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Hamas Leader’s ‘Days Are Numbered,’ Says US Official
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
i24 News — Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s days “are numbered,” a senior Biden administration official said Thursday, pledging that “justice will be served.”
Coinciding with a visit to the region by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the official said of Sinwar, “I think it’s safe to say his days are numbered … He has American blood on his hands.”
Sinwar, who runs Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is part of a group of Hamas higher-ups who planned the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Sullivan visited Israel on Thursday, meeting twice with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A meeting with Israel’s full War Cabinet was sandwiched in between.
Sullivan also met individually with Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and War Cabinet member and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A meeting with Mossad Director David Barnea stretched from one hour to two, focusing on the hostage situation in Gaza.
Sullivan’s trip to Israel comes amid vocal frustration from US President Joe Biden and others regarding the growing civilian death toll in Gaza amidst Israel’s operation to root out Hamas terrorists, who hide and operate amongst the civilian population and below ground.
The official said the second Sullivan-Netanyahu meeting focused on expectations “as we move through the course of the coming weeks or towards the end of the year and into the early part of January.”
Overall, the official said the two talked about the humanitarian situation, military campaign strategy, and threats from Iran’s other regional proxies, including the Houthis and Hezbollah.
I met today with @IsraeliPM, @yoavgallant, @gantzbe,@Tzachi_Hanegbi, & the War Cabinet in Tel Aviv to discuss our shared objective of defeating Hamas while minimizing harm to civilians & ensuring the increased and sustained flow of humanitarian assistance. https://t.co/3BKFb3bhBa
— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) December 15, 2023
Amidst multiple media reports that the Biden administration is instructing Israel to wind down its operation in Gaza in the coming weeks, the official disputed the accuracy of such reports, telling journalists that the White House was more concerned with the intensity of the IDF’s assaults, and less so with particular time frames.
United States and Israeli officials are focusing on a shift from high-intensity operations to one of high-value targets in a lower-intensity environment, the official emphasized.
“Heavy discussions” were held on Israel’s need to protect Gazan civilians, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza was a focal point.
The Biden administration has been pushing Israel to focus more on the future of Gaza, and what will happen once Hamas is no longer in power there. The White House’s stated preference is for a “revamped, revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume the control it lost to Hamas in 2007. Netanyahu is insistent that the PA will play no part in a post-Hamas leadership role in Gaza.
The senior official on Thursday danced around a question about what exactly would define a revitalized PA, which is largely seen as broken and corrupt. Sullivan is set to meet on Friday with PA officials, focusing on maintaining a measure of stability in the West Bank.
The official insisted there is a role for the PA in a future Gaza.
“There are a number of security personnel linked to the Palestinian Authority, which we think might be able to provide some sort of a nucleus in the many months that follow the overall military campaign. But this is something we’re discussing with the Palestinians and with the Israelis and with regional partners. It very much remains a work in progress,” the official said.
Regardless of the exact security structure, the Israeli government is adamant that the Biden administration’s insistence on revving up a pathway to a two-state solution, especially in light of Oct. 7, is a non-starter.
The official said on Thursday that conversations in Jerusalem have touched on what might be a potential alternative in the Israelis’ minds.
“I think we’ve actually had quite constructive conversations about where this heads,” said the official.
The post Hamas Leader’s ‘Days Are Numbered,’ Says US Official first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital
Illustrative. Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
i24 News – Israeli forces concluded an operation to dismantle a Hamas terror headquarters in Gaza’s Kamel Adwan Hospital. Some 240 terror suspects were arrested, including the hospital’s director and some 15 terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre.
The post 240 Arrested as IDF Dismantles Hamas HQ Inside Kamel Adwan Hospital first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem
Illustrative. Rockets are fired from Gaza into Israel, in Gaza May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammd Salem
JNS.org – The Israeli Air Force on Saturday downed two rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem.
The attack triggered air-raid sirens in the capital, the Western Negev and the the Judean Foothills (the Shfela).
There were no reports of injuries.
Following the rocket fire, the military again called on Palestinians to evacuate parts of the northern Strip.
“Urgent warning to all those who have not yet evacuated the area specified in the map, and the Beit Hanun area [in the Strip’s northeast] in particular,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, posted to X.
“This area has been warned many times in the past. The IDF is operating in this area with force. You must evacuate the area immediately and move south towards Salah El Din Road. Moving via another road exposes you to danger,” he added.
On Dec. 11, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired four rockets at southern Israel, setting off sirens in several towns and villages along the border. The Israel Defense Forces intercepted two of the rockets, with the others impacting in open areas, causing no damage.
On Dec. 3, the IAF intercepted one rocket fired from northern Gaza.
The IDF’s year-plus-long offensive against Hamas in the enclave has greatly curbed rocket fire from the Strip, although Palestinian terrorists still intermittently target the Jewish state.
The post IAF Downs Two Gazan Rockets Fired Towards Jerusalem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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