JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza without yielding to Hamas’ demands, insisting the military campaign in the Palestinian territory had reached a “critical stage.”
“I believe we can bring our hostages home without surrendering to Hamas’s dictates,” Netanyahu said, in his first comments since Hamas, seeking a permanent end to the Gaza war, rejected a new truce proposal from Israel.
“We are at a critical stage of the campaign, and at this point, we need patience and determination to win.”
The remarks drew a swift rebuttal from an Israeli campaign group representing the hostages’ families, which accused Netanyahu of having “no plan” for securing the captives’ freedom.
“There is one clear, feasible, and urgent solution that can be achieved now: reach a deal that will bring everyone home — even if it means stopping the fighting,” Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Netanyahu, however, insisted that ending the war now would embolden the country’s enemies.
“Ending the war under these surrender conditions would send a message to all of Israel’s enemies: that abducting Israelis can bring Israel to its knees. It would prove that terrorism pays — and that message would endanger the entire free world,” he said.
Hamas, Netanyahu said, was “demanding the end of the war and the continuation of its rule,” as well as a full Israeli withdrawal, “which would enable Hamas to rearm and plan more attacks against us.”
“If we commit to ending the war, we will not be able to resume fighting in Gaza,” he said.
“So I ask you — did our soldiers fight in vain? Did our heroes fall and suffer for nothing?“
Israeli PM says to return hostages without giving in to ‘Hamas dictates’
https://arab.news/w86qr
Israeli PM says to return hostages without giving in to ‘Hamas dictates’
- “I believe we can bring our hostages home without surrendering to Hamas’s dictates,” Netanyahu said
- “We are at a critical stage of the campaign, and at this point, we need patience”
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
