Page 24 - Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's Netanyahu rejects any Palestinian sovereignty in post-war Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes any form of Palestinian sovereignty in post-war Gaza, his office said Saturday, appearing to rebuff US President Joe Biden's suggestion that creative solutions could bridge wide gaps between the two leaders' views on Palestinian statehood. In a sign of the pressures Netanyahu's government faces at home and abroad over the war, a protest outside the prime minister's home grew as more people joined a group representing families of the more than 100 remaining hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups. The families are demanding the government take bold steps to free the hostages, fearing that Israel's military activity in Gaza further endangers their lives. Netanyahu is also under heat to appease members of his right-wing ruling coalition by intensifying the war against Hamas, which governs Gaza, and must contend with calls for restraint from the United States, its closest ally. A statement from the prime minister's office said

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas protest outside Netanyahu's home

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protested on Saturday outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing frustration over his government's seeming lack of progress in getting the more than 100 captives released as the war in Gaza drags on. A group representing families of the hostages said they had "begged for 105 days" and now demanded that the government show leadership and take bold steps to free the hostages. A member of Israel's War Cabinet has called a cease-fire the only way to secure their release, a comment that implied criticism of Israel's current strategy. The protest outside the prime minister's home and the remark by former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot were among signs of growing strife in Israel over the direction of the war in its fourth month. Netanyahu has said he will push for complete victory against Hamas but has not outlined how he would achieve it. Critics have accused him of preventing a Cabinet-level debate about a ...

Biden-Netanyahu hold talks after almost a month, discuss two-state solution

The US President also discussed the ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages under Hamas captivity and reviewed the situation in Gaza

Firmly against Palestinian state in any postwar scenario: Netanyahu to US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario, underscoring the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel's assault on Gaza aiming to eliminate its Hamas rulers. The US has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the day after. But in a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realises a decisive victory over Hamas. He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans. In any future arrangement...Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan, Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do? The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends, he ..

Will oppose Palestinian state in any postwar scenario: Netanyahu to US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has informed the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario. The announcement on Thursday exposed the deep divisions that have emerged between the close allies three months into Israel's war against Gaza's Hamas rulers. The US has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the day after. In a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realizes a decisive victory over Hamas. He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans. In any future arrangement...Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan, Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do? The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our .

Israel cabinet passes amended 2024 budget, allocates $15 bn for war in Gaza

Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the Gaza war has shaken up government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending

Netanyahu vows to keep fight against Hamas on as war hits 100-day mark

Israeli statements exposed a growing dissonance between the domestic perception of the timing and goals of the war and increasing international impatience in the face of a deepening crisis in Gaza

Israel cabinet set to vote on 2024 wartime budget, higher deficit

Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the war against Hamas in Gaza has shaken government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending

No one can halt Israel's war to crush Hamas, including world court: PM

Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the world court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech on Saturday, as the fighting in Gaza approached the 100-day mark. Netanyahu spoke after the International Court of Justice at The Hague held two days of hearings on South Africa's allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected as libelous and hypocritical. South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its blistering air and ground offensive in an interim step. "No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else," Netanyahu said in televised remarks on Saturday evening, referring to Iran and its allied militias. The case before the world court is expected to go on for years but a ruling on interim steps could come within weeks. Court rulings are binding but difficult to enforce. Netanyahu made clear that Israel would ignore orde

What is Genocide Convention, basis of South Africa's case against Israel

South Africa has contended that Israel violated the Genocide Convention as "it failed to prevent genocide and failed to prosecute direct and overt incitement to genocide" in its ongoing Gaza offensive

Netanyahu declares war won't end until Israel achieves 'all' of its goals

"My government directed the IDF to go to war to eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said

Israeli who fought Hamas for 2 months indicted for impersonating soldier

An Israeli man who never served in the military was charged with impersonating a soldier and stealing weapons after sneaking into an army unit and joining the fighting against Hamas. According to an indictment filed on Sunday, Roi Yifrach, 35, took advantage of the chaotic situation in the aftermath of Hamas' October 7 attack to join combat operations and steal large amounts of military gear, including weapons, munitions and sensitive communications equipment. Israeli media said he spent time fighting in Gaza and even appeared in a photo next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during one of his visits to soldiers in the field. Yifrach went to southern Israel on October 7 and presented himself alternately as a combat soldier from elite anti-terrorism units, a bomb dispersal expert, and a member of the Shin Bet internal security service, the indictment said. Police arrested Yifrach on December 17 and found large amounts of weapons, grenades, magazines, walkie-talkies, a drone, ...

Israeli SC overturns key component of Netanyahu's judicial overhaul

Israel's Supreme Court struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul on Monday, delivering a landmark decision that could reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country's ongoing war against Hamas. The planned overhaul sparked months of mass protests, threatened to trigger a constitutional crisis between the judicial and legislative branches of the government, and rattled the cohesion of Israel's powerful military. Those divisions were largely put aside after Hamas militants carried out a bloody cross-border attack in southern Israel on October 7, triggering a war that has raged in Gaza for nearly three months. But Monday's court decision could reignite those tensions even while the country remains at war. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu ally and the architect of the overhaul, lambasted the court's decision, saying it demonstrated "the opposite of the spirit of unity required these days for the success of

Israel's court overturns key component of Netanyahu's judicial overhaul

Israel's Supreme Court on Monday struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul, a decision that threatens to reopen the fissures in Israeli society that preceded the country's ongoing war against Hamas. Those divisions were largely been put aside while the country focuses on the war, which was triggered by a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas. Monday's court decision could reignite those tensions, which sparked months of mass protests against the government and had rattled the cohesion of the powerful military. There was no immediate reaction from Netanyahu. In Monday's 8-7 majority decision, the court narrowly voted to overturn a law passed in July that prevents judges from overturning government decisions they deem unreasonable. Opponents had argued that Netanyahu's efforts to remove the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions. The law was th

Israel shifts troops out of Gaza strip first time since war began

Thousands of Israeli soldiers are being shifted out of the Gaza Strip, the military said on Monday, in the first significant drawdown of troops since the war began as forces continued to bear down on the main city in the southern half of the enclave. The troop movement could signal that fighting is being scaled back in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern half where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control. Israel has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting. Word of the drawdown came ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel. But fierce fighting continued in other areas of Gaza, especially the southern city Khan Younis and central areas of the territory. Israel has pledged to charge ahead until its war aims have been achieved,

Israeli jets pound central Gaza as Netanyahu indicates longer war

A Red Crescent video published on Sunday showed the chaotic aftermath of strikes in central Gaza, as rescuers worked in the dark to carry an injured child from smoking rubble

Gaza war will go on for 'many more months', says Netanyahu as he thanks US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza will continue for "many more months", pushing back against persistent international ceasefire calls after mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the besieged enclave. Netanyahu thanked the Biden administration for its continued backing, including approval for a new emergency weapons sale, the second this month, and prevention of a UN Security Council resolution seeking an immediate cease-fire. Israel argues that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas, a stance shared by the Biden administration, which at the same time urged Israel to do more to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians. In new fighting, Israeli warplanes struck the urban refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij in the center of the territory Saturday as ground forces pushed deeper into the southern city of Khan Younis. The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that more than 21,600 Palestinians have been killed in ..

Gaza war far from over: Netanyahu reaffirms; Israel's budget deficit swells

Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza will likely cost it at least another 50 billion shekels ($14 billion) in 2024 and result in a near-tripling of its budget deficit, the Finance Ministry said on Monday

War exacts very heavy price from us, but we have no choice: Netanyahu

Fifteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Gaza over the weekend, the Israeli military said on Sunday, while tentative efforts continued on a deal for another exchange of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel. As Christmas Eve fell, smoke still rose over Gaza from the fighting, while Bethlehem in the West Bank was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off. The mounting death toll among Israeli troops 154 since the ground offensive began could erode public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the besieged territory's 2.3 million people. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day. Israelis still largely stand behind the country's stated goals of crushing Hamas' governing and military capabilities and

PM Modi, Israel's Netanyahu hold talks on maritime security over Gaza war

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a "productive" conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on the Israel-Hamas conflict including "shared concerns" over the safety of maritime traffic in the region. In the phone talks, Modi also highlighted India's consistent stand in favour of early restoration of peace and stability in the region with continued humanitarian assistance for the affected people. "Had a productive exchange of views with PM @netanyahu on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, including shared concerns on the safety of maritime traffic," Modi posted on 'X'. "Highlighted India's consistent stand in favour of early restoration of peace & stability in the region with continued humanitarian assistance for the affected," he said. There have been concerns over the safety of maritime traffic in the region. A missile reportedly fired by Yemen's Houthi militants hit a commercial tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen last week triggering ...