The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
Jewish Democrat likens Netanyahu to Putin over IDF bombing campaign in Gaza
Jewish Democratic House Rep. Steve Cohen likens Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin over the ongoing IDF war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Netanyahu has gone way too far and [US National Security Adviser] Jake Sullivan will be informing him that the bombing must be greatly limited or Israel will be without its last real friend, the USA and [its president], Joe Biden,” Cohen tweets.
“The President is finished with Bibi’s Putin-like no-holds-barred war. Hostages first! Civilians never,” he adds.
The congressman has long had beef with Netanyahu though, boycotting the premier’s speech to Congress against the Iran nuclear deal being brokered by then-US president Barack Obama.
PA can ‘re-activate’ 3,500 of its 15,000 ex-security force members in post-war Gaza, Palestinian official tells ToI
The Palestinian Authority will initially be able to “re-activate” at least 3,500 of some 15,000 former members of its security forces in Gaza, a Palestinian official tells The Times of Israel.
The figure was reached in an assessment that the PA conducted in recent weeks amid a US-encouraged effort for it to eventually return to governing Gaza after losing elections to Hamas in 2005 and being booted from the Strip two years later.
The official says more ex-PA troops will eventually be able to bolster the first several thousand but that they and others will need additional training.
A senior Biden administration official briefing reporters says, “There are a number of security personnel in Gaza linked to the Palestinian Authority, which we think might be able to provide some sort of nucleus in the many months that follow the overall military campaign.”
The official says that the PA security forces have “performed incredibly well” in the West Bank, thwarting an effort by Hamas to use cells in the territory to “instigate violence and uprising in the days after October 7.”
Through its US Security Coordinator in Jerusalem Gen. Mike Fenzel, the US has helped train the PA security forces and its work with them has continued through October 7, the senior administration official says.
Hamas not moved by public pressure, ICRC chief tells Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with visiting International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger today, demanding that the organization “fulfill its mission” to reach the hostages taken by terror group Hamas in Gaza on October 7 and ensure their wellbeing.
In a televised portion of the meeting, he points to a sealed box labeled “medication and first aid for the hostages” and tells her she has “every right and every expectation to place public pressure on Hamas,” to access the remaining hostages in Gaza following the release last month of 105 civilians – Israeli women and children, and foreign nationals — in a weeklong truce brokered by Qatar.
“It’s not going to work because the more public pressure we seemingly would do, the more they would shut the door,” she replies.
“I’m not sure about that. Why don’t you try?” Netanyahu responds.
It is believed that 135 hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — of the 240 taken on October 7. Some are elderly and need consistent care, some are ill or believed to be injured, and most are believed to be held in dire conditions.
Senior US official: Sinwar’s ‘days are numbered,’ he has American blood on his hands
A senior Biden administration official briefing reporters on US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s meetings in Israel says it’s “safe to say” that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s “days are numbered.”
While Israeli leaders have voiced such threats against the terror leader this appears to be the first time that a senior US official is talking about Sinwar in this manner.
“I also think it’s safe to say it doesn’t matter how long it takes…justice will be served,” the senior administration official adds, noting that Sinwar has “American blood on his hands.”
Thirty-eight Americans were killed during Hamas’s terror onslaught on October 7, and eight US citizens and permanent residents are among the roughly 135 currently being held hostage in Gaza.