Facing this predicament, the Israeli Red Team would suggest a radical alternative: Israel should call for a permanent cease-fire that would be followed by an immediate Israeli withdrawal of all military forces in Gaza on the condition that Hamas return all the hostages it has left, civilians and military, and any dead. But Hamas would […]
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A weeklong cease-fire in the Gaza Strip collapsed on Friday morning, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the breakdown of a truce that had allowed for the exchange of hundreds of hostages and prisoners, and that had briefly raised hopes for a more lasting halt to the fighting. The Israeli military said it […]
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Even before a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas expired early on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to fight “until the end.” If Mr. Netanyahu makes good on his promises, the next phase of Israel’s offensive is expected to target southern Gaza, a complicated endeavor with competing factors at play. Southern Gaza is […]
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As international pressure grows to extend a temporary cease-fire with Hamas, some right-wing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are threatening to bring it down if he does not resume fighting in Gaza. The far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said on Wednesday that if Israel did not continue its war with Hamas, his […]
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That is not Iran’s agenda. The raw power dimension is over who will be the hegemon, i.e. the big dog, in the region — Shiite Iran, tied to Russia and extending its reach to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, or Sunni Arab-dominated Saudi Arabia in a tacit alliance with Bahrain, the U.A.E., Jordan, Egypt and […]
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The decision by Israel and Hamas to extend their brief truce has created short-term benefits for both sides but amplified uncertainty about how, when and whether Israel will continue its invasion of the Gaza Strip. The agreement to prolong the cease-fire to six days from four has raised expectations that both sides will now agree […]
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Elon Musk traveled to Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, touring the scene of a Hamas attack in a visit that appeared aimed at calming the outcry over his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, the social media platform he owns. Dozens of major brands suspended their advertising on […]
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A third group of Gaza Strip hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl whose parents were killed in the Hamas raids on Israel, was freed on Sunday, raising the prospect more captives could be set free and a fragile truce extended. The 17 hostages released by Hamas, who were seized when the militants raided Israel on […]
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visited his country’s troops in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, three days into a pause in fighting there, and vowed that “we are continuing until the end — until victory.” “Nothing will stop us,” he said in a video statement in which he wore protective gear and was surrounded […]
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It is said that wars end when both sides conclude they have nothing more to gain by fighting. By that logic, Israel and the Palestinians should have long ago agreed to the only solution that makes sense: separate states side by side. They’ve tried, again and again, but in this cauldron of religious passion and […]
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Hamas freed two dozen hostages held in Gaza and Israel released nearly 40 imprisoned Palestinians on Friday, completing the first exchange in a tense, temporary truce that halted the fighting after seven weeks of war. The cease-fire, reached after weeks of painstaking negotiation with the help of Egypt, Qatar and the United States, had held […]
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“I think he needs to do everything he can for the Palestinian people,” Mr. Butterworth said. But, he added: “I’m a fan of Joe Biden, so I don’t mind him coming. I think he’s doing as well as he can with all the resistance he has from Congress and all that.” The Bidens have been […]
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When it was all said and done, the deal to release some of the hostages held by Hamas came down to two critical phone calls ultimately forcing each side to make a tough concession. The Israelis were insisting that it was not enough to free just 50 of the roughly 240 hostages. They had to […]
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President Biden and his aides are using the agreement for a brief halt to hostilities in Gaza to push the Israeli government to take broad measures aimed at lessening the harm to Palestinian civilians, including setting up safe areas, allowing in much more aid and fuel, and restoring basic services such as water and electricity, […]
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Nearly a week after the army captured Al-Shifa, however, Mr. Gallant and his allies backed the cease-fire — giving it overwhelming support at the cabinet table — in part because they believed that the decision to capture a larger area of Gaza City had allowed Israel to gather more intelligence about the missing hostages, as […]
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There have been five wars in the last 15 years between Israel and Hamas. How do we end the current one and prevent a sixth from happening, sooner or later? How do we balance our desire to stop the fighting with the need to address the roots of the conflict? For 75 years, diplomats, well-intentioned […]
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Aides said the president was also hopeful that the hostage release could be an early step toward a broader peace in the region once the immediate crisis ends. In an opinion article published in the Washington Post on Sunday, Mr. Biden described how far his ambitions stretch beyond the four-day pause in fighting agreed to […]
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In the darkness at Al-Shifa Hospital on Thursday night, it was unclear where the shaft led or how deep it went, although the military said it had sent a drone down at least several meters. Electrical wiring was visible inside, along with a metal staircase. Colonel Tsury acknowledged the pressure on Israel to show evidence […]
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Shock, grief and pain have cascaded across Israel since Hamas gunmen poured out of Gaza to kill an estimated 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers on Oct. 7. So have anger and a thirst for vengeance, which the country’s leaders are verbalizing in language that critics in Israel say often crosses the line into incitement. “We […]
Read More Shock, grief and pain have cascaded across Israel since Hamas gunmen poured out of Gaza to kill an estimated 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers on Oct. 7. So have anger and a thirst for vengeance, which the country’s leaders are verbalizing in language that critics in Israel say often crosses the line into incitement. “We […]
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During my nine days of reporting recently in Israel and the West Bank, little did I know that the most revealing moment would come in the final hours of my visit. As I was packing to leave last Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a news conference in which he indicated that Israel and […]
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For the past month, normal life in Ramallah — a city in the West Bank usually known for its young population and its vibrant nightlife — has been brought to a standstill. Since Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attacks, Israeli forces have launched numerous raids on the West Bank, arresting people from all walks of life: […]
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Dozens of State Department employees have signed internal memos to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken expressing serious disagreement with the Biden administration’s approach to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to U.S. officials, part of a surging tide of internal disagreement within the Biden administration over the Middle East crisis. At least three internal […]
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The Biden administration has made clear it is aware of the tensions. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank; pouring gasoline on fire is what it’s like,” President Biden recently said. “It has to stop now.” The administration also took the unusual step of seeking, and getting, […]
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Will they win? If the question is whether Israel will be able to defeat Hamas, the answer is almost certainly yes: Israeli military planners have been war-gaming an invasion of Gaza for decades and, despite the intelligence blunders of Oct. 7, have tools and tactics that can flush Hamas’s fighters out of their maze of […]
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Israel’s decision two weeks ago to hold off on a full-scale invasion of Gaza and instead carry out a more deliberate, phased ground offensive aligned with suggestions from Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to his Israeli counterparts, officials said. But Israel has also dropped thousands of tons of bombs in its punishing air campaign […]
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People warned me before I came to Tel Aviv a few days ago that the Israel of Oct. 7 is an Israel that I’ve never been to before. They were right. It is a place in which Israelis have never lived before, a nation that Israeli generals have never had to protect before, an ally […]
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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Wednesday that Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority once the war is over, offering a strong signal about what the United States sees as its preferred endgame in the fight between Israel and Hamas. The message, delivered during a meeting of foreign […]
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On Sunday, Anas Al Kourd, a paramedic at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, drove south with a group that included his cousin, whose legs had been amputated after she was wounded in the war, and four children. Theirs was the only car in sight. Around them, people held their hands up in a gesture […]
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But in Gaza, the Authority will be less likely to agree. “I doubt very much, after the experience of the West Bank, that there will be anyone willing to repeat that experience on the Palestinian or Arab side,” he said. Zakaria al-Qaq, a Palestinian analyst, suggested that what Israel was discussing represented occupation, whatever it’s […]
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The White House cautioned Israel on Tuesday against reoccupying Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that his country could hold a security role there “for an indefinite period” once the war is over. “We’re having active discussions with our Israeli counterparts about what post-conflict Gaza looks like,” John Kirby, the White House national security […]
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