Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel Vows to Increase ‘Military Pressure’ on Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will increase "military pressure" on Palestinian militant group Hamas in a bid to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza. "In the coming days, we will increase the military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages," Netanyahu said in a video ...

Israel 'Moving Ahead' with Rafah Operation in Gaza

Israel said Wednesday it is "moving ahead" with its planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite international outcry over fears for the 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there. "Israel is moving ahead with our operation to target Hamas in Rafah," government spokesman David Mencer told a press briefing. "The four battalions ...

Qataris 'Strike Back' at Gaza Mediation Critics

Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback by the Gulf state against its detractors, analysts have said. Qatar, which has hosted Hamas' political leadership since 2012 with the blessing of the United States, has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes talks on a possible truce in Gaza ...

Netanyahu Vows Israel Will Enter Rafah 'With or Without a Deal'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to enter Rafah "with or without a deal." He also claimed that the humanitarian evacuation of Rafah "has already begun." In a meeting with the families of hostages taken on October 7, Netanyahu said, “The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the ...

Netanyahu Threatens With Rafah Offensive Regardless of Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that the military would launch a ground offensive on Gaza's far-southern Rafah city "with or without" a truce deal being negotiated with Hamas. He issued the warning despite strong concerns raised by top ally Washington and hours before the arrival of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...

Blinken Calls on Hamas to Accept Ceasefire Proposal

US top diplomat Antony Blinken urged Hamas on Wednesday to accept a Gaza truce plan, despite an Israeli warning that the army will keep fighting the Palestinian militant group after any ceasefire. "Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done," said Blinken, who was in Israel on his seventh Middle East crisis tour since the war broke out in ...

Gaza Truce Talks on Hold, to Resume Sunday

Talks resumed in Cairo on Saturday on ways to achieve a truce in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, against a backdrop of mutual accusations by the warring parties of obstructing any agreement. Talks resumed in Egypt Saturday aimed at halting months of war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel that have triggered protests around the ...

Israel Bans Al Jazeera, Which Condemns Its Decision

Al Jazeera went off-air in Israel Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government decided to shut it down following a long-running feud, a move the Qatar-based channel decried as "criminal". Netanyahu declared on X that the government had "unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel". The ...

Washington Blocks Arms Shipment to Israel

The Biden administration suspended a shipment of US-made munitions to Israel last week, two Israeli officials told the US media outlet Axios on Sunday, May 5. This is the first time Washington has blocked an arms shipment to Tel Aviv since the start of the conflict. A few days earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Netanyahu that ...

Gaza Negotiations Stall Again

A Hamas official said on Sunday that the group's delegation to the Gaza truce talks in Cairo was leaving for Qatar after disagreements with Israel over demands to end the war persisted. A meeting in Cairo on a proposed truce linked to the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip ended on Sunday without any concrete progress, while Israel and Hamas ...

Israel Simultaneously Attacks Rafah, Engages in Negotiations After Hamas' Response

Following Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, Israel decided to persist in its planned military operation in Rafah while simultaneously deciding to send a delegation of negotiators to Cairo for talks. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh informed mediators Qatar and Egypt early on Monday evening that his Palestinian ...

Biden Reiterates 'Clear Position' on Rafah to Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden "reiterated his clear position" to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after Israel defied US warnings and told Palestinians to evacuate part of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the White House said. Meanwhile, Netanyahu "agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in ...