Having arrived in Washington on Monday, July 22, for a multi-day visit to the United States, the Israeli Prime Minister spoke on Wednesday before the House of Representatives. Benjamin Netanyahu is now preparing to meet with the President of the United States and his Vice President Kamala Harris. He will fly to Florida on Friday, where he will meet with former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump, whom he thanked at length in his speech to Congress.
Key information to remember
⇒ Benjamin Netanyahu before the American Congress
⇒ Israeli Prime Minister to meet Joe Biden
⇒ The Israeli army repatriated five bodies of victims of October 7
Gaza: Israeli army recovers bodies of five people killed on October 7
While 111 hostages are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced on Thursday, July 25, that it had repatriated to Israel the bodies of five Israelis killed on October 7 during the Hamas terrorist attack. Three of them are from kibbutzim located near the Gaza Strip, while the other two were soldiers of the Israeli army.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the military forces for carrying out “an important rescue mission.” “We will continue to fight Hamas until its defeat, and we are committed to bringing the hostages home,” he added, according to a statement from his office.
Benjamin Netanyahu before the US Congress
Speaking to the US Congress for the fourth time on Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu holds the record for the most foreign interventions on Capitol Hill. In a fiery and combative speech, the Israeli Prime Minister called on the United States and Israel to “remain united” in the face of the threat from Hamas and Iran.
Israel’s “victory” will also be that of the United States, he declared, to loud applause from Republican elected officials. Taking advantage of this platform, the leader urged the United States to continue to deliver military aid to Israel in order to “accelerate the end of the war”. While committing to do “what is necessary” to “reestablish security on its border with Lebanon. And while a rally denouncing his presence in Congress was taking place in front of the Capitol, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the post-war period in Gaza, saying that Israel did not wish to “reoccupy” the Palestinian territory. He advocated the “demilitarization and deradicalization” of the Gaza Strip, with the support of a “civil administration led by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel”.
A speech that Hamas described as a “total lie” a few hours later. The terrorist organization claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu was “the only one who thwarted all efforts to end the war and reach an agreement to free the prisoners.”
Meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden
After being received with great fanfare at Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to meet with Joe Biden this Thursday in Washington. The goal? To try to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza to end the conflict triggered by a Hamas attack in Israel on October 7. The American president is expected to put more pressure on the head of the government of the Hebrew state, with whom relations have deteriorated over the last few months. But according to a source from our colleagues at AFP, negotiations for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the release of hostages are “nearly concluded.”
It remains to be seen whether the Israeli official will be receptive to it, especially since Joe Biden, who announced his withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, will leave the White House in a few months. “I don’t expect the meeting to be a yes or no, it will be more of a ‘how do we fill the final gaps?'” added the same source. The Israeli head of government will then meet Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely new Democratic candidate for the White House, who had justified her absence during Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech by a trip already planned. However, while the 59-year-old former senator has never contradicted President Biden on the subject, she has on several occasions been the American official to call loudest for a ceasefire.