The Qatari, American and Egyptian mediators called on Saturday, June 1, Israel and Palestinian Hamas to “finalize” a ceasefire agreement on the basis of the plan announced by American President Joe Biden. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was invited the same day to speak to the American Congress.
Information to remember
⇒ Far-right Israeli ministers reject the idea of a ceasefire
⇒ Netanyahu is invited to speak soon to the US Congress
⇒ The Israeli army continued to bomb the city of Rafah
Israel: far-right ministers threaten to leave government
Far-right Israeli ministers threatened on Saturday June 1 to leave Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if it moved forward with the agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza, including a release of hostages. US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Israel was proposing a new three-step road map towards a complete ceasefire, with the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is fighting the Islamist movement Palestinian Hamas.
In messages on ‘Israel”. “Accepting such an agreement is not a total victory but a total defeat,” he added. Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance, for his part affirmed that he “will not take part in a government which accepts the proposed plan”. “We demand the continuation of the war until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages return,” he said on X.
Netanyahu invited to speak to US Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he was “delighted” to have been invited to speak to the US Congress, at the request of Republican and Democratic parliamentary leaders. No date has yet been announced, but US media have indicated that Netanyahu could speak to Congress just before or after the summer break in August. “I welcome the privilege of representing Israel before both houses of Congress and telling them the truth about our just war against those who seek to kill us,” he said in a statement released by his office.
“We are with the State of Israel in its fight against terrorism, particularly at this time when Hamas still holds American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders endanger regional stability,” wrote the four parliamentary leaders of the House and the Senate in their invitation. This invitation comes after a double setback suffered last week by Israel: the recognition by three European countries of the State of Palestine and the decision of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to request arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged “crimes against humanity”, as well as against Hamas leaders.
Rafah still under bombing
Israeli air force and artillery intensely bombarded the town of Rafah on Saturday, hours after US President Joe Biden announced Israel’s road map for a ceasefire -fire. Israeli forces, who advanced this week to the center of Rafah, continued their offensive in this town in the south of the Gaza Strip and bordering Egypt, despite protests from the international community which is concerned for the civilians.
Operations are particularly concentrated in the west of the city, in the Tal al-Sultan district, where residents have reported air raids, tank fire and movements of military vehicles. “All night long, aerial and artillery bombardments did not stop for a moment in western Rafah,” a resident told AFP. “Israeli shooters took up positions on buildings overlooking Tal al-Sultan”.
Intense artillery fire was also reported by witnesses in eastern and central Rafah, where the army launched its offensive on May 7 in order, it said, to destroy the last Hamas battalions.