Israel’s foreign minister said on Saturday that a planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be suspended should a deal emerge to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

The comments came as international mediators push for a deal to achieve a ceasefire in the six months of devastating fighting in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault that sparked the war.

“The release of the hostages is the top priority for us,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said during an interview with local Channel 12 television.

Asked if that included putting off a planned operation to eliminate Hamas battalions in the city of Rafah, Katz answered, “Yes.”

He went on to say: “If there will be a deal, we will suspend the operation.”

Though Katz is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, he is not a member of the narrow-forum war cabinet overseeing the Gaza offensive.

Israel, which launched its war to annihilate Hamas after the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli towns, says Rafah is home to four Hamas combat battalions reinforced by thousands of retreating fighters, and it must defeat them to achieve victory.

But Rafah, which abuts the Egyptian border, is sheltering more than a million Palestinians who fled the Israeli offensive through the rest of Gaza and say the prospect of fleeing yet again is terrifying.

Earlier on Saturday, Hamas said it had received Israel’s official response to its latest ceasefire proposal in Egyptian and Qatari-mediated negotiations and will study it before submitting its reply.

On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries appealed to Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis.

Hamas wants to parlay any deal into a permanent end to the fighting – short of a formal peace, as the Islamist group is sworn to Israel’s destruction. Israel plans to pursue the war until Hamas’s governing and military capacities are dismantled.

More than 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza captivity, including women and children.

As Hamas issued a new video showing two of the hostages pleading for their release and sending love to their families, thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv in protest, demanding that the government do more to secure their release.

Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 in the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history.

The post Israeli Foreign Minister Says Hostage Deal Would Defer Rafah Operation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to meet with regional partners and discuss efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, the State Department said on Saturday.

“He will discuss the recent increase in humanitarian assistance being delivered to Gaza and underscore the importance of ensuring that increase is sustained,” the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in statement.

“The Secretary will also emphasize the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading and discuss ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel.”

Blinken is not scheduled to visit Israel on this trip. War began in Gaza after Hamas fighters crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

During his two-day visit, Blinken will participate in a ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, working to advance security coordination in the region, Miller said.

Blinken will also attend the World Economic Forum’s special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development, where he will coordinate with U.S. partners “to ensure continued progress on climate change mitigation and the global energy transition,” Miller added.

The post US State Secretary Blinken to Travel to Saudi Arabia Next Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

i24 News – Columbia University expelled anti-Israeli student activist Khymani James on Saturday, after a video of his saying that Zionists don’t deserve to live went viral, reports claimed.

EXPELLED

Earlier today, antisemitic scum Khymani James was kicked out of Columbia after his murderous rant targeting Jews went viral on social media. pic.twitter.com/I1IePQseIF

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) April 27, 2024

James, 20, made the comments in January during a disciplinary hearing on Zoom with Columbia administrators, which he recorded and then posted to social media.

Comparing Zionists to white supremacists and Nazis, he said “These are all the same people. The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it’s all antithetical to peace. It’s all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die.”

He added that everyone should “be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

Following a viral post by the Daily Wire‘s Kassy Dillon, James posted the following statement.

Read my statement below: pic.twitter.com/0u6mwycAYS

— Khymani James (@KhymaniJames) April 26, 2024

The post Columbia Expels Protester Who Said ‘Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.