The latest proposed cease-fire deal drawing skepticism in Israel really did come from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and has its approval, a Biden administration official said Wednesday.
“Israel’s a raucous democracy, so there’s a lot of talk and a lot of chatter, but the Israeli government has reconfirmed repeatedly, as recently as today, that the proposal is still on the table,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on NBC’s “Today” show. “Now it’s up to Hamas to accept it. The whole world should call on Hamas to accept it.”
Biden did not consult with Netanyahu before making the announcement to make it harder for Israel to back out of the agreement, Reuters reported, citing three U.S. officials.
Leaders of multiple Israeli political parties have threatened to drop out of Netanyahu’s governing coalition if he strikes a deal before Hamas is thoroughly defeated. Netanyahu has continued to pledge to destroy Hamas, an issue not specifically dealt with in the proposal.
President Joe Biden sent CIA director William Burns and Middle East envoy Brett McGurk to meet Wednesday with delegations from Egypt and Qatar with a goal of reviving truce negotiations, Reuters reported.
Hamas political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh reiterated that the militant group will deal “seriously and positively with any agreement” that includes a complete halt to conflict and total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
But a resumption of mediated talks between Israel and Hamas would not mean a suspension of the war in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday.
“We are in a process where we will continue and wear down the enemy,” Gallant said after witnessing the aftermath of Israeli military strikes from an F-15 jet. “Any negotiations with the Hamas terror organization will only be conducted under fire.”
Developments:
∎ More than a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were taken into custody at Stanford University about two hours after taking control of the school president’s office, The Stanford Daily reported. The Daily, citing campus police, said there was “extensive damage” to the interior and exterior of the building. Police did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for details.
∎ Gaza faces unprecedented disease outbreaks this summer caused by piles of uncollected waste rotting in the heat, Action Against Hunger warned. Project coordinator Fenia Diamanti said trash can’t be removed from the war-torn territory and residents have no access to dumps.
∎ An Israeli court on Wednesday upheld a 35-day ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel imposed by the government, citing national security concerns. The Qatari-based news outlet has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Pressure on Netanyahu builds:Biden questions his motives, Hamas sticks to demands
11 Israelis wounded in Hezbollah attack from Lebanon
At least 11 people were wounded Wednesday by explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon into the northern Israeli town of Hurfeish as skirmishes along the border continued to intensify. Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, claiming it was a response to recent deadly Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it was investigating why no alerts were triggered during the attack, but it didn’t take long to respond, saying later in the day its warplanes hit several Hezbollah targets. “The strikes included terrorist infrastructure in Naqoura and Matmoura, Hezbollah military structures in Ayta ash Shab, and a Hezbollah observation post in Khiam,” said the Israel Defense Forces, whose artillery also fired at the militant group’s targets in southern Lebanon.
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu visited the northern city of Kiryat Shmona and warned that Israel had prepared an “extremely powerful” response to the escalating attacks. Kiryat Shmona is one of a string of northern Israeli towns that have been mostly evacuated for months because of the attacks Hezbollah says are a show of solidarity for Palestinians in Gaza.
“Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will respond by sitting on our hands is making a big mistake,” Netanyahu said. “We are prepared for very intense action in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north.”
NYT: Israel targeted US lawmakers with fake social media profiles
A pro-Israeli social media influence campaign involving hundreds of fake profiles on Facebook and X primarily targeting Black members of Congress was financed by the Israeli government, the New York Times reported. The Times, citing multiple Israeli officials as well as some documents, said the $2 million covert campaign was commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.
The effort was first revealed earlier this year by Fake Reporter, a disinformation watchdog group that said the accounts followed a pattern typical of “foreign influence operations” that frequently shared identical content. The Fake Reporter investigation, which did not tie the effort directly to the Israeli government, said much of the content was linked to fictitious news platforms. The content said university campuses had become unsafe for Jewish students, attacked the U.N.’s Palestinian aid agency and focused on crimes committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
Fake Reporter said the effort was linked to STOIC, a Tel-Aviv based marketing agency, and that Facebook owner META had recently banned the accounts from the site. Meta did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
US-built pier in Gaza may be back in use by week’s end
The Pentagon expects to re-anchor its humanitarian-aid pier in Gaza by week’s end, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Wednesday.
High seas and storms ripped the pier from shore and damaged it last week. The Biden administration had touted the pier as an alternative route to bring in food and medicine desperately needed by Palestinians caught in the fighting between Hamas and Israel.
But the effort to establish a maritime corridor was beset by problems from the start. Palestinians mobbed the first aid trucks after they left shore, preventing them from reaching distribution points. Of the 1,000 U.S. troops helping build the structure, three were injured, one of them critically. That soldier was recently flown from a hospital in Israel to an Army base in Texas where he remains in critical condition, Singh said.
The pier is being repaired in Israel. Before it was damaged, the floating dock funneled about 1,000 metric tons of aid to Gaza, Singh said. She also highlighted one bit of good news: The price tag for building and operating the pier, initially estimated at $320 million, has fallen to $230 million. Lower costs for trucks needed to ferry the aid and contributions from allies like the United Kingdom accounted for the savings, she said.
− Tom Vanden Brook
Medical situation in Gaza is ‘apocalyptic’
The bodies of at least 70 people have been brought to Al-Aqsa hospital since Tuesday following heavy Israeli strikes in central Gaza, Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday. Another 300 wounded people, the majority of whom are women and children, also have arrived at the overwhelmed hospital, the international aid agency said. The repeated mass casualty incidents in Gaza are unacceptable and the “horrific toll on civilians shows the total disregard” for human life, the agency said in a social media post.
“With the insane escalation of violence in various locations in the Gaza Strip over the last 48 hours, and while the Rafah crossing point has remained closed for a month, the health system has been stretched to the point of collapse,” agency medical coordinator Karin Huster said. “The situation is apocalyptic.”
Israeli lawmaker threatens to disrupt Netanyahu’s ruling coalition
Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his Otzma Yehudit Party will not vote with Netanyahu’s fragile coalition in the Knesset until details of the latest cease-fire proposal are revealed. President Joe Biden said last week that Netanyahu’s War Cabinet offered a plan for a permanent cease-fire in return for release of all hostages held by Hamas-led militants. Ben-Gvir opposes any plan to end the war before Hamas has been eliminated.
“As long as the Prime Minister continues to hide the details of the deal, Otzma Yehudit will disrupt his coalition,” Ben-Gvir pledged in a social media post.
An Israeli peace plan that could be rejected − by Israel
The current peace proposal was framed by Biden as an Israeli offer, but now Israel may be balking. Netanyahu has sent mixed signals, and agreeing to it risks a revolt by ultra-nationalists who could topple his government’s ruling coalition. The proposal contained no clear solution to the fundamental Hamas demand that any cease-fire plan be permanent and involve a complete withdrawal of Israel’s military from Gaza. Under the three-phase plan, all hostages would be freed by the end of the second phase.
Also not clear is the fate of Hamas under the plan. Netanyahu has pledged to destroy the militant group, and members of his ruling coaliton have threatened to abandon the prime minister if he backs down from that pledge.
Simcha Rothman, a lawyer and member of the Knesset from the far-right Religious Zionist Party, said he suspected Biden was “trying to interfere in Israel’s politics, which is unacceptable.”
− Kim Hjelmgaard
Thousands join Jerusalem Day Flag March
Thousands of mostly ultranationalist Israelis took part in the Jerusalem Day Flag March through the Palestinian section of the city, many chanting anti-Arab and anti-Muslim slogans, including “Death to Arabs.” Police arrested 18 people for violent acts, according to the Times of Israel, which said extremists assaulted journalists and Palestinian residents.
The march celebrates Israel seizing East Jerusalem following the 1967 Six Day War. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the march was “sending a message” to Palestinians: “Our Jerusalem. And with the help of (God), our complete victory.”
In speeches, Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to expand the war in Gaza and go after Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Times of Israel reported.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed Wednesday that “our people will not rest” until an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital. Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel, expressed disgust with the march in a social media post.
“Scenes like this from Jerusalem today do not speak of the deep spiritual connection to the city that Jews have felt for thousands of years,” he said. “They speak of blind hate that these kids have been taught.”
