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US, 17 Other Countries Urge Hamas to Release Hostages, End Gaza Crisis
A person attends a protest as they call for the immediate release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
The United States and 17 other countries on Thursday issued an appeal for Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis in Gaza, but the Palestinian terrorist group vowed not to relent to international pressure.
“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now for over 200 days,” a statement by the countries said, in what a senior US official called an extraordinary display of unanimity.
The 18 countries all have citizens held by Hamas six months after the Palestinian terrorist group launched its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel and killed 1,200 people. Hamas is believed to still be holding 129 hostages out of the 253 it took on Oct. 7.
The signatories were the leaders of the United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and Britain.
“We emphasize that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities,” the statement said.
“Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions,” it said.
Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Hamas would not be influenced by the statement and said the United States needs to force Israel to end its aggression.
“The ball now is in the American court,” said Abu Zuhri.
A senior US official, briefing reporters about the statement, said there were some indications that there might be an avenue for an agreement on the hostage crisis but that he was not totally confident.
He did not elaborate but said the resolution was dependent on “one guy,” the Hamas Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar.
The hostage proposal put forward earlier this year calls for the release of sick, elderly, and wounded hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week ceasefire that could be extended to allow for more humanitarian aid to be delivered into the enclave.
It permits the unrestricted return of Gaza citizens to northern Gaza, the official said.
The idea for the joint statement arose about two weeks ago when White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with a group of family members of Gaza hostages, the senior US official said.
It was issued a day after President Joe Biden met in the Oval Office with former hostage Abigail Edan, a four-year-old American girl who had been captured after seeing her parents slain by Hamas fighters.
She played in the Oval Office and crawled under the president’s Resolute desk, the official said.
US officials are analyzing the video of an American hostage, Hersh Golberg-Polin, that was released on Tuesday, the official said.
Israeli officials did not immediately confirm or comment on the offer detailed in the statement.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told reporters when asked about hostage diplomacy that “it is Hamas that is dragging their feet” on an agreement.
“It is Hamas that continues to walk away from the table. It is Hamas that refuses to let our people go. They must be let go right now,” he said.
The post US, 17 Other Countries Urge Hamas to Release Hostages, End Gaza Crisis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Official: Reports of a Deal to Be Unveiled on Saturday Are Premature
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
i24 News – An Israeli official speaking to i24NEWS on the condition of anonymity on Saturday sought to rebuff reports that a ceasefire and hostage deal could be announced in the coming hours.
Even allowing that an agreement on the framework of the deal is in place, there are still many details to thrash out, including the names of the prisoners to be released, which has yet been discussed at this stage, the official told i24NEWS.
Certainly no agreement is expected on Saturday, seeing as the head of the Mossad, Dedi Barnea, has not traveled to Cairo today.
As for US assurances regarding the end of the war, the source said these are promises made by the Americans to Hamas, and it is only theirs. Israel will maintain a military presence in Gaza, the official underscored, “because the Israeli public will not accept a different reality.”
The post Israeli Official: Reports of a Deal to Be Unveiled on Saturday Are Premature first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Group Demands California University Cut Ties With Jewish Community Organizations
Illustrative: Students Supporting Israel and Reservists on Duty protests the SJP National Conference at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities / Source: SSI
i24 News – Extremist campus group Students for Justice for Palestine issued a demand for UC Santa Cruz to boycott both Israeli and Jewish community organizations, a move described by Jewish groups and student and blatantly antisemitic.
SJP demanded that the university “Cut ties UC wide with all zionist [sic] organizations — including study abroad programs, fellowships, seminars, research collaborations and universities. Cut ties with the Hellen Diller foundation, Koret foundation, Israel Institute and Hillel International.”
US campuses have been roiled for weeks by anti-Israel and pro-Hamas encampment and riots, including scenes of violence at UCLA and other top universities, where anti-Israeli rhetoric has consistently glided over into antisemitism.
However, this latest demand is noteworthy in its apparent lack of interest in the usual fig leaves of anti-Israeli activism.
“Three of the four organizations cited in the academic boycott demand by encampment activists at UCSC are Jewish charities and communal groups,” the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) said in response.
“They are pillars of the Jewish community. This isn’t just about opposing Israel’s Gaza actions but seems aimed at Jewish institutions, revealing underlying antisemitism.”
The post Pro-Palestinian Group Demands California University Cut Ties With Jewish Community Organizations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas-Linked Gunmen Rob Bank of Palestine of $70 million – Report
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
i24 News – Palestinian gunmen belonging to several Gazan groups and gangs robbed the Bank of Palestine of some $70 million, French media reported Saturday.
The robbery, carried out in several installments, targeted several branches of the bank on several days, according to Le Monde.
The bank’s biggest Gaza branch was attacked by commandos saying they answered to “Gaza’s highest authorities,” understood to mean Hamas.
Days earlier, the staff of another branch discovered a hole in the ceiling of the safe deposit room and found that some $3 million worth of Israeli shekels set aside for ATM machines were missing.
The post Hamas-Linked Gunmen Rob Bank of Palestine of $70 million – Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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