A disturbing hostage video sparks protests in Israel and intensifies calls for negotiations. Meanwhile, Egypt is threatening to withdraw from its mediating role. The news at a glance.
Israel’s government plans to resume talks on the release of all hostages still held in the Gaza Strip following the release of disturbing video footage of the kidnapping of five Israeli soldiers. The War Cabinet instructed the negotiating team to continue efforts to secure the release of the abductees, Israeli media reported, citing a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Meanwhile, thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the Hamas massacre on October 7. The families of the abducted called on the Israeli government not to “waste a single moment more” and to return to the negotiating table immediately.
Egypt threatens to withdraw as mediator
Meanwhile, Egypt has threatened to withdraw from its role as mediator in the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. Continued attempts to cast doubt on Egypt’s mediation efforts and role with false allegations would only further complicate the situation in the Gaza Strip and the entire region, said Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egyptian state information service, in a statement.
This could “lead the Egyptian side to decide to withdraw completely from mediation in the conflict.” He was reacting to a CNN report that Egyptian intelligence had changed a ceasefire proposal accepted by Israel without consulting the other mediators.
Since Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly with each other, Egypt, Qatar and the USA act as mediators. According to the US broadcaster CNN, Egypt’s secret service is said to have quietly changed the proposal for a ceasefire that had already been accepted by Israel and added further demands from Hamas.
When the Islamists agreed to an agreement on May 6, it did not correspond to the proposal that the other mediators thought had been submitted to Hamas for consideration, the broadcaster reported, citing three unnamed people familiar with the discussions. The incident caused enormous anger and led to a deadlock in the talks.
US Defense Secretary calls on Israel to reach agreement with Egypt
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant about the situation at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon announced. Austin called on the ally to bring talks with Egypt about reopening the Rafah border crossing and the flow of aid from Egypt via Kerem Shalom to fruition. Rafah is closed following Israel’s army’s recent takeover of the Palestinian side. Egypt insisted that deliveries could only resume when the Palestinian side of the crossing was back under Palestinian control, wrote the Times of Israel.
Egypt is also said to have stopped deliveries via Kerem Shalom. After the Israelis took over the Palestinian side of the crossing in Rafah, the Egyptians did not want to appear to be their accomplices by channeling aid through Karem Shalom instead, Politico wrote. Kerem Shalom is about three kilometers from Rafah. Austin emphasized to Galant the urgent need to increase humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip through all available border crossings, the Pentagon said.
According to the US government, Israel’s advance in Rafah has not yet reached the extent it warned its allies about. “Israeli military operations in this area to date have been more targeted and limited and have not included major military operations in the center of densely populated urban areas,” said US President Joe Biden’s security adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington on Wednesday.
Netanyahu on hostage video: Do everything to get them back
In the video previously published in Israel, a compilation of the terrorists’ bodycam footage, injured, some covered in blood, young women can be seen with their heavily armed kidnappers. The women had been deployed as army scouts in the border area with the Gaza Strip.
They are obviously frightened and have their arms tied behind their backs. Terrorists keep shouting at them and threatening them. The women’s parents had agreed to the release of the video in the hope that the horrific images could contribute to the release of their daughters and other hostages as a result of a deal between Israel and Hamas.
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is under pressure domestically, made a statement after the video was published: “We will continue to do everything we can to bring them home,” he promised, according to the Israeli news site Ynet. “The cruelty of the Hamas terrorists only strengthens my resolve to fight with all my strength for the elimination of Hamas so that what we saw tonight can never be repeated.”
In the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas in the Israeli border region on October 7, around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip. The attack triggered Israel’s military offensive in the sealed-off coastal area, in which, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 35,700 people have been killed so far. The count, which is difficult to verify independently, does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
USA: Israel’s military operation in Rafah is targeted
According to the US government, Israel’s advance in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has not yet reached the extent that it warned its ally about. “Israeli military operations to date in this area have been more targeted and limited and have not included major military operations in the center of densely populated urban areas,” US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in Washington.
He was then asked whether Israel had addressed the concerns of the US government and whether it supported what the Israeli military was doing there. “We now have to wait and see how the situation develops,” stressed Sullivan. The US opposes a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah because of the high number of civilians.
USA critical of announced recognition of Palestine
After the announced recognition of Palestine as a state by several European countries, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell continues to advocate for a two-state solution in the Middle East. “I note today’s announcement by two EU member states – Ireland and Spain – as well as Norway on the recognition of the State of Palestine,” wrote the EU foreign policy chief on Platform X.
“Within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, I will work tirelessly with all member states to promote a common EU position based on a two-state solution.” Germany also stresses the goal of a two-state solution. However, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu rejects this, as does Hamas, which denies Israel the right to exist.
The USA, as Israel’s most important ally, is critical of the announced recognition of Palestine by several European countries. “We believe that a two-state solution that is fair to both Israelis and Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties,” Sullivan said.
The Biden administration has been working on this for a long time. It is not clear to him how the unilateral recognition of Palestine contributes to actual progress towards a peace process or ceasefire.
Galant drives forward reconstruction of settlements
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant is pushing ahead with the repopulation of four towns in the northern West Bank that were evacuated in 2005. According to media reports, Galant described the lifting of orders that had banned Israelis from entering the area of the former settlements of Ganim, Kadim and Sanur as a “historic step.” Access to a fourth settlement had already been approved.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other places. Around 700,000 Israelis now live there in more than 200 settlements. In 2016, the UN Security Council described these settlements as illegal under international law and called on Israel to stop all settlement activities. The Palestinians want to establish their own state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.