Harris talk with rival angers Netanyahu
Hamas balks at giving out hostage information
Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to meet Monday with an Israeli War Cabinet member and longtime rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one day after calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
The meeting is viewed in Israel as a warning from the Biden administration to Netanyahu, who has refused global demands for a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis and has pledged to continue the war in Gaza until Hamas is crushed.
Harris was set to meet with Benny Gantz, who joined Netanyahu’s government in a show of solidarity after the Hamas-led attack on Israel Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 people as hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Gantz, a centrist, is taking heat from his own government for making the trip. Also scheduled were talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top U.S officials.
An official from Netanyahu’s farright Likud party, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Gantz’s trip was not authorized by Netanyahu. The prime minister chastised Gantz, telling him the country has “just one prime minister.”
Harris made news on Sunday with her call for an immediate cease-fire.
“People in Gaza are starving,” she said in Alabama to mark the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when Alabama state troopers clubbed peaceful civil rights marchers. “The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act.”
The U.S. has previously refrained from calling for a cease-fire but, along with Qatar and Egypt, has been trying to mediate a six-week truce that would lead to the release of hostages and enhanced aid for Gaza.
Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, hasn’t been in contact with his own negotiating team for at least a week, raising concerns that a cease-fire deal could be held up awaiting Sinwar’s approval, Egyptian and Qatari officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Hamas won’t provide information on hostages ‘for free’
Israel has refused to send a delegation to cease-fire talks in Cairo, demanding that Hamas first provide an accounting of which hostages are still alive. Israel took the stance one day after the Biden administration said Saturday that Israel had essentially agreed to a six-week cease-fire that would include the release of some hostages, but that Hamas has yet to sign off on the deal.
A senior Hamas official told the BBC that it is impossible to know which militant-held hostages are still alive because of continuing Israeli bombing. Basem Naim said the hostages are in different areas held by different groups and that a cease-fire is needed to track them all down. Naim also said that valuable information about the hostages could not be given “for free.”
Hundreds of demonstrators led by UnXeptable, a group of Israeli expat activists, gathered outside the Red Cross building in Washington, D.C., demandSome ing a cease-fire in Gaza. Among the speakers was Boaz Atzili, whose nephew Aviv was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion. Aviv Atzili’s body has not been released by the militants.
The number of people killed in Gaza has risen above 30,000, with more than 70,000 wounded, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying militants operate among the population.
More than 100 hostages held in Gaza were released during a weeklong truce in November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
An unpublished investigation by the United Nations agency for Palestinian affairs has accused Israel of abusing hundreds of Palestinians detained in Gaza during the war, The New York Times reported, saying it had reviewed the report.
The authors of the report allege that the detainees, including at least 1,000 civilians later released without charge, were held at three military sites inside Israel. The report said the detainees included males and females whose ages ranged from 6 to 82, some of whom said they were beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused and denied access to lawyers and doctors. died in detention, the report said.
The report was compiled by UNRWA, which is under investigation after at least 30 of its 13,000 employees were determined to have participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Data cables through Red Sea cut amid Houthi rebel attacks
An incident in the Red Sea has cut three underwater sea cables providing internet and telecommunications around the world as the waterway remains a target of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said Monday.
A statement by Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications acknowledged the cuts but did not say what caused the lines to be severed. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in the Houthi campaign, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis have denied attacking the lines, however.
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Monday for meetings with Lebanese leaders aimed at avoiding escalation of the clashes between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.
Israel, Palestinian Authority losing favor in US, survey finds
American opinion of Israel and of the Palestinian Authority have worsened in the past year amid the escalating crisis, a new survey suggests. The Gallup poll shows 58% of Americans have a “very” or “mostly favorable” view of Israel, down from 68% last year and the lowest favorable rating for Israel in over 20 years. Young adults show the biggest decline, dropping from 64% favorable among 18- to 34-year-olds in 2023 to 38%. Positive opinion of the Palestinian Authority has also fallen, to 18% from 26% a year ago.
Republicans overwhelmingly sympathize with Israel, independents tend to favor Israel, and more Democrats side with the Palestinians than Israelis, the poll shows.
Contributing: David Jackson, USA TODAY; The Associated Press