Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to pause the fighting that appear to have been making some progress in recent days.
The push toward Rafah has drawn warnings from Israel’s closest ally, the United States, because of the potential for mass civilian casualties beyond the nearly 30,000 Gazans who have already been reported killed in the war, more than half of whom are women and children.
The Israeli government has come under intense criticism from neighbors and allies alike for the breadth of death and destruction in Gaza as it has prosecuted its war against Hamas in retaliation for the militant-led Oct. 7 attacks which killed a reported 1,200 people in Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments seemed to underline the yawning gulf between how the war is being perceived inside Israel, where the main concern is the release of Israeli hostages and the defeat of Hamas, and much of the rest of the world, where there is anger and despair over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments came as an Israeli delegation prepared to leave for Qatar for intensive talks with mediators aimed at closing the gaps around a new deal for a temporary cease-fire with Hamas and the release of some hostages held in Gaza.
One main sticking point in negotiations has been Hamas’s insistence, at least publicly, on a complete cessation of hostilities as a condition for any hostage deal, as well as the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to pause the fighting that appear to have been making some progress in recent days.
The push toward Rafah has drawn warnings from Israel’s closest ally, the United States, because of the potential for mass civilian casualties beyond the nearly 30,000 Gazans who have already been reported killed in the war, more than half of whom are women and children.
The Israeli government has come under intense criticism from neighbors and allies alike for the breadth of death and destruction in Gaza as it has prosecuted its war against Hamas in retaliation for the militant-led Oct. 7 attacks which killed a reported 1,200 people in Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments seemed to underline the yawning gulf between how the war is being perceived inside Israel, where the main concern is the release of Israeli hostages and the defeat of Hamas, and much of the rest of the world, where there is anger and despair over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments came as an Israeli delegation prepared to leave for Qatar for intensive talks with mediators aimed at closing the gaps around a new deal for a temporary cease-fire with Hamas and the release of some hostages held in Gaza.
One main sticking point in negotiations has been Hamas’s insistence, at least publicly, on a complete cessation of hostilities as a condition for any hostage deal, as well as the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
The original article contains 861 words, the summary contains 270 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!