Hamas no longer interested in truce talks after Israel’s new Gaza plan, senior official says – Israel-Gaza war live

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China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said Beijing is “highly concerned about the current Palestine-Israel situation”.

“We oppose Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza, and hopes all parties continuously and effectively implement the ceasefire agreement,” Jian said.

China, which has long called for a two-state solution and has cast itself as a mediator in the war, has previously said Israel’s deadly military conduct in Gaza has gone “beyond self-defence”.

The Guardian’s international security correspondent, Jason Burke, has written some analysis on why details around the Israeli war expansion plan have been released now. Here is an extract from his piece:

The government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hopes that the Israel Defense Forces’ call-up of tens of thousands of reservists, the threat of the new offensive and the prospect of Israel seizing swaths of territory will force Hamas’s leaders to make concessions.

If it fails to do so, then physical possession of terrain will offer useful leverage in future negotiations and allow Hamas to be squeezed further in the meantime…

Trump is due to visit the Middle East in 10 days, and Israeli officials said the offensive would start after the leader of their country’s most important ally had enjoyed the hospitality of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

Images of destruction and death from Gaza would make the president’s stay that much more diplomatically delicate. In reality, the complex logistics necessary to move and mobilise additional troops in Israel is likely to mean an even longer delay.

What is in Israel’s Gaza occupation plan?

We mentioned in an earlier post that Israel has approved plans to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the territory for an unspecified amount of time.

Let’s look at what was agreed in Sunday’s vote by Israeli cabinet ministers in a bit more detail.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his security cabinet had decided on a “forceful operation” to destroy Hamas and rescue its remaining hostages, with Palestinians in Gaza moved “for their own safety” in the process.

So the new plan calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza’s south, in what would effectively amount to their forcible displacement.

Smoke rises from the area following an Israeli strike in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Netanyahu, accused of prolonging the war for his own political survival, did not say how much territory would be seized by soldiers, but said Israeli troops would not go into Gaza, launch raids and then retreat quickly. “The intention is the opposite of that,” he said, suggesting a sustained presence in the territory.

The plans approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. It could be a tactic to gain leverage in the faltering ceasefire negotiations with Hamas.

The cabinet also agreed to a proposal to deliver aid through private companies, which would end Israel’s devastating two-month aid blockade which rights groups have condemned as a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that “we are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip”, confirming Palestinian’s fears that Israel annexing the territory is a possibility.

At least one person has been killed by an Israeli drone attack on the town of al-Fukhari, east of Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera.

At least three other people were reportedly killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza launched early this morning.

In this picture of Gaza taken this morning smoke can be seen rising after an Israeli airstrike.

Smoke rises from a residential area after an Israeli strike in Sheyma neighbourhood, Beit Lahia, in the north-west of the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Israel’s military has said it is today carrying out exercises at the Tel Hashomer base in central Israel, and in the area of the northern city of Nahariya, which will lead to road closures and the sound of explosions being heard.

Israeli forces are reported to have arrested one man and assaulted three others during a raid near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

France’s foreign ministry has said it strongly condemns the announcement by Israel of a new plan to control territory in the Gaza Strip and forcibly relocate the Palestinians there.

The plan, which was unanimously approved at an Israeli security cabinet meeting late on Sunday, goes beyond any aims so far outlined by Israel for its offensive in the devastated Palestinian territory.

Senior official: Hamas no longer interested in truce talks after Israel's new Gaza plan

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday the group was no longer interested in truce talks with Israel after Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a new “intensified” offensive in Gaza that will involve Israeli troops holding on to seized territory and significant displacement of the population.

“There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip,” Basem Naim told the news agency, urging the international community “to pressure the Netanyahu government to end the crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings” in Gaza.

His comments come a day after Israel’s military said expanded operations in Gaza would include displacing “most” of its residents, and amid Israeli strikes on Yemen and Lebanon.

After a fragile ceasefire in Gaza collapsed in mid-March, Israel renewed its bombardment of the territory, and more than 70% of Gaza is under Israeli control or covered by orders issued by Israel telling Palestinian civilians to evacuate specific neighbourhoods.

Hamas is still believed to be holding dozens of Israeli hostages who were seized and abducted from southern Israel during the Hamas surprise attack on 7 October 2023. Many of the hostages are thought to be dead.

Welcome and opening summary …

Welcome to the Guardian’s rolling coverage of the conflict in the Middle East. Here are the headlines …

• A senior Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday the group was no longer interested in truce talks with Israel after Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced a new “intensified” offensive in Gaza that will involve Israeli troops holding on to seized territory and significant displacement of the population

• Israel’s security cabinet approved the plan on Sunday night for “conquering” the Gaza Strip and establishing a “sustained presence” there. The plan, which was unanimously approved, goes beyond any aims so far outlined by Israel for its offensive in the devastated Palestinian territory

• Israel’s military has carried out a fresh round of airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red Sea city of Hodeida, a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel’s main airport

• Israel has also carried out airstrikes on Lebanon, where it claimed to have identified Hezbollah rebuilding a weapons manufacturing facility

• Warning sirens that sounded earlier today in Netiv HaAsara, a moshav in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip, have been determined to have been a false alarm