Syria-Israel Security Deal Hits A Roadblock? Al-Sharaa Rejects Israeli Air Access Demand
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NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Ahead Trump Meeting, Israeli Ministers Urge Netanyahu To Annex West Bank
Tel Aviv: Cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party called on Wednesday for Israel to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank before the Knesset recesses at the end of the month. They issued a petition ahead of Netanyahu's meeting next week with U.S. President Donald Trump, where discussions are expected to centre on a potential 60-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas. The petition was signed by 15 cabinet ministers and Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. There was no immediate response from the prime minister's office. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, long a confidant of Netanyahu, did not sign the petition. He has been in Washington since Monday for talks on Iran and Gaza. "We ministers and members of Knesset call for applying Israeli sovereignty and law immediately on Judea and Samaria," they wrote, using the biblical names for the West Bank captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Their petition cited Israel's recent achievements against both Iran and Iran's allies and the opportunity afforded by the strategic partnership with the U.S. and support of Trump. It said the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel demonstrated that the concept of Jewish settlement blocs alongside the establishment of a Palestinian state poses an existential threat to Israel. "The task must be completed, the existential threat removed from within, and another massacre in the heart of the country must be prevented," the petition stated. Most countries regard Jewish settlements in the West Bank, many of which cut off Palestinian communities from one another, as a violation of international law. With each advance of Israeli settlements and roads, the West Bank becomes more fractured, further undermining prospects for a contiguous land on which Palestinians could build a sovereign state long envisaged in Middle East peacemaking. Israel's pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of Trump, who has proposed Palestinians leave Gaza, a suggestion widely condemned across the Middle East and beyond.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Israel Sidelined, Hamas Sends Direct Message To Trump On Gaza Deal; 'Ready For It, But...'
/ Jul 03, 2025, 04:12AM IST Hamas has given its response to President Donald Trump's 60-day ceasefire proposal for Gaza. While the group says it's "open" to a truce, it reiterates its long-standing demand for a complete and permanent end to the war in Gaza, along with a full Israeli withdrawal, in exchange for the remaining hostages. This directly clashes with Israel's stance that the war will only end when Hamas surrenders and disarms.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Netanyahu Vows To "Destroy" Hamas Amid Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to eradicate Hamas, even as the Palestinian militant group said it was discussing new proposals from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli leader had yet to comment on US President Donald Trump's claim that Israel had backed a plan for a 60-day truce in its offensive against Hamas in the war-ravaged territory. But a week ahead of talks scheduled with Trump in Washington, he vowed to "destroy" Hamas "down to their very foundation". Hamas said it was "conducting national consultations to discuss" the proposals submitted in negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. The civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 33 people on Wednesday. Trump on Tuesday urged Hamas to accept a 60-day ceasefire, saying Israel had agreed to finalise such a deal. Hamas said in a statement it was studying the latest proposals and aiming "to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israeli forces from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip". Netanyahu vowed however: "We will free all our hostages, and we will eliminate Hamas. It will be no more," in filmed comments in the city of Ashkelon near Gaza's northern border. - Hostage release drive - Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier said he saw "some positive signs", amid high pressure to bring home the hostages. "We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire," he said. "Our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible." Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. A Palestinian source familiar with the mediated negotiations told AFP "there are no fundamental changes in the new proposal" under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the United States. The source said the new proposal "includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees". - Israeli air strikes - In southern Gaza, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five members of the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Wednesday that hit a tent housing displaced people in the Al-Mawasi area. Despite being declared a safe zone by Israel in December 2023, Al-Mawasi has been hit by repeated Israeli strikes. AFP footage from the area showed makeshift tents blown apart as Palestinians picked through the wreckage trying to salvage what was left of their belongings. "They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed. What did they do?" said one resident, Maha Abu Rizq, against a backdrop of destruction. AFP footage from nearby Khan Yunis city showed infants covered in blood being rushed into Nasser Hospital. One man carrying a child whose face was smeared with blood screamed: "Children, children!" Among other fatalities, Bassal later reported five people killed by Israeli army fire near an aid distribution site close to the southern city of Rafah and a further death following Israeli fire near an aid site in the centre of the territory. They were the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive food. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. - Evacuation order - Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it "is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities" in line with "international law, and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm". It said in a statement that a 19-year-old sergeant in its forces "fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip". The military late Wednesday issued a fresh evacuation warning to residents for three neighbourhoods of Gaza City, urging them to flee south to the Mawasi area. Israeli forces are "operating with extreme intensity in the area and will attack any location being used to launch missiles toward the State of Israel", Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a message on Telegram. "The destruction of terrorist organisations will continue and expand into the city centre, encompassing all neighbourhoods of the city," Avichay wrote. The military earlier said its air force had intercepted two "projectiles" that crossed from northern Gaza into Israeli territory. Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,012 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
