Benjamin Netanyahu continues his American tour. He met on Thursday, July 25, with American President Joe Biden, who called on him to “finalize” a ceasefire agreement, and with Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic candidate in the November presidential election. During this “frank” meeting, the former senator reportedly showed herself to be firmer with the Israeli Prime Minister to end the war in Gaza. While Emmanuel Macron is receiving the President of the Hebrew State, Isaac Herzog, in Paris this Friday, July 26, Benjamin Netanyahu will be received later today by former American President Donald Trump in Florida.
Key information to remember
⇒ Kamala Harris vows not to “stay silent” on Gaza
⇒ Benjamin Netanyahu meets Donald Trump this Friday
⇒ The monastery of Saint-Hilarion classified as endangered heritage in Gaza
Kamala Harris vows not to ‘stay silent’ on Gaza
This could be a notable shift in US foreign policy. After a “frank” meeting, the American vice president was much firmer than Joe Biden on Benjamin Netanyahu’s war. “What has happened in Gaza over the last nine months is devastating,” she said, referring to the “dead children” and the “desperate and hungry people fleeing for safety.” Before asserting: “We cannot look away from these tragedies. We cannot afford to become numb to the suffering and I will not remain silent.”
Since October 7, 2023, the White House has tended to pressure the Israeli prime minister privately, and not as openly. But Kamala Harris, who is seeking to unite a country and a Democratic Party deeply divided over the war in Gaza, has clearly called for a ceasefire agreement. “As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to make this deal,” she said. The Democratic candidate has gone further, calling for the creation of a Palestinian state, which the Israeli leader opposes.
President Joe Biden, who also spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, simply asked his counterpart to “finalize” the ceasefire agreement to allow “bringing the hostages home” and “putting a lasting end to the war,” according to a report of their meeting released by the White House. The Prime Minister of the Hebrew State, for his part, praised Joe Biden’s support during his long career. “I want to thank you for these 50 years of work in public service and support for the State of Israel,” Benjamin Netanyahu said. He added: “I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.”
Benjamin Netanyahu meets Donald Trump this Friday
After a speech before Congress and two meetings with the executive couple, the Israeli Prime Minister is to meet former President Donald Trump on Friday, July 26. Trump is hosting him at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Relations between the two men are much more cordial than with the Democratic president. But Donald Trump has warned Benjamin Netanyahu. During an interview on Fox News on Thursday, he urged Israel to “end” its war in Gaza quickly because its global image was tarnishing. “We have to end it quickly. This can’t go on any longer. It’s too long,” he said.
Despite everything, Benjamin Netanyahu finds even more unconditional support in Donald Trump than in Joe Biden. In 2018, the Republican notably transferred the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “The Arab countries (…) have understood that Netanyahu does not intend to end the war anytime soon. He will probably extend it until next November, that is to say after the elections in the United States, hoping that President Trump will win them and offer full support to Israel in all its military actions,” Israeli geopolitical scientist Yoni Ben Menahem explains to L’Express.
Saint Hilarion Monastery listed as endangered heritage in Gaza
It is one of the jewels of the Holy Land. The monastery of Saint Hilarion, in the Gaza Strip, has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in Danger due to the war between Israel and Hamas, the UN organization announced on Friday.
“Located on the coastal dunes of the municipality of Nousseirat, the remains of the monastery of Saint-Hilarion/Tell Umm Amer represent one of the oldest monastic sites in the Middle East, dating back to the 4th century,” writes UNESCO on its website. Destroyed in 614, this monastery is dedicated to Hilarion of Gaza, a pioneer of monastic life in Palestine. Lazare Eloundou, director of World Heritage, explained to AFP that “the request is from Palestine”, for whom “it is the only recourse to protect the site against destruction in the current context”.
West Bank Hamas leader dies in Israeli custody
Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred from his prison in southern Israel to a hospital, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Prisoners Department and the Prisoners Club, a Palestinian NGO that advocates for prisoners. Arrested in October while suffering from health problems, the Hamas official in the West Bank was allegedly subjected to torture and starvation, the source said.
“We deplore the death of the leader and prisoner Sheikh Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara and hold the occupation responsible for his assassination through deliberate medical negligence,” Hamas wrote in a statement. The Israeli army has not yet responded.