U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv on Friday on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the war. Blinken said he would share alternatives to Israel’s planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah during talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet. However, after the meeting, Netanyahu said Israel would “do it alone” if necessary and that without an invasion of Rafah, Israel can’t achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.
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Quick Read
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv to discuss alternatives to a planned ground assault in Gaza, specifically targeting the town of Rafah.
- Despite Blinken’s efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted Israel’s readiness to proceed “alone” with the Rafah invasion to meet its objectives against Hamas.
- The Rafah area has become a refuge for over a million Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes, with severe malnutrition reported among children due to restricted food supplies.
- The Gaza Health Ministry reported nearly 32,000 Palestinian fatalities, with women and children constituting two-thirds of the casualties.
- Blinken reiterated the U.S. support for Israel’s goals but criticized the ground operation as ineffective for defeating Hamas.
- Netanyahu remains firm on the necessity of a Rafah invasion, rejecting U.S. appeals for alternative solutions.
- Relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas protested outside Blinken’s hotel in Tel Aviv, demanding action for their release.
- Amidst Blinken’s visit, Israel announced the seizure of nearly 2,000 acres in the West Bank for settlement expansion, drawing criticism from the international community.
- Israel’s military is investigating an airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza, after footage surfaced showing the apparent killing of five Palestinians.
- In the West Bank, a Palestinian shooter injured three Israelis near the Dolev settlement; Israeli forces later killed the attacker.
The Associated Press has the story:
Blinken urges Israel not to invade Rafah. Netanyahu says he’ll ‘do it alone’
Newslooks- TEL AVIV, Israel — (AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv on Friday on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the war.
Blinken said he would share alternatives to Israel’s planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah during talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet.
However, after the meeting, Netanyahu said Israel would “do it alone” if necessary and that without an invasion of Rafah, Israel can’t achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.
More than a million Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah from devastating Israeli ground and air strikes further north. So little food has been allowed into Gaza that up to 60% of children under 5 are now malnourished, compared with fewer than 1% before the war began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.
The Health Ministry in Gaza raised the territory’s death toll Thursday to nearly 32,000 Palestinians. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza, which triggered the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 people hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.
Blinken told reporters Friday that the U.S. shares Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas. But he said the ground operation “is not, in our judgment, the way to achieve it.”
He spoke after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he had told the secretary that Israel remains committed to the Rafah ground operation.
Blinken spoke shortly before returning to the U.S. after his sixth trip to the Mideast since the war erupted last October.
Blinken says much of the trip focused on efforts to forge a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and to increase the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into the war-battered Gaza Strip.
He said there has been progress, but still “lots of work to be done” before a deal is reached.
The U.S. has been working for weeks with mediators Qatar and Egypt in search of a formula that would halt the fighting in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.
NETANYAHU REJECTS U.S. CALL NOT TO INVADE RAFAH
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rebuffed American calls to halt plans for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Netanyahu said Friday that he told the visiting U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that a ground offensive is the only way to destroy Hamas.
“I said we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and destroying the remaining battalions there,” he said. “I told him that I hope we will do this with the support of the United States, but if necessary, we will do it alone.”
Ahead of the meeting, Blinken had said the U.S. supports Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, but believes there are alternatives to a ground invasion.
Over 1 million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Rafah after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza. The U.S. and the rest of the international community fear an Israeli invasion will lead to large civilian casualties.
Blinken was set to speak to reporters later Friday before returning to the U.S.
RELATIVES OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES RALLY OUTSIDE BLINKEN’S HOTEL, DEMANDING A DEAL TO RELEASE CAPTIVES IN GAZA
TEL AVIV, Israel — Dozens of relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas demonstrated Friday outside the hotel where the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is staying in central Tel Aviv, demanding a deal to bring the release of their loved ones.
Many held up American and Israeli flags while others brandished placards of their relatives who were seized by the militant group when its fighters invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7., the act that sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“Hostage deal now!” the crowd chanted. “Blinken, you can bring them home again!”
The rally came hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim, normally a festive occasion. Referring to one hostage by name, a sign read: “This is Purim without Ofer.”
Blinken arrived in Israel earlier Friday in the final stop of his Mideast tour, his sixth visit to the region since October.
Families of the captives have accused Israel’s war cabinet of not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages after months of failed cease-fire negotiations.
Any cease-fire deal would likely see the hostages freed in return for the release of a larger number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. About 120 hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians were freed during a week-long cease-fire in November.
Hamas is believed to still be holding around 100 hostages.
ISRAEL SEIZES ANOTHER 2,000 ACRES FOR SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK, WATCHDOG SAYS
JERUSALEM — An Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group says Israel has seized nearly 2,000 acres of land in the occupied West Bank, clearing the way for Israel to build settlements there.
The announcement came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Israel. The international community, along with the Palestinians, considers settlement construction illegal or illegitimate and an obstacle to peace.
Peace Now said Friday that Israeli Cabinet Minister Bezalel Smotrich had declared the area “state land” — a designation that makes it government property. The land is in the Jordan Valley — a strategic area that is home to many Palestinian farms and seen as essential for the viability of a future Palestinian state.
In a statement, Peace Now said the area is the largest piece of land seized by Israel since the interim Oslo peace accords three decades ago. “The year 2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land,” the group said.
Smotrich serves as Israel’s finance minister and in a newly created ministerial position in the Defense Ministry putting him in charge of Israel’s settlement policy. Smotrich, himself an outspoken settler leader, heads an ultra-nationalist party in parliament and has used his position to bolster the settlements.
Israel’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition is dominated by West Bank settlers and their political supporters.
Over 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank, captured by Israel with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state.
ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL INVESTIGATE AIRSTRIKE THAT APPARENTLY KILLED FIVE MEN WALKING IN GAZA
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military says it has opened an investigation into an airstrike that appears to have killed five Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip.
Aerial footage of the episode circulating on social media shows four men walking along a dirt road before they are hit in the strike. A fifth man is then hit as he tries to run away.
The origin of the footage remains unclear. But in a statement Friday, the army said the airstrike had occurred in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, a focus of army operations against Hamas, in early February.
It said the video was being investigated by its special “fact finding” body tasked with investigating potential crimes by its forces.
Khan Younis has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war, sparked when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.
Rights groups have accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, where nearly 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
South Africa has filed a case in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide – a claim Israel rejects. Israel says Hamas is guilty of war crimes and says its military acts within the rules of international law.
ISRAELI FORCES KILL PALESTINIAN SHOOTER WHO WOUNDED THREE ISRAELIS IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli military said it killed a Palestinian man who opened fire near a Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Friday, as violence has surged across the territory amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Three Israelis were wounded in the shooting, one in a serious condition, medical officials said.
The military said the man opened fire at an Israeli vehicle at a junction near Dolev settlement around 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the city of Ramallah early Friday morning.
After a search, Israeli forces later killed the shooter near the name junction. During the search, troops raided his home in the nearby Palestinian village of Deir Ibzi. His wife, Lamees Samhan, said she was she briefly detained and blindfolded.
Violence has spiked across the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. At least 447 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in east Jerusalem and the West Bank since October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Currently:
— Russia and China veto US resolution calling for immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
— Blinken says an Israeli assault on Gaza’s Rafah would be a mistake, and isn’t needed to defeat Hamas.
— Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip, and it’s determined to launch an offensive.
— U.S. House speaker says he plans to invite Netanyahu to address the Congress.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
