Key Points
- Protests in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu have continued into a second day after a general strike by labour unions.
- Demonstrators are urging Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement that frees remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.
- Netanyahu has rejected calls to ease his position on the Philadelphi corridor, a major sticking point in negotiations.
If Israel were to pull out of the corridor, international pressure would make it difficult to return, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance on the prolonged negotiations, which have shown little progress, has frustrated allies, including the United States. Source: AAP / Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
Netanyahu’s stance on the negotiations, which have continued for weeks with little sign of a breakthrough, has frustrated allies, including the United States, and widened a rift with his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
On Sunday, Gallant, who has clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu and other ministers, called on the cabinet to reverse an earlier decision to keep troops in the Philadelphi corridor to reach a deal to bring more hostages home.
US says Benjamin Netanyahu not doing enough on hostage deal
On Monday, while speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden was asked whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal. “No,” he replied, without elaborating on his remarks.
US President Joe Biden has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Source: AAP / Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA
Asked about Biden’s comments, Netanyahu said the pressure should be applied to Hamas, not Israel, particularly after the killing of the hostages, who he said had been shot in the back of the head by their captors.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called Netanyahu’s comments in the news conference “baseless political spin” aimed at ensuring his political survival by placating his coalition partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who lead two hardline parties that reject any accommodations to reach a deal.
Israeli protests continue
The recovery on the weekend of the six hostages triggered a wave of grief and fury in Israel, prompting at least half a million people to take to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Protests in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to do more to reach a deal to secure hostages have continued into a second day. Source: AAP / Atef Safadi/EPA
The demonstrators demanded Netanyahu reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to bring the remaining 101 hostages home.
On Monday, thousands again gathered in Tel Aviv, waving blue and white Israeli flags or carrying photographs of hostages.
Israel’s nearly 11-month-long assault in Gaza has laid waste to the enclave and killed more than 40,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities.
Palestinian man dies in detention in the West Bank
The director of the Wissam Bakr hospital in Jenin said the body bore signs of beatings and torture.
Mourners during the funeral of Ayman Rajeh Abed, who died after he was detained by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Source: AAP / Alaa Bardaneh/EPA
The Israeli military said Abed had been detained during counterterrorism operations and experienced a “cardiac event” on arrival at a detention facility.
“The IDF is aware of reports that the suspect died during his evacuation by the Red Crescent,” it said in a statement, adding that details of the incident were under review.
Israel’s operation in the occupied West Bank has killed at least 29 Palestinians and caused extensive damage to houses and infrastructure. Source: AAP / Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/Sipa USA
The death occurred as Israeli forces extended their operations in Jenin to villages around the city, where bulldozers continued to dig up streets and major thoroughfares to find roadside bombs.
Israel launched the operation, one of the largest in months, on Wednesday, saying Iranian-backed militant groups were planning to attack civilian targets.
Late on Sunday, a man was killed west of Jenin city. On Monday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said a man had been hit in the chest by gunfire in Qabatiya near Jenin. His condition was described as serious.