Hamas attacks Israel

[George K]

Riddle me this, Batman: Why would they want to destroy the pier that exists only to send food into Gaza?

[taiwan_girl]

[George K]

@taiwan_girl presumably a US interception of a Hamas missile aimed at the "humanitarian pier."

[bachophile]

No. It was test firing. The weapon is deployed on the pier in case it gets targeted.

[George K]

[George K]

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-802556

The International Court of Justice in the Hague ordered Israel to halt its Rafah operation, in a blow to Jerusalem’s diplomatic and judicial systems, on Friday. The court also ordered Israel to enable the entry of all the necessary humanitarian aid to Gaza.

All measures were agreed upon in a vote of 13-2. The two votes against each measure were Julia Sebutinde, Uganda’s representative to the International Court of Justice, and Aharon Barak, former Israeli High Court President and Israel’s appointee to the ICJ Panel.

The ICJ voted that Israel must immediately “halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah [area] which may inflict damaged on the Palestinian population in Gaza, or the conditions of life that would bring about its physical dysfunction, in whole or in part in favor,” Salam stated.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K Too lazy to look, but have they done the same thing for Russia invading Ukraine?

[Renauda]

@taiwan_girl

No and it probably will not.

The only reason this went before IJC is because South Africa (a signatory to the Rome Statute) brought it forward to the attention of the Court. The Court can only act and rule when a signatory state brings forward a claim.

[taiwan_girl]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/whats-in-bidens-three-phase-plan-to-end-the-war-in-gaza-194446399.html

Over the weekend, an aide for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country had accepted a framework agreement for winding down its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, while insisting that the proposal put forth by Biden was “not a good deal” and that "there are a lot of details to be worked out."

Phase 1: A 6-week ceasefire

Phase 2: The release of all hostages and full Israeli withdrawal

Phase 3: The reconstruction of Gaza

[jon-nyc]

If the reporting is accurate, the proposal came out of the Israeli war cabinet and was approved by Netanyahu himself.

But he appears to be one man when operating in the unity government and another when talking to the coalition that got him the office in the first place.

[jon-nyc]

From the NYT:

Netanyahu May Face a Choice Between a Truce and His Government’s Survival

The Israeli prime minister has been put on the spot by President Biden’s announcement outlining a proposal for a truce.

For months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused to offer a timeline for ending the war against Hamas in Gaza, a stance his critics see as a political tactic. But he has been put on the spot by President Biden’s announcement outlining a proposal for a truce.

Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative, has long juggled competing personal, political and national interests. He now appears to be facing a stark choice between the survival of his hard-line, hawkish government and bringing home hostages held in Gaza while setting himself and Israel on a new course away from growing international isolation.

Critics of the prime minister have portrayed him as indecisive and say there are two Netanyahus. One, they say, functions pragmatically in the small war cabinet he formed with some centrist rivals, to give it public legitimacy. The other is effectively being held hostage by the far-right members of his governing coalition, who oppose any concession to Hamas and who ensure his political survival.

On Friday, Mr. Biden outlined broad terms that he said were presented by Israel to the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators who have been pushing for a deal to pause the fighting and free hostages in Gaza. Israeli officials confirmed that the terms matched a cease-fire proposal that had been approved by Israel’s war cabinet but not yet presented to the Israeli public.

Now, analysts say, it is crunchtime for Bibi, as the prime minister is popularly known.

Mr. Biden “booted Netanyahu out of the closet of ambiguity and presented Netanyahu’s proposal himself,” Ben Caspit, a biographer and longtime critic of the prime minister, wrote in Sunday’s Maariv, a Hebrew daily. “Then he asked a simple question: Does Bibi support Netanyahu’s proposal? Yes or no. No nonsense and hot air.”

The leaders of two far-right parties in the coalition — Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s minister of finance, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister — have pledged to bring Mr. Netanyahu’s government down if the prime minister goes along with the deal outlined by Mr. Biden before Hamas is fully destroyed. Some hard-line members of Mr. Netanyahu’s own Likud party have said they will join them.

At the same time, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, two former military chiefs who joined the emergency government for the duration of the war, have threatened to withdraw the support of their centrist National Unity party by June 8 if Mr. Netanyahu fails to come up with a clear path forward. And opposition parties have begun organizing to try to topple the government.

The cease-fire proposal involves three phases. Under the plan, groups of hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a temporary cease-fire would turn into a permanent cessation of hostilities, and an internationally backed effort would be launched to rebuild Gaza.
More than 100 hostages were released under a more limited deal last November. An estimated 125 people are still being held by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, though dozens are believed to be dead.

More here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/02/world/middleeast/netanyahu-biden-truce-proposal.html

[George K]

"Hostages were held in private homes among Gazan citizens, which required a precise operation while civilians were around."

[Copper]

Come on @CNN - the four hostages were RESCUED not released.

Do better.

Now it appears to be both a release and a rescue.

[bachophile]

people desperate for a good news day, and they got one
(thats my hospital btw....)

[Mik]

Four less hostages. A very good day.

[Mik]

A few dead militants is the icing on the cake.

[George K]

[George K]

Journalism...

[George K]

Who wants to tell them that they might still be alive, if only....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/09/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-hostages/

[George K]