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Netanyahu Says New Gaza Offensive Will Start Soon
Israeli military vehicles stand near the border between Israel and Gaza, as seen from Israel, August 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he expected to complete a new Gaza offensive “fairly quickly,” as the U.N. Security Council heard new demands for an end to suffering in the Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu, speaking after his security cabinet on Friday approved a much-criticized plan to take control of Gaza City said he had no choice but to “complete the job” and defeat Hamas to free hostages seized from Israel.
He said the new Gaza offensive aimed to tackle two remaining Hamas strongholds in what he said was his only option because of the Palestinian group’s refusal to lay down its arms. Hamas says it will not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.
It was not clear when the offensive, which would be the latest in successive attempts by the Israeli military to clear the militants from Gaza City, would begin.
“The timeline that we set for the action is fairly quickly. We want, first of all, to enable safe zones to be established so the civilian population of Gaza City can move out,” he added.
The city, home to a million people before the two-year-old war, would be moved into “safe zones,” he said. Palestinians say these have not protected them from Israeli fire in the past.
Israel’s military chief has voiced opposition to occupying the entire Gaza Strip and has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger the lives of hostages Hamas is still holding and draw its troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.
Netanyahu said his goal was not to occupy Gaza. “We want a security belt right next to our border, but we don’t want to stay in Gaza. That’s not our purpose,” he said.
European representatives at the United Nations said famine was unfolding in Gaza and Israel’s plan would only make things worse.
“Expanding military operations will only endanger the lives of all civilians in Gaza, including the remaining hostages, and result in further unnecessary suffering,” Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement.
“This is a manmade crisis, and therefore urgent action is needed to halt starvation and to surge aid into Gaza,” they said.
Malnutrition is widespread in the enclave due to what international aid agencies say is a deliberate plan by Israel to restrict aid. Israel rejects that allegation, blaming Hamas for the hunger among Palestinians and saying a lot of aid has been distributed.
The US representative at the Security Council defended Netanhayu and said Washington was committed to addressing humanitarian needs, freeing the hostages and achieving peace.
Netanyahu said Israel was working with Washington on creating a surge of aid into Gaza, including by land.
Italy said Israel should heed its own army’s warnings before sending more troops into Gaza, where the Israeli military already holds large parts of the territory.
“The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.
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Germany’s Halt to Arms Exports to Israel Is Response to Gaza Expansion Plans, Chancellor Says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Germany’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel comes in response to Israel’s plan to expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
“We cannot deliver weapons into a conflict that is now being pursued exclusively by military means,” Merz said. “We want to help diplomatically, and we are doing so.”
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to take this historically fraught step.
The chancellor said in the interview that the expansion of Israel’s operations in Gaza could claim hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and would require the evacuation of the entire city of Gaza.
“Where are these people supposed to go?” Merz said. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”
Nevertheless, the principles of Germany’s Israel policy remain unchanged, the chancellor said.
“Germany has stood firmly by Israel’s side for 80 years. That will not change,” Merz said.
Germany is Israel’s second-biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of its historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust – a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”
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Newsom Calls Trump’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer Extortion, Says California Won’t Bow
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference, accompanied by members of the Texas Democratic legislators, at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, California, U.S., August 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Saturday that a $1 billion settlement offer by President Donald Trump’s administration for UCLA amounted to political extortion to which the state will not bow.
The University of California says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over pro-Palestinian protests.
UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, said this week the government froze $584 million in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over anti-Israel student protests.
“Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system — freezing medical & science funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom,” the office of Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post.
“California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion,” it added.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students – it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests and in doing so violated Jewish and Israeli students’ civil rights. The White House had no immediate comment beyond the offer.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. The University of California says paying such a large settlement would “completely devastate” the institution.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
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Trump Nominates State Dept Spokeswoman Bruce as US Deputy Representative to UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce speaks during her first press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was nominating State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US deputy representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his U.N. envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his U.N. ambassador.