Netanyahu Hoped Hamas Would Reject the Cease-fire Offer. When It Didn't, He Turned to Sabotage

[WellPreserved]

"Israel's criminal defendant prime minister, more focused on saving his incompetent far-right government than saving the hostages who have spent seven months trapped in Gaza, is doing everything he can to torpedo Israel's last and best chance at bringing the hostages home."

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/202 ... 65f8a5b8c1

U.S. put a hold on an ammunition shipment to Israel

Behind the scenes: Last Wednesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and had a "tough" conversation with Netanyahu regarding a possible Israeli operation in Rafah, two sources briefed on the meeting said.

Blinken told Netanyahu during their meeting that "a major military operation" in Rafah would lead to the U.S. publicly opposing it and would negatively impact U.S.-Israel relations.
A day later White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Israeli leaders understand that President Biden "is sincere" when he talks about the possibility of changes to U.S. policy regarding the Gaza war "should they move ahead with some sort of ground operation in Rafah that doesn't take into account the refugees."
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a Financial Times conference in Washington on Saturday that the Biden administration made clear to Israel that the way it will conduct an operation in Rafah will influence U.S. policy towards the Gaza war.

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/05/israel ... taZZsN8gPy

This is going to be quite a tense week.

[Della]

It's almost like he's saying if he can't have it, no one will.

To add, the only reason Biden is even thinking about stopping the bombs is due to his polls for the election. If it weren't for that, it would be bomb, bomb, bomb.

[Della]

"The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah to start evacuating from the area, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent."

https://apnews.com/article/israel-pales ... 4aa4be53e0

[Della]

"Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. But after Oct. 7 and the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by Hamas, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day."

https://apnews.com/article/israel-pales ... 4aa4be53e0


"In December 2023, during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces had designated Al-Mawasi as one of the only safe areas in the Gaza Strip.[1] Hundreds of thousands of people had fled there, and found only a barren strip of land with no basic resources such as food, water, or sanitation.[2] In February 2024, as the IDF announced plans to expand operations into Rafah where hundreds of thousands had come to as a last refuge, Israeli authorities called Al-Mawasi a "safer zone".[3] In an interview with Channel 4 News, Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levi, when pressed to confirm if civilians displaced northwards once more would be safe from further bombardment, stated that "it will not be safe" until Gaza was free from Hamas.[4]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mawasi