The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they unfold.
Despite PM’s assertions, Israel told mediators it will withdraw from Philadelphi in deal’s 2nd phase
Israeli negotiators told mediators in recent days that they still support a complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Philadelphi Corridor in the second phase of the hostage deal, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on Monday that Jerusalem must maintain a military presence there indefinitely, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Confirming a Haaretz report, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel that hours before Netanyahu’s press conference, Mossad chief David Barnea flew urgently to Doha yesterday in order to inform Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Jerusalem’s position.
Notably, Netanyahu’s office does not deny the reports.
It instead argues that the security cabinet has not yet discussed the second phase of the deal.
The US said earlier today that Israel has agreed to the latest proposal, which requires the IDF to withdraw from heavily populated areas along the Philadelphi Corridor during the first, six-week phase of the deal. The statements from Biden administration spokespeople left open the possibility for Israeli troops remaining in other parts of the corridor that are not adjacent to heavily populated areas of the Egypt-Gaza border-stretch.
After US President Joe Biden said Sunday that he was close to presenting a final proposal to the sides by the end of the week, the Kan report says the Washington plans to do so by Friday.
Report: US warned UK suspending Israel arms sales could harm ceasefire efforts
The US had privately warned Britain against suspending arms sales, amid concerns it could damage attempts to broker a ceasefire, a senior government source tell The Times.
US announces criminal charges against Sinwar, 5 other Hamas leaders for Oct. 7 attack
The Justice Department announces criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and five other leaders of the terror group in connection with its October 7 onslaught against Israel.
The criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death.
“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland says in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”
“As outlined in our complaint, those defendants — armed with weapons, political support, and funding from the Government of Iran, and support from Hezbollah — have led Hamas’s efforts to destroy the State of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim,” Garland adds.
The other Hamas leaders charged are Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by Israel on July 31; Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, who helped plan last year’s attack and was killed by Israel in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy based in Doha and a former leader of the group; Muhammad Deif, the longtime Hamas military wing chief, who Israel killed in July; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon.
The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding out in tunnels underneath Gaza and at least three of the other defendants named by the Justice Department are thought to have been killed. But US officials say at least one person, whom they did not name, is expected to be brought to New York for prosecution.
Saudi Arabia lashes Israel over Egypt-Gaza border stance
In a statement, Saudi Arabia condemns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border represents a security threat, backing Egypt’s insistence that Israeli troops withdraw from the area.
Riyadh “strongly condemns and denounces” Israel’s comments on the corridor, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry says, accusing Israel of making “futile attempts to justify continued violations of international laws and norms.”
Israel says the area is a major smuggling artery and Netanyahu claimed Monday that pulling troops out of the area would allow Hamas to both re-arm and spirit hostages out of the Strip.
Egypt, which razed thousands of homes on its side of the border nine years ago to create a buffer zone with Gaza, has said that the smuggling is no longer an issue and rejects an Israeli presence on the Gazan side of the frontier.
Saudi Arabia “affirms its solidarity and support for Egypt,” the statement reads.
Impatient Security Council could take action to end Gaza war, envoy warns
Patience is running out among United Nations Security Council members and the 15-member body will likely consider taking action if a ceasefire cannot soon be brokered between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, says Slovenia’s UN envoy, who heads the council for September.
“There is a rising anxiousness in the council that it has to move one way or the other – either there is a ceasefire or that the council then reflects on what else we can do to bring the ceasefire,” says Samuel Zbogar. “I’m pretty sure that in September it will have to go… one way or the other, not because we want [it to], but because I think the patience is out,” he says.
The Security Council in June adopted resolution 2735, which backed a three-phase plan, laid out by US President Joe Biden, for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas. But Zbogar says the council may trash the resolution and seek another path, noting that “there are many tools that council has at [its] disposal.”
“But to start, I think one would be to establish that we have to move on from 2735 because for the past three months, the council was waiting [for] implementation of that resolution,” he says.