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US presses IDF to protect Palestinian civilians if war moves south
The United States insisted that Israel must do a better job of protecting Palestinian civilians should the IDF’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza move into the southern area of the Strip if the war resumes this weekend.
“We do not support a move to the south, unless or until they have adequately accounted for the protection of innocent civilian life in southern Gaza,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken passed on that same message during his visit to Israel Thursday where he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and participated in a meeting of the war cabinet.
Conditions placed on Israel
“The way Israel defends itself matters,” Blinken told reporters after that meeting.
“It’s imperative that Israel acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and the laws of war, even when confuting a terror group that respects neither,” Blinken said.
Before the IDF pushes into southern Gaza, “Israel must put in place a civilian protection plan that minimizes the loss of civilian life,” he said, adding that was understood that Hamas embeds itself in civilian centers thereby increasing the chances of human life.
The scale of the loss of human life can not be repeated in the south, Blinken said as he referenced the IDF campaign in northern Gaza. Hamas has asserted that over 14,800 Palestinians were killed as a result of violence in that war, and another 1.9 million out of Gaza’s 2.7 million population were displaced.
Israel must also avoid the “significant displacement of civilians,” Blinken said, adding that he also spoke expanding humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
“We continue to work urgently to get more aid in and to get it in faster,” he said. “It’s even more imperative as winter sets in.
The expectations of Hamas
He stressed that the US supported Israel’s right to defense, particularly given the brutal nature of Hamas’ October 7 attack that sparked the war. In that attack Hamas killed over 1,200 people and seized some 240 hostage.
There are steps that Hamas could take here as well, he said, including stopping its plans to destroy Israel and kill Jews.
Blinken spoke as Israel welcomed home two more hostages and prepared to see the release of eight more later in the night, a move that would bring the total of Israel women and children freed to 83 since the Gaza war was put on hold on November 22.
Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the hostage deal, worked on Thursday to extend the temporary truce into Sunday morning.
Qatari and Egyptian officials worked off of the existing formula approved last week of ten live hostages for every 24 hours of a “pause” in the war.
Thursday’s lull was agreed to only in the morning, minutes before the truce was set to expire. It has become increasingly difficult for Hamas to fulfill the terms of the deal, given that it does not have all the female and child hostages and there is speculation that some were killed in captivity.
Talks have begun on the more complex issue of a deal that would allow for the release of the male captives, including soldiers. Hamas has insisted that such a deal for soldiers would have to include a permanent ceasefire. Qatar has said it wants to negotiate an end to the war. Israel has insisted that its military campaign will resume until it’s defeated Hamas.
Blinken in Israel worked on ensuring the lull in the war was extended even as it delved into the details about what the war’s resumption could look like.
He stressed the United States’ commitment to ensuring that all the hostages were released.
“Hamas should release everyone right now,” Blinken said.
In Washington, Kirby confirmed that the initial hostage deal had included an understanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be able to visit the hostages.
Kirby said it was clear Israel intended to resume its military campaign once the hostage release deals had ended.
“As they make that decision they’ll continue to find support from the US” including in the form of assistance with military weaponry.”
“If anyone is guessing and wondering whether Hamas has murderous intentions against the Israeli people look at what happened in Jerusalem today,” Kirby said as he referenced the terror attack in Jerusalem in which three Israeli civilians were killed.
The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel,” Biden said in the memo.
“While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States.”Increased attacks since Oct.7
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a “support front” with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel’s military assault in Gaza.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist group and the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.
world news
Preparing for war: Haifa mayor describes city’s infrastructure changes tensions in North escalate
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav spoke this past Monday with Lior Rosenfeld on Radio North 104.5FM about the escalation of the war in the North and his entry into political office amidst the security situation.
Yahav began, “I cannot speak on behalf of the North as I don’t know exactly what’s happening there. No one updates me, as if we are not the largest and most important city in the North. Tomorrow, the Home Front Command is coming to see us for the first time, and we will see what they have to say. We are doing everything to ensure that the city itself and our residents are safe and know what to do in case, God forbid, missiles fall on us. They are more accurate than those in 2006.”
Yahav also discussed the city’s preparations for a war in the North.
“We are now changing the entire method of building public structures,” Yahav said. “We are preparing them for prolonged stays. The minimum will be four consecutive days in shelters and such buildings, which require preparation. For example, installing toilets, which we don’t have today, and we have given instructions to build them in places close to where new houses are being built. This has been fully understood, and developers have begun to understand that the talk about evacuation and reconstruction has undergone drastic changes in light of the security situation. For example, road width needs to be maintained for the sake of evacuating residents on these roads. These are things that were not considered until now and must now be taken into account.”
Yahav’s plans for the success of Haifa’s future
Yahav then discussed his appeal to the transportation minister to stop the Highway 23 Carmel Tunnels’ toll charge.
“We called on the transportation minister to stop the discrimination. Haifa and the North are always discriminated against compared to central Israel, and there’s no reason for this. There are huge tunnels dug in Jerusalem that do not cost residents any money to pass through. There’s no reason why the tunnels dug in Haifa should include a toll. I speak on behalf of Haifa residents, and we are preparing to petition if we do not receive an answer.”
Regarding his entry into his mayoral role about three months ago, Yahav said, “I found a completely ruined city. They destroyed the municipality, and it’s very difficult to move things around. I don’t understand how residents sat idly by and kept quiet. We are trying to go to government offices to fix relations, to get funds, to move projects to bring in fees – and we are doing all this in a short time.
“The ministers are acting openly and with the goodwill to help. I am now waiting for the money on the table. The casino building in Bat Galim will be a luxurious hotel on the Bat Galim seashore. This neighborhood will undergo a complete transformation and will be the most beautiful neighborhood in the country. It will also be the only neighborhood facing a recognized beach. We came to make a change, and we will succeed.”
In conclusion, he touched on the issue of wild boars: “You won’t be able to follow them because soon you won’t see them anymore.”
world news
‘Psychological operation’: Turkey condemns FM Katz social media post depicting toddler Erdogan
Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement on Sunday condemning a social media post made by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in which Katz presented Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a toddler on the lap of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Katz, in a Sunday post on X, wrote “Erdogan @RTErdogan finances and arms terrorist organizations of Hamas to carry out attacks and murder against Israelis. The General Security Service captured a squad of students from Bir Zeit who were employed by the Hamas headquarters in Turkey to carry out murder attacks in Israel, through training and weapons and tens of thousands of dollars provided to them.
“Erdogan turned Turkey into a state that supports terrorism and subjects Turkey to the Iranian axis of evil in the name of extreme ideology and blatant anti-Semitism.”
Katz’s comments were made in reference to a recently thwarted terror attack planned by the student Hamas cell in Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah. The attempted attack, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said, was directed by Hamas’s base in Turkey.ארדואן @RTErdogan מממן ומחמש ארגוני טרור של החמאס לביצוע פיגועים ורצח נגד ישראלים. שירות הביטחון הכללי לכד חוליית סטודנטים מביר זית שהופעלו ע”י מפקדת החמאס בטורקיה לביצוע פיגועי רצח בישראל, באמצעות אימונים ונשק ועשרות אלפי דולרים שסופקו להם.ארדואן הפך את טורקיה למדינה תומכת טרור… pic.twitter.com/R0SCjYdngN
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 21, 2024
Turkey condemns the social media post
The Turkish ministry responded “The Israeli Foreign Minister is trying to hide Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians behind a series of lies, slander and disrespect.
“Israel’s dirty propaganda targeting Türkiye and President Erdoğan, and psychological operation attempts will not bear fruit.
“The members of the Netanyahu Government, who have killed nearly forty thousand Palestinians in Gaza and are now trying to start a regional war in order to stay in power, will be tried in international courts and held accountable for their crimes.
“Türkiye will continue to speak the truth and defend the right of the Palestinian people to live in justice and peace.”
The ministry cited data provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Additionally, Turkey has repeatedly asserted that it does not categorize Hamas as a terrorist organization – despite its western allies acknowledging it as such and its proven attacks on Israeli civilians.
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