His Excellency indicated that the summit will hold Israel fully responsible for what is happening in Gaza and Lebanon, in light of its violation of international law and international humanitarian law, while stressing that just peace and affirming the two-state solution in accordance with the political initiative launched by Saudi Arabia for the international coalition to implement the two-state solution, is the best option for settling the conflict in the Middle East and ensuring security and stability for all peoples of the region and protecting them from violence and wars, especially with the international recognition of Palestine by 149 countries, and support for its right to obtain full membership in the United Nations.
Archiv: Katar / Qatar
Europäische und arabische Staaten dringen auf Zweistaatenlösung
An dem Treffen in der spanischen Hauptstadt nahmen der palästinensische Regierungschef Mohammed Mustafa, die Außenminister Katars, Saudi-Arabiens, Ägyptens und der Türkei sowie die Generalsekretäre der Arabischen Liga und der Organisation für Islamische Zusammenarbeit teil.
Die EU war durch ihren Außenbeauftragten Josep Borrell vertreten. Zudem nahmen die Außenminister Irlands, Norwegens, Sloweniens und Spaniens an den Gesprächen teil. Alle vier Länder hatten vor einigen Monaten offiziell einen eigenständigen palästinensischen Staat anerkannt.
US quietly reaches agreement with Qatar to keep operating largest military base in Middle East
(January 2, 2024)
The deal, which has not been announced publicly, highlights Washington’s reliance on the tiny Gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of Americans from captivity in Gaza and Venezuela.
The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops.
‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas
(December 10, 2023)
Just weeks before Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the head of Mossad arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a meeting with Qatari officials.
(…)
Allowing the payments — billions of dollars over roughly a decade — was a gamble by Mr. Netanyahu that a steady flow of money would maintain peace in Gaza, the eventual launching point of the Oct. 7 attacks, and keep Hamas focused on governing, not fighting.
The Qatari payments, while ostensibly a secret, have been widely known and discussed in the Israeli news media for years.
Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.
(December 16, 2023)
Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.
Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.
Report: Gaza mediators setting aside Philadelphi Corridor for now, focusing on other issues
Unnamed senior officials tell Channel 12 news that mediators in ceasefire-hostage deal talks have decided to set aside the thorny issue of Israel’s presence in two Gaza corridors under a potential agreement, and are focusing on other matters.
Egypt stresses rejection to Israeli presence in Rafah Border Crossing, Philadelphi Corridor
Egypt stressed to all concerned parties its rejection to any Israeli presence in Rafah Border Crossing or Philadelphi Corridor, a high-profile source told Egyptian media Monday.
Police Violence as Thousands in Tel Aviv Demand End of War and Deal with Hamas
Thousands protested in Tel Aviv on Monday night, April 29, in a rally that later descended into clashes with police forces, arrests, and police violence toward protesters and relatives of hostages. The rally reached the King George Street near of the ruling Likud party’s headquarters, where police used a water cannon and mounted cops to disperse the protest.
Cops shoved Ilana Gritzewsky, Matan Zangauker’s partner who was kidnapped on October 7 and released in the November deal. Early protesters blocked the army headquarters entrance at Begin Street and Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan, addressed Netanyahu, saying he had to choose between bringing the hostages home and keeping intact his government over the objections of racist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who vehemently oppose a hostage deal that would require a ceasefire. Einav Zangauker told Ynet that cops had pushed her to the ground at the Likud headquarters and that the police used excessive force and sent in disproportionate forces to disperse the crowd, in what she called “stepped-up violence.”
Netanyahu fears international arrest warrant from ICC
A well-informed source in The Hague confirmed to Le Monde on Sunday that an „event is imminent,“ but did not specify the nature of the charges or the names of those involved.
Johnson urges Biden to intervene in ICC‘s reported plan for Netanyahu arrest warrant
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is calling on President Biden to utilize the U.S.‘s influence on the world stage to block the International Criminal Court‘s (ICC) reported plan to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
רבבות הפגינו ברחבי הארץ נגד הממשלה ולהשבת החטופים; אלפים בנצרת קראו לשים קץ למלחמה ולכיבוש
רבבות הפגינו אמש (מוצ“ש) נגד הממשלה ולמען השבת החטופים בתל אביב, ירושלים, קיסריה, חיפה, באר שבע ועשרות מוקדים נוספים. בשעות הבוקר נערכה בצרת הפגנת אלפים נגד המלחמה והכיבוש ולציון ה-1 במאי. ההפגנה המרכזית בקריאה לבחירות נערכה בצומת קפלן בתל אביב ובמקביל התקיימה ברחבת מוזיאון תל אביב העצרת השבועית של מטה משפחות החטופים. בנוסף התקיימה הפגנה של בני משפחות חטופים נגד ממשלת הימין מול שער בגין בקריה.
בסיום ההפגנה בתל אביב עשרות מוחים יצאו לצעדה לכיוון גשר יהודית, והמשטרה חסמה מיוזמתה את איילון דרום. מטה משפחות החטופים מסר כי אילה מצגר, כלתו של החטוף יורם מצגר, עוכבה לחקירה לאחר שהדליקה לפיד בהפגנה. מאוחר יותר מפגינים, בהם בני משפחה של חטופים, חסמו את איילון צפון סמוך למחלף קק“ל והדליקו כתובת אש עם המילה „חלאס“ במקום. מהמשטרה נמסר כי שבעה מפגינים נעצרו.
VIDEO: Thousands block Tel Aviv streets to protest Netanyahu government
Protesters demonstrated against the government‘s inability to retrieve the remaining hostages, demanding an election.
Israeli Officials Believe I.C.C. Is Preparing Arrest Warrants Over War
The Israeli officials did not disclose the nature of the information that led them to be concerned about potential I.C.C. action, and the court did not comment on the matter.
Arrest warrants from the court would probably be seen in much of the world as a humbling moral rebuke, particularly to Israel, which for months has faced international backlash over its conduct in Gaza, including from President Biden, who called it “over the top.”
US approves Rafah op. in exchange for no Israeli counter-strikes on Iran – report
(18.04.2024)
The US has approved a potential Israeli Rafah operation in exchange for the Jewish state not conducting counterstrikes on Iran, according to a Thursday report from the Qatari newspaper The New Arab.
A senior official told The New Arab that „Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to obtain American approval for a military operation in Rafah, in exchange for [Israel] refraining from carrying out a wide military operation against Iran in response to its recent attack.“
Of course Netanyahu should go – in an orderly process that gives our enemies cause for fear
(today)
And therefore, as was the case when he insisted on continuing to run the country while in the midst of a corruption trial, and as was the case when he pressed on with his assault on Israeli democracy and briefly fired that defense minister, so too, now, it falls to a potential few good men and women within his own coalition base to tell him that his presence is harming Israel, that his policies empowered and emboldened Hamas, and that far from being uniquely capable of ensuring Israel has the practical and diplomatic room to destroy Hamas, he is almost uniquely incapable of doing so.
Netanyahu Must Go
(09.04.2024)
Israel must destroy Hamas as a military and political force in the territory while minimizing harm to civilians. It must do what it can to rescue its hostages without jeopardizing the overriding goal of destroying Hamas. It must, by diplomacy or force, push Hezbollah back from Lebanon’s southern border, so that 60,000 Israelis can return safely to their homes in the north. It must take the battle directly, as it did last week in Damascus, to Hamas’s and Hezbollah’s patrons, whether in Syria, Qatar or Iran.
And for all of that to happen effectively, Benjamin Netanyahu must go.
Hamas political leaders were unaware of Israel incursion plan, Egypt officials say
(Oct 09, 2023)
Most of the movement‘s political leaders have lived in exile outside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for years, deepening the divide between them and the group‘s military wing known as the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, who are spearheading the continuing fighting with Israel.
The political leaders have mostly been living in Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Egypt.
Speaking to The National, the officials said a handful of Gaza-based Hamas leaders, reportedly as few as three who once served in the Al Qassam Brigades, knew of the attack in advance. As a precaution, they were made to believe that the operation would begin 48 hours after it got under way on Saturday.
U.S., Arab nations plan for postwar Gaza, timeline for Palestinian state
(14.02.2024)
“The key is the hostage deal,” said one U.S. official among several American and Arab diplomats who discussed the subject on the condition of anonymity to avoid derailing the plan before it is completed.
Netanyahu orders Israeli delegation to not return to Cairo for captive release talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli delegation not to return to Cairo for extended talks, after they were scheduled to travel to the Egyptian capital on Thursday to continue negotiations for a captive release deal.
Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.
(16.12.2023)
Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.
Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.
Families Of Hostages Still Captive In Gaza Approach World Court Against Hamas
Haim Rubinstein from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the campaign group will file a case against Hamas leaders at the ICC.
„We are the families of the hostages who have gone through and are still going through this terrible hell,“ Rubinstein said in a televised briefing from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.
„We will file charges against Hamas members and their collaborators and ensure that they pay the heaviest price for the crimes against humanity that they continue to commit.“
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Israelis have gathered all day to demand the return of hostages at any cost
This would be a great time for Arab States such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and others to step in and increase their funding of @UNRWA
(…)
Dozens of families of Israeli hostages are making their way to Netanyahu‘s Caesarea villa to spend the night calling on the PM to come out to and provide answers.
(@BringThemHome23 @michalpeylan)
#New: Eli Shtivi, father of Idan, 28, a volunteer photographer at the Tribe of Nova rave, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, has begun a hunger strike in front of Netanyahu‘s seaside villa in Caesarea.
Secretary Blinken’s Travel to Türkiye, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt
Secretary Antony J. Blinken will travel to Istanbul, Türkiye; Crete, Greece; Amman, Jordan; Doha, Qatar; Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; Al ‘Ula, Saudi Arabia; Tel Aviv, Israel; the West Bank; and Cairo, Egypt from January 4-11, 2024.
Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.
(16.12.2023)
Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.
Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.
Thousands of teens march to the Knesset to demand return of remaining hostages in Gaza
The teens set out from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday and will reach the Knesset later today, where they will stage a protest calling for a new deal to return the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
Blinken to return for ME trip next week- to Israel, PA, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar
Tues, Dermer & Sullivan spoke on ‘day after’ plans including governance & security w/ a political horizon for palestinians & continuing Israel’s normalization
A new leadership for the PA, followed by UN troops in Gaza and the West Bank defending a new Palestinian state. This is the only way forward.
What is Egypt’s peace plan proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war?
He reportedly added Egypt and Qatar would work with all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, to reach an agreement on the government of experts. (…)
The comprehensive deal would also require Israel to withdraw its military from Gaza and Hamas to halt its rocket fire into Israel.
Qatar sent millions to Gaza for years – with Israel’s backing. Here’s what we know about the controversial deal
(December 12, 2023)
In a series of interviews with key Israeli players conducted in collaboration with Israeli investigative journalism organization Shomrim, CNN was told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued the cash flow to Hamas, despite concerns raised from within his own government.
Qatar has vowed not to stop those payments.
How tiny Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas without consequences
(Oct 18, 2023)
But they are not the only guests of Qatar.
Just a few minutes drive away from the hotels and villas housing Hamas leaders is Al-Udaid Air Base, home to the U.S. military‘s Central Command. Washington‘s relationship with Qatar is so close that last year the White House officially designated the tiny emirate a „Major Non-NATO Ally“ of the United States.
@POTUS spoke with Emir of Qatar: Qatar News Agency says the 2 discussed the joint efforts to achieve a pause that can lead to a ceasefire. (PS. Ron Dermer is in the WH this afternoon to meet Sullivan).
Caesarea, in front of the Netanyahus‘ seaside villa
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of hostage Hersch, addressing the Tel Aviv rally under the driving rain
BRING THEM HOME NOW! ELECTIONS NOW! Live, from Jerusalem, it‘s a rainy & cold Saturday night.
Hamas and Israel float Marwan Barghouti’s release in future deal: Report
The proposal is under discussion as part of US, Qatari and Egyptian efforts to revive a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas like the one that brought a short-lived truce to the enclave, according to the Wall Street Journal.
CIA Director William Burns traveled to Warsaw, Poland on Monday for talks with Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea, and the Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani as part of the talks.
Mossad chief meets Qatari PM to revive hostage talks
Mossad chief David Barnea met overnight with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Oslo amid efforts to bring about a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Barnea also met with Egyptian officials.