combat] if it gets some of the hostages back, so long as they can then return to trying to degrade or destroy Hamas.' 'An end to the conflict at the moment is not very likely because of those antithetical objectives and the lack of trust between the two sides,' Krause argues. Netanyahu continues to battle with approval ratings amid an ongoing corruption trial back home. He is facing charges of bribery centered around donations worth up to $300,000 from 2006 to 2017. Netanyahu is also accused of fraud and breach of trust. He has denied the allegations. In a recent poll by the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, 49% of Israelis surveyed said they believe Netanyahu is continuing the war in Gaza for his own political considerations. Former Israeli Prime Minister and current Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid has been consistently critical of Netanyahu since his re-election in 2022. 'From 2015 onward, there has been a decline. I see a man desperately clinging to the position out of fear of his trial and mostly out of fear that the only thing people will remember him for is October 7,' Lapid said. Netanyahu has even faced criticism from within his own cabinet, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich scorning his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. '[Netanyahu] has failed to implement the decisions of the political echelon and enforce them on the senior IDF command regarding this critical issue for victory—destroying Hamas and returning the hostages,' Smotrich said on Sunday. 'Netanyahu personally has significant incentive to prolong this conflict to avoid prosecution,' Krause argues, adding that leading up to Oct. 7th, 'the Israeli leader was seen by many as being partially responsible for propping up Hamas.' TIME spoke to Israel's Prime Minister in August 2024, when he said that Israel is 'not merely fighting Hamas,' but is instead 'facing a full-fledged Iranian axis, and we understand that we have to organize ourselves for broader defense.'Krause says that far-right members of Netanyahu's government coalition have also threatened to leave, should he sign certain cease-fire deals. Itamar Ben Gvir, threatened to resign from his position as Security Minister in January as Netanyahu considered cease-fire plans. Dana Stroul, director of research at the Washington Institute, says that Netanyahu has 'boxed himself in' by setting the IDF objective in Gaza as absolute victory, without 'identifying achievable political outcomes on the other side.' Netanyahu's cabinet has failed to articulate its exact intentions post-combat, Stroul says, arguing that matters are complicated further by the fact Netanyahu's government has 'the most extremist right-wing' coalition in Israel's recent history 'The political structure inside Israel, and that coalition, has limited his maneuverability to start the process for what happens on the other side of military operations,' Stroul says, highlighting a lack of a clear vision for a prosperous Gaza. Notably, it was Netanyahu and his administration that pulled away from the second phase of the plan last year, which aimed to establish a permanent cease-fire, secure further Israeli hostage and Palestinian prisoner exchanges, and enact the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. 'We are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I'm not willing to give up on that,' Netanyahu said in a television interview. Experts agree that Hamas has played a significant role in restricting the progress of negotiations. Stroul says that the framework of the current cease-fire proposal is very similar to that seen in January during the last cease-fire. But when it comes to mapping out long-term security for Israel, Hamas appears uncooperative. 'Paving the way for a non-Hamas future in Gaza, meaning the leaders of Hamas [would] have to leave Gaza and turn in their weapons, is not something that Hamas appears willing to do right now,' Stroul says. Another key issue that keeps Hamas and Israel divided is how the IDF will operate in the future within Gaza, as well as its relationship with aid distribution. There has been concern from international organizations about hundreds of Palestinians killed while collecting aid from distribution sites set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The United Nations has reported that over 600 Palestinians have been killed at these centers since GHF began operations at the end of May. Read More: What to Know About the Deaths at Controversial Gaza Aid Distribution Sites 'I think they [the IDF] would want the same sort of deployment that they had on Jan. 19, when they had the last cease-fire, where Israel [only] gets out of [certain] key areas,' says David Makovsky, a Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute. He adds that Israel is focused on the 'Morag Corridor,' a line that runs through southern Gaza. 'Israel's strategy is basically to create a Hamas-free zone in southern Gaza,' he says, noting that this is important to continue Israel's strategy for aid distribution under the U.S. organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel. Cutting off Hamas' access to southern Gaza, where three of GHF's four distribution centers are located, would disable the group from accessing and hijacking aid meant for civilians, Makovsky says. Meanwhile, Hamas is now calling for a revert in aid distribution, requesting it be handed over to a U.N.-led initiative. Contact us at letters@
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Iran's Khamenei Looks to the Past For Route to Regime Survival
For almost four decades Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has defined his rule and Iran's place in the world through his hostility to Israel and the US. Last month that enmity culminated in a military attack on the Islamic Republic when Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Tehran and across the country. The assault embarrassed the leadership, which had been caught off guard, and while the Supreme Leader survived the 12-day conflict and a US bombing raid on Iran's key nuclear sites, more than 1,000 Iranians, mostly civilians, didn't. Some of Iran's most powerful military figures were assassinated. The fallout has intensified scrutiny of the 86-year-old cleric — the ultimate authority in Iran — and raised questions about how long he can remain in power, who or what might replace him and what that means for a country at the heart of the Middle East with an economy sapped by years of sanctions.
