The Israeli military has ordered another evacuation of some residential areas in northwest Gaza where it says Palestinian militants fired rockets on the nearby Israeli town of Ashkelon.
The orders issued on Monday came after a rocket attack triggered air raid sirens in Ashkelon the day before. The military said it intercepted one projectile and another fell in the sea.
Israel ordered the evacuation of all of northern Gaza, including the territory’s largest city, in the opening weeks of the war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Most residents heeded the orders and headed south, but up to 300,000 remained in the north, where Israel’s air and ground operations have caused widespread destruction. The north has been surrounded by Israeli forces and largely isolated since October.
Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced in the 11-month-old war, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into tent camps along the coast with few if any public services.
Here’s the latest:
Israel public broadcast station publishes a recording of conversation between father of a hostage and Netanyahu
TEL AVIV — Israel’s public broadcast station Kan has published a recording in which the father of one of the six Israeli hostages who were found dead last week in a tunnel in Gaza angrily confronts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Kan said Monday that the recording was made during a condolence visit by Netanyahu to the family of Uri Danino. The hostage’s father, Elhanan Danino, can be heard telling Netanyahu to “stop messing around with nonsense… petty politics and spins. there’s no price for human life.”
He implored Netanyahu to unify the nation. “You’re a leader. Elected. Sent to lead,” he said.
The father accused Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for most of the last 15 years, of having failed to stop Hamas during his time in office.
“Forgive me sir, it all happened on your watch,” he is heard saying in the recording. “My son was murdered in a tunnel that you built on your watch,” – a reference to cash and concrete that reached Hamas in recent years.
In the recording, the prime minister tells Danino that “I won’t tell you what goes on behind closed doors. It won’t interest you that much either,” and goes on to say he had dealt with the situation “alone… against the whole world. Facing the president of the United States and people here, and facing military elements here.”
Without referring to the recording, Netanyahu released a recorded statement saying: “I hear the cry of the families of the hostages who have lost what is most dear to them.”
“My wife and I go to heartbreaking meetings that just break our hearts to pieces. I hear, I listen, I don’t judge either, and I am doing everything to return the hostages and to win the war,” he said.
Asked whether the Kan recording was real, the prime minister’s office refused to elaborate.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the recording.
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hington in talks with Israel to make sure there is accountability in killing of Turkish-American activist
WASHINGTON — A deputy State Department spokesman fended off questions Monday about whether the U.S. was being slow to respond to Friday’s killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old Seattle resident and American citizen shot in the head at a demonstration in the West Bank.
Rights groups and others say Israeli military investigations into abuses seldom find Israeli forces culpable or bring accountability, and the slain woman’s American family asked President Joe Biden over the weekend for a separate U.S. investigation. The deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, said the Biden administration was still speaking to Israeli allies about the shooting, which witnesses alleged was done by an Israeli military gunman at a period when the demonstration was calm.
“Our partners in Israel have indicated they are conducting a process” examining the killing “and they will make public their finding,” Patel said, adding that they will let that process play out.
“Should whatever happened deem that there be accountability” by Israelis, “we of course” will expect that. Pressed by reporters on the contrast to the administration’s swift condemnation of the killing of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin in Hamas custody last week, Patel said that reflected the “direct murder of American Israeli citizens being held by a terrorist group.” Patel said any direct investigation would be carried out by the Justice Department, not State.
White House national security adviser speaks with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince
WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday as the Biden administration struggles to push past differences between Israel and Hamas and seal a cease-fire deal to at least temporarily pause the 11-month war in Gaza.
The call, which was confirmed by a U.S. official who was not authorized to publicly comment on the call that has not been publicized by the White House, comes as the U.S. administration is aiming to prevent the Gaza war from spreading into a regional conflict.
Sullivan and the crown prince also discussed the U.S.-push for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
-Aamer Madhani
Turkey’s president says it will seek justice in international court for the slain Turkish-American activist
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that Turkey would seek justice for the slain Turkish-American activist by taking her “brutal” killing to an international court. A witness said Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
“We will take every legal step to ensure that our daughter, Aysenur Ezgi’s blood is not left unavenged and we will continue our fight against the state of Israel by applying at the highest level to the International Court of justice in The Hague,” Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting.
In his televised remarks, the Turkish leader also called on nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to meet urgently and present a united stance against what he said were Israeli expansionist policies concerning holy sites in Jerusalem.
President Joe Biden expected to meet with top advisers to discuss cease-fire deal
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to meet with top advisers at the White House on Monday to discuss efforts to get Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on a cease-fire deal, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
White House officials had talks earlier Monday morning about the state of the negotiations with Egyptian and Qatari officials, who have been serving as intermediaries with Hamas.
The person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. side is frustrated with Hamas’ demands for the release of more Hamas’ prisoners in the first stage of the deal after last week’s killing of six hostages. That demand is a non-starter for the Israeli-side, but the White House still has hope that Qatar can persuade Hamas to a more reasonable position on the hostage for prisoner swap.
-Aamer Madhani
West Bank funeral procession for Turkish-American pro-Palestinian activist
NABLUS, West Bank — Dozens of mourners attended a funeral procession for a Turkish-American activist who a witness says was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
The procession on Monday for Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was organized by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Its security forces carried her body draped in a Palestinian flag with a traditional black-and-white checkered scarf over her face.
Several Palestinian officials took part in the procession in the West Bank city of Nablus.
A fellow pro-Palestinian protester said the 26-year-old was shot in the head by Israeli forces during a period of calm after a clash between the soldiers and Palestinian protesters.
The military said it was investigating the shooting, and that the forces had fired at an “instigator of violent activity” in the area of the protest last Friday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it was working to repatriate her remains for burial in Turkey. U.S. officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians.
Death toll from Israeli strikes on Syria rises to 14, Syrian state media say
DAMASCUS — The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 14, with more than 40 wounded, Syrian state media said Monday morning.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria late Sunday, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires. The initial death count reported by the Masyaf National Hospital in western Hamas province was four.
As of Monday morning SANA reported 14 killed and 43 wounded, citing hospital head Faysal Haydar. It was not clear how many of those killed and wounded were civilians and how many were militants.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, reported that one of the strikes targeted a scientific research center in Maysaf and other sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria.” Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups. Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
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