US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the latter’s office in Jerusalem on November 30, 2023. (Amos Ben-Gershom / GPO)
Blinken said to tell Israel to change strategy for southern Gaza, suggest it won’t have months to win war. Hostages Mia Schem, Amit Soussana back in Israel. Hamas set to release more hostages, 3 bodies, but no word yet. Husband of hostage freed yesterday was killed Oct. 7, kibbutz says.
According to leaked remarks from today’s war cabinet meeting, attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Blinken told Israel it cannot operate in southern Gaza in the way it has done in the north — a presumed reference to the heavy air bombardment and crushing ground operation — and indicated that Israel has weeks, not months, to complete its declared mission of destroying Hamas.
The US Administration has repeatedly backed Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas in the wake of the terror group’s October 7 slaughter of 1,200 Israelis, but has indicated it is increasingly troubled by the civilian fatalities and widespread destruction in the Hamas-run strip.
Blinken’s reported remarks are quoted only in Hebrew translation by Channel 12 news, and have been translated back into English here:
Blinken: You can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north. There are two million Palestinians there. You need to evacuate fewer people from their homes, be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities, and ensure that there are enough protected areas [for civilians]. And if not? Then not to attack where there is a civilian population. What is your system of operation?
IDF Chief Herzi Halevi: We follow a number of principles — proportionality, distinction, and the laws of war. There were instances where we attacked on the basis of those principles, and instances where we decided not to attack, because we waited for a better opportunity.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: The entire Israeli society is united behind the goal of dismantling Hamas, even if it takes months.
Blinken: I don’t think you have the credit for that.
The secretary also reportedly pressed the cabinet over Israel’s plans for a post-war Gaza.
Blinken: You don’t want the Palestinian Authority on the day after. We understand that. The best way to kill an idea is to bring a better idea. The other states in the region need to know what you are planning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: As long as I’m sitting in this chair, the Palestinian Authority, which supports, educates and finances terror, will not rule Gaza on the day after Hamas.
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Gallant tells Blinken that Israel will defeat Hamas ‘no matter how long it takes’.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands before meeting in Tel Aviv on November 30, 2023.
Meeting visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel will take as long as needed to win the war in Gaza against Hamas.
“We are going to fight Hamas until we prevail — no matter how long it takes,” he says, while thanking both Blinken and US President Joe Biden for their support.
“We will continue this war until we win, defeat the Hamas organization, deprive it of its governing and military capabilities and bring back all the hostages,” Gallant adds. “We know that in terms of the goals of the operation, we are united with the US, and we really appreciate that.”
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IDF says ready to resume fighting in Gaza, will demand Hamas free more hostages tomorrow.
Israeli forces at a staging area near the border with Gaza on November 30, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90).
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military is ready to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip if the ceasefire agreement with Hamas is not renewed for another day.
“At this hour, we are progressing and awaiting the release of additional hostages who are due to return as part of the agreed-upon deal,” Hagari says.
He says that overnight, the IDF “insisted” on carrying out the current deal with Hamas, in which the terror group is set to release the women and children it is holding hostage.
“We will do so tomorrow as well. The mediators, Qatar and Egypt, are also obligated to carry out the deal, so that the ceasefire can continue,” he says.
“The IDF is ready to resume the fighting. We are prepared to attack at any hour, tonight as well,” Hagari says.
On a Hamas video showing Yarden Bibas, Hagari says “our hearts are with him and the entire Bibas family.”
He calls the video “psychological terror” and adds that Hamas’s claim that Yarden’s wife Shiri, and two young kids Ariel and Kfir were killed, is still not verified.
