US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, on November 30, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
Published December 13, 2023
US president meets hostages’ families, says working to free them * Authorities: Hostages Tal Chaimi, Joshua Mollel are dead * Hamas’s Haniyeh voices openness to talks on ending war
Families of Gaza hostages demand ‘urgent update’ from PM after report on no new talks
Family members of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza say they are “shocked” by a report earlier that the war cabinet decided against sending the head of the Mossad to Qatar to advance negotiations on a new hostage deal, and are demanding an “immediate explanation” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Channel 13 news said tonight that the war cabinet directing the operation against Hamas is in disagreement over the extent of the efforts currently being made on talks toward a new hostage deal, and decided recently against sending Mossad chief David Barnea to Qatar, where he helped negotiate the hostage deal last month that saw the release of 105 civilians — Israeli women and children, and foreign nationals — during a weeklong fighting truce.
According to the report, Barnea offered to head to Qatar again. An unnamed diplomatic official told Channel 13 that, for now, Barnea “is not heading to Qatar, and the decision is that we are listening to suggestions if they come.”
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SOURCE: www.timesofIsrael.com
RELATED: Biden says Netanyahu must change, Israel losing global support
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks, following a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, during a press conference in Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S., November 26, 2023…. Acquire Licensing Rights
Published December 13, 2023
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Israel is losing support over its “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu should change, exposing a new rift in relations with the Israeli prime minister.
Biden’s remarks, made to donors to his 2024 re-election campaign, were his most critical to date of Netanyahu’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. They are a stark contrast to his literal and political embrace of the Israeli leader days after Hamas militants’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
“Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world … But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” Biden said.
Israel’s retaliation against the Hamas attacks has killed 18,000, Gaza officials say, wounded 50,000 and created a humanitarian crisis. Biden’s remarks opened a new window into his blunt private conversations with Netanyahu, with whom he has had deep disagreements for decades.
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SOURCE: www.Reuters.com
RELATED: Biden takes a tougher stance on Israel’s ‘indiscriminate bombing’ of Gaza
President Joe Biden speaks at a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023.(Bonnie Cash/Pool via AP)
Published December 13, 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, speaking out in unusually strong language just hours before the United Nations demanded a humanitarian cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
“Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them,” Biden said to donors during a fundraiser Tuesday.
“They’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” he said.
The president said he thought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understood, but he wasn’t so sure about the Israeli war cabinet. Israeli forces were carrying out punishing strikes across Gaza, crushing Palestinians in homes as the military presses ahead with an offensive that officials say could go on for weeks or months.
Biden offered a harder-than-usual assessment of Israel’s decisions since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and the moves by his conservative government. Meanwhile, Biden’s top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is heading to Israel this week to consult directly about timetables for ending major combat.
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
