Latest news with #Sa'ar's
Euronews
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Exclusive: No intention to control Gaza long term, Israeli FM says
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Monday that his country doesn't have "any intention" of controlling the Gaza Strip long term. "We don't have any intention to do so," Sa'ar said in an exclusive interview with Euronews. "With regard to the Gaza Strip, we have only security concerns." Sa'ar's comments seem to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who in May said Israel would take control of all of Gaza after the war ends. "We [will] implement (President) Trump's plan, it is a good plan and makes a difference and it means something very simple, that the residents of Gaza who want to leave can leave," Netanyahu said, referring to a proposal floated by Trump of resettling all of Gaza's population in other countries. But Sa'ar added that the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which currently controls the enclave, "cannot be part of the future of Gaza." "If Hamas is ready to lay down its arms, if they are ready to demilitarise the Gaza Strip, we can do it in a political path." Sa'ar also slammed as "ridiculous" criticism from some Western countries that Israel's military operation in Gaza has been disproportionate. "What would you say about the Western attack against ISIS that destroyed ISIS? Was it proportionate?," he asked, referring to the so-called Islamic state that once ruled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Talking about the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel that prompted the retaliatory military operation in Gaza, he said: "Israel should agree to the existence of this terrorist state, one mile from its communities, what its proportions are in this case? These terrorist states should be eliminated as a state." Around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack and 250 others taken as hostages back to Gaza, of which 20 are believed to still be alive. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent Israeli military operation. A US-sponsored 60-day ceasefire deal for Gaza which would see Hamas free the remaining hostages has so far failed to materialise. Israel has indicated it would be willing to end all hostilities if Hamas surrendered its weapons and renounced governing Gaza. Sa'ar is in Brussels to participate in the EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting, a gathering aimed at deepening EU cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners, including Palestine, Syria and Libya. It is the first time that Israel and Palestine will be represented at a high level in Brussels since the war in Gaza started. Both sides have indicated there is no plan to meet. Direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority, the government of the West Bank, and Israel have been at a standstill for more than a decade with many observers questioning the feasibility of a two-state solution. Sa'ar's visit also coincides with a meeting of the 27 EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, which is aimed at discussing an exhaustive list of 10 possibilities for the EU to respond to Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over its failure to respect Palestinian human rights. It also takes place a few days after a recent agreement brokered by the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to improve the flow of aid to Gaza. Sa'ar defended the agreement with Kallas, saying there had already been fuel entering humanitarian facilities like hospitals or water installation in Gaza. "But the only restriction or the only problem we have here is that Hamas cannot take advantage of the aid as they did during the last 21 months," he said. In its last humanitarian update on 9 July, the UN estimated that one third of Gazans are going entire days without eating and more people are at risk of starvation. Health services face an imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of confiscating aid destined for civilians. The minister also called the EU's list of options in retaliation for Israel's breach of the EU-Israel Association Agreement "extremely distorted." Those options include suspending visa free travel and blocking imports from Jewish settlements, according to a document issued by Kallas' office seen by Euronews. "Even though we thought this process is not fair, it is extremely distorted, we gave answers and we brought facts," Sa'ar said. "I hope that also tomorrow, those member states that think it's not in the interest of the EU to go against Israel will prevail."
Shafaq News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Israeli Foreign Minister quits Knesset: Expected resignation
Shafaq News – Middle East Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar officially resigned from the Knesset on Tuesday, as part of a previously agreed rotation arrangement within the National Unity party bloc. Michal Woskala, the bloc's parliamentary chair, signed off on Sa'ar's resignation, although his replacement in the parliament has not yet been announced. This move follows a common mechanism in several Israeli parties aimed at broadening political participation among candidates. Sa'ar, who broke away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party in 2020 to form the 'New Hope' party, later joined political alliances including the National Unity list. A recent political settlement in 2024 with Netanyahu led to Sa'ar's appointment as foreign minister.
Business Mayor
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Mayor
The Guardian view on Israel's aid blockade of Gaza: hunger as a weapon of war
S hameful. That was the word that Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, used to describe proceedings at the international court of justice (ICJ) last Monday. The United Nations asked the court to determine whether Israel must allow aid to enter Gaza, two months after it cut it off again just before the ceasefire deal collapsed. Supplies are running out. Unicef says that thousands of children have already experienced acute malnutrition. Mr Sa'ar's complaint is that Israel is unfairly targeted. The separate international criminal court case against Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, the former defence minister, also focuses on the alleged starvation of civilians. It is true that withholding food is a common weapon in war, yet has rarely been the focus of international legal cases, in part because intent is hard to prove. It is the rhetoric of Israeli officials, suggests Dr Boyd van Dijk, an expert on the Geneva conventions, which has changed that. Last summer, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, remarked that it might be 'justified and moral' to starve people if it brought home Israeli hostages seized in the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, but that 'no one in the world will allow us'. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said last month that its 'policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza'. The far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, insisted that 'there is no reason for a single gram of food or any aid to enter' until hostages were freed. An aid ship destined for Gaza was attacked by drones and disabled on Friday. More than 52,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to its health authorities. Unicef says they include 15,000 children, with hundreds of deaths since the new Israeli offensive began in March. But withholding food kills just as bombs do. Farmland is devastated. Flour is said to cost 30 times more than before the war. Aid warehouses are empty. UN World Food Programme bakeries closed a month ago when supplies ran out; essential community kitchens are now following. Israeli officials have said they need to stop Hamas getting their hands on aid. It's obvious that men with guns will secure food long after others have starved. Donald Trump says that he has told Mr Netanyahu to allow aid in. Yet the US told the ICJ that Israel's security needs override its obligation to do so. The strong legal consensus is that occupying powers have an absolute duty under the Geneva conventions to permit food to be given to a population in need. Israel is reportedly planning to resume aid delivery 'in the coming weeks', but via a radically new mechanism. It claims the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, essential to humanitarian efforts, has been mass-infiltrated by Hamas – an allegation strongly disputed by the UN and others. The proposed alternative, of international organisations and private security contractors handing out food to individual families, looks both unworkable and dangerous for civilians. As Israel and the US attack international courts, other nations – including the UK – must do all they can to defend and bolster them. They must also press harder for the immediate resumption of aid. What is shameful about this ICJ case is the need to bring it. What is shameful is that almost half the children in Gaza questioned in a study said that they wished to die. What is shameful is that so many civilians have been killed, and so many more pushed to the brink of starvation. What is shameful is that this has, indeed, been allowed to happen. Read More Credit hire boom powers firm's 62% profit surge
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Israel's aid blockade of Gaza: hunger as a weapon of war
Shameful. That was the word that Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister, used to describe proceedings at the international court of justice (ICJ) last Monday. The United Nations asked the court to determine whether Israel must allow aid to enter Gaza, two months after it cut it off again just before the ceasefire deal collapsed. Supplies are running out. Unicef says that thousands of children have already experienced acute malnutrition. Mr Sa'ar's complaint is that Israel is unfairly targeted. The separate international criminal court case against Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, the former defence minister, also focuses on the alleged starvation of civilians. It is true that withholding food is a common weapon in war, yet has rarely been the focus of international legal cases, in part because intent is hard to prove. It is the rhetoric of Israeli officials, suggests Dr Boyd van Dijk, an expert on the Geneva conventions, which has changed that. Last summer, Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, remarked that it might be 'justified and moral' to starve people if it brought home Israeli hostages seized in the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, but that 'no one in the world will allow us'. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said last month that its 'policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza'. The far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, insisted that 'there is no reason for a single gram of food or any aid to enter' until hostages were freed. An aid ship destined for Gaza was attacked by drones and disabled on Friday. More than 52,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to its health authorities. Unicef says they include 15,000 children, with hundreds of deaths since the new Israeli offensive began in March. But withholding food kills just as bombs do. Farmland is devastated. Flour is said to cost 30 times more than before the war. Aid warehouses are empty. UN World Food Programme bakeries closed a month ago when supplies ran out; essential community kitchens are now following. Israeli officials have said they need to stop Hamas getting their hands on aid. It's obvious that men with guns will secure food long after others have starved. Donald Trump says that he has told Mr Netanyahu to allow aid in. Yet the US told the ICJ that Israel's security needs override its obligation to do so. The strong legal consensus is that occupying powers have an absolute duty under the Geneva conventions to permit food to be given to a population in need. Israel is reportedly planning to resume aid delivery 'in the coming weeks', but via a radically new mechanism. It claims the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, essential to humanitarian efforts, has been mass-infiltrated by Hamas – an allegation strongly disputed by the UN and others. The proposed alternative, of international organisations and private security contractors handing out food to individual families, looks both unworkable and dangerous for civilians. As Israel and the US attack international courts, other nations – including the UK – must do all they can to defend and bolster them. They must also press harder for the immediate resumption of aid. What is shameful about this ICJ case is the need to bring it. What is shameful is that almost half the children in Gaza questioned in a study said that they wished to die. What is shameful is that so many civilians have been killed, and so many more pushed to the brink of starvation. What is shameful is that this has, indeed, been allowed to happen.
Saba Yemen
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Enemy media:" HRF files request to arrest Sa'ar, who is visiting Britain"
Occupied Quds - Saba: The Zionist Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that the Hind Rajab Foundation, a non-governmental human rights organization, submitted a request to issue a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who is visiting Britain. The BBC quoted the foreign minister's office as saying that there is no intention to shorten Sa'ar's visit to Britain or change his plans in any way. The HRF is the legal arm of the March 30 Movement, a non-governmental human rights organization founded in 2024 and based in Brussels, Belgium. The foundation aims to confront the impunity of the Zionist enemy in relation to the war crimes and human rights violations it has committed in Palestine, especially in Gaza Strip. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
