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Hostage families urge Israel to complete Gaza truce deal ahead of swap

An Israeli campaign group urged the government on Friday to stick with the Gaza truce ahead of a fifth hostage-prisoner swap, after explosive comments by US President Donald Trump raised questions over the future of the deal.The scheduled exchange on Saturday comes after Trump declared that the United States would “take over Gaza” and move Palestinians out of the territory, sparking uproar across the Middle East and beyond.Israel has since ordered its military to prepare for the “voluntary” relocation of Gazans, while Hamas has rejected Trump’s plans as “absolutely unacceptable”.”An entire nation demands to see the hostages return home… Now is the time to ensure the agreement is completed — until the very last one,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement on Friday.Since January 19, Israel and Hamas have completed four swaps as part of the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, have so far freed 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.The fragile ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to secure the release of 33 hostages during the first 42-day phase of the agreement.The fifth swap is scheduled for Saturday, but as of now, neither side has disclosed how many hostages Hamas will release or how many prisoners Israel will free in return.Amid the uncertainty triggered by Trump’s remarks, Yaela David, whose brother Evyatar is still being held in Gaza, urged “the negotiating team to act today to complete the final details of the deal and ensure the return of all hostages”. “This must happen under this deal, and if not, there will remain a huge black stain on the history of our state,” she said.Despite regional and international backlash — and initial backtracking by members of his administration — Trump has doubled down on his statement.”The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” he said on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.”No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”- ‘Intent to occupy’ -After Trump first floated the idea, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the military to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of Gazans from the territory “to any country willing to accept them”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also voiced support for Trump’s plan, announced at a joint press conference between the two leaders, calling it “the first original idea to be raised in years”.Hamas, however, condemned the remarks as “absolutely unacceptable”.”Trump’s remarks about Washington taking control of Gaza amount to an open declaration of intent to occupy the territory,” spokesman Hazem Qassem said.”Gaza is for its people and they will not leave.”Negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire were set to begin on Monday, but there have been no details on the status of the talks.The second stage aims to secure the release of more hostages and pave the way for a permanent end to the war, which began on October 7, 2023 with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel.During the attack, militants took 251 hostages to Gaza. Seventy-six remain in captivity, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead.

Trump sanctions ICC for ‘illegitimate’ Israel, US probes

US President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on the International Criminal Court for probes targeting America and its ally Israel, but the ICC on Friday vowed to continue providing “justice and hope” around the world.Trump signed an executive order Thursday saying the court in The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held talks with the US president on Tuesday.He ordered asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their family members, along with anyone deemed to have helped the court’s investigations.The ICC on Friday condemned the move, which it said sought to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work”.”The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world,” it said in a statement. The names of the individuals affected by the sanctions were not immediately released, but previous US sanctions under Trump had targeted the court’s prosecutor.Trump’s order said the tribunal had engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.Israel’s foreign minister applauded Trump on Friday over the sanctions, calling the court’s actions against Israel illegitimate.”I strongly commend @POTUS President Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the so-called ‘international criminal court’,” Gideon Saar wrote on X, adding that the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis”.Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.The EU warned the move was a threat to its independence.”Sanctioning the ICC threatens the Court’s independence and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole,” Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the EU’s 27 member states, wrote on X. The sanctions are a show of support after Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, during which Trump unveiled a plan for the United States to “take over” Gaza and move Palestinians to other Middle Eastern countries.The UN and legal experts have said Trump’s plan would be illegal under international law. Forcible displacement is also a crime under the ICC’s governing Rome Statute.- ‘Criminal responsibility’ -Following a request by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, judges issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif — whom Israel says is dead.The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare during the Gaza war, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.Netanyahu has accused the court of anti-Semitism.During his first term, Trump imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban on the ICC’s then-prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials and staff in 2020. Describing it as a “kangaroo court,” his then-administration made the move after Gambian-born Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against US soldiers in Afghanistan.While his order at the time did not name Israel, Trump administration officials said they were also angered by Bensouda’s opening of a probe into the situation in the Palestinian territories in 2019.President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions soon after taking office in 2021.Prosecutor Khan later effectively dropped the United States from the Afghan investigation and focused on the Taliban instead.  Biden strongly condemned the “outrageous” warrant against Netanyahu in November.The US House passed a bill last month to sanction the ICC, but Senate Democrats blocked it last week, saying the bill could backfire on US allies and firms.But Democrats have also expressed anger at the sanctions on Netanyahu.

Israel orders army to plan to let Palestinians leave Gaza

Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare for “voluntary” departures from Gaza, as US President Donald Trump ruled out sending American troops to the territory.Trump had earlier proposed moving Palestinians out of Gaza, sparking uproar from leaders in the Middle East and beyond.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the military to formulate a plan for Palestinians to leave Gaza, which has been ravaged by more than a year of war.”I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare a plan to enable voluntary departure for Gaza residents,” Katz said, adding they could go “to any country willing to accept them”.Trump announced his proposal for Gaza to audible gasps on Tuesday at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the inauguration.The United Nations warned any forced displacement of Palestinians would be “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.Trump insisted “everybody loves” the plan, saying it would involve the United States taking over Gaza.Arab nations, however, firmly rejected it, and the US president offered few details on how more than two million Palestinians would be removed.His administration later appeared to backtrack, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying any transfer of Gazans would be temporary.But Trump doubled down on Thursday.”The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” he said on his Truth Social platform.”No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”Rubio will pay his first visit to the Middle East as secretary of state later this month, visiting Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar from February 13, a senior US State Department official said Thursday.The top US diplomat has said those denouncing Trump’s proposal should “step forward and provide a solution”.Netanyahu on Thursday also voiced support for Trump’s plan, calling it “the first original idea to be raised in years”.Hamas’s spokesman condemned Trump’s statements as “absolutely unacceptable”.”Trump’s remarks about Washington taking control of Gaza amount to an open declaration of intent to occupy the territory,” Hazem Qassem said.”Gaza is for its people and they will not leave.A ceasefire deal reached last month is intended to halt the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, led by Palestinian militant group Hamas.- ‘Steadfast in our homeland’ -Katz said Trump’s plan “could create broad opportunities for Gaza residents who wish to leave… and also facilitate the advancement of reconstruction programs for a demilitarised, threat-free Gaza”.Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — who vowed Wednesday to “definitively bury” the idea of a Palestinian state — said he welcomed Katz’s move.Palestinians residing in the coastal territory have vowed to remain. For them, any attempt to push them out of Gaza recalls the “Nakba”, or “catastrophe” — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.”They can do whatever they want, but we will remain steadfast in our homeland,” said 41-year-old Gazan Ahmed Halasa.Some Israelis in Jerusalem welcomed Trump’s proposal, though others doubted it could be carried out.”I really like what he said, but in my wildest dreams… it’s hard for me to believe it will happen, but who knows,” said 65-year-old Refael.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to only be “temporarily relocated” out of Gaza.”It’s not a liveable place for any human being,” she said.But Trump, who also said he might visit Gaza, suggested it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.- ‘Weakens’ ceasefire -Even before Tuesday’s announcements, Trump had suggested residents of Gaza should move to Egypt and Jordan, both of which have flatly rejected any resettlement of Palestinians on their territory.Egypt’s foreign ministry on Thursday said Israeli support for Trump’s plan “weakens and destroys the negotiations on a ceasefire agreement and incites a return to fighting”.Egypt, Qatar and the United States mediated the fragile January 19 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Talks resumed this week for the second phase of the truce, expected to herald a more permanent end to the fighting.Israel’s military offensive has left much of Gaza in ruins, including schools, hospitals and most civil infrastructure.In a bid to address the dire humanitarian situation, aid has been rushed into the territory, with more than 10,000 aid trucks entering since the ceasefire took effect, according to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.In neighbouring Lebanon, Israel said late Thursday it had struck two sites that allegedly contained weapons belonging to the Hezbollah group, a Hamas ally, despite a separate truce deal in that country. Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said Israel had carried out air strikes on the south and east of the country.burs-dv/sco/lb