Israel-Gaza war: Donald Trump to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu as Democrats boycott visit
Prominent Democrats say they will boycott Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US, as Donald Trump prepares to welcome the PM at his private Mar-a-lago Club.
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Former US president Donald Trump is preparing to put to rest a four-year feud in the name of peace in the Middle East.
Mr Trump announced on his Truth Social account he was “looking forward” to the reunion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as several high-ranking Democrats said they’re boycotting the speech.
“Looking forward to welcoming Bibi Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” the former US president wrote.
“During my first term, we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the historic Abraham Accords — And we will have it again.”
Mr Netanyahu requested the in-person meeting with Mr Trump, according to Politico citing two people familiar with the outreach.
Mr Trump fell out with Mr Netanyahu towards the end of his presidency alleging Israel backed out of a commitment to help with taking out an Iranian military target.
“We had everything all set to go, and the night before it happened, I got a call that Israel will not be participating in this attack,” Mr Trump said at a Florida rally according to The Washington Post.
“I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down.”
Relations between US President Joe Biden and Mr Netanyahu have been frosty for some time with the Israeli leader publicly criticising the president for withholding military supplies over how Israel handled the invasion of Rafah.
The announcement of the meeting with Mr Trump comes after Mr Netanyahu’s upcoming meeting with Mr Biden remains up in the air.
While there are also tentative plans to meet with vice president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, nothing is yet set in stone.
The Israeli PM was due to meet with Mr Biden on Tuesday, local time, to discuss the future of the war in Gaza, but officials in Mr Netanyahu’s office said the meeting has been called off.
Following Mr Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington DC, Axios journalist Barak Ravid posted on Twitter that Mr Netanyahu was still “waiting for an answer” from the White House, according to an Israeli official.
However, the meeting has now been called off, according to reports.
Mr Netanyahu is in Washington DC to address Congress on Wednesday local time at the invitation of House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Security was tight at the Watergate Hotel in Washington as Mr Netanyahu’s convoy arrived.
Ahead of his arrival, Mr Netanyahu called the visit a “very important trip” that comes at a time of “great political uncertainty”, referring to Mr Biden’s decision not to seek re-election and as Washington pushes Israel to seek a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The war has placed unprecedented strains on Israel’s most significant and closest alliance, with Mr Netanyahu defying US pressure and launching a major ground operation in Gaza’s Rafah earlier this year.
NETANYAHU ‘WORST LEADER IN JEWISH HISTORY’
High-ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler, who has described himself as the “most senior Jewish member of the House of Representatives”, did not mince words in condemning Netanyahu ahead of his planned speech in the US.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago,” Mr Nadler said in a post on X.
“Tomorrow’s address is the next step in a long line of manipulative bad-faith efforts by Republicans to further politicise the US-Israel relationship for partisan gain and is a cynical stunt by Netanyahu aimed at aiding his own desperate political standing at home.”
Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago. The Prime Minister is putting the security of Israel, the lives of the hostages, the stability of the region, and longstanding Israeli… pic.twitter.com/76gE5JePj8
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) July 23, 2024
DEMOCRATS BOYCOTT NETANYAHU SPEECH
A growing number of US Democrats have said they will not attend Mr Netanyahu’s speech.
Those include Senator Bernie Sanders, the chamber’s second-highest-ranking Democrat Senator Patty Murray, Senator Tim Kaine, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative James Clyburn.
In a statement, Representative Rashida Tlaib called the speech “a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”.
“It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide,” she said.
Meanwhile, Representative Cori Bush said in a post on X that “standing up for human rights is not just a talking point”.
“For lawmakers who genuinely care about democracy and freedom, standing up for human rights is not just a talking point."
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) July 23, 2024
Read my statement on my decision to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress â¬‡ï¸ pic.twitter.com/psOnvwGPKx
JEWISH PRO-GAZA PROTESTERS ARRESTED
Hundreds of progressive Jewish activists have taken over the Cannon House Office Building in Washington’s Capitol Hill, demanding an end to weapons transfers to Israel.
The protesters congregated at the site and simultaneously took off their tops to reveal red T-shirts with the words “Stop arming Israel.”
They chanted, “not in our name” and “let Gaza live”.
US Capitol police have started to arrest protesters as they declared the area “closed.”
ISRAEL TANKS ADVANCE; HOSTAGE DEAL ‘RIPENING’
Israeli tanks are pushing further into southern Gaza, prompting new evacuation orders, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes conditions for a hostage exchange deal are “ripening”.
“The Israeli Air Force and (Israel Defense Forces) artillery forces have struck more than 30 terror infrastructure sites in Khan Yunis, including in the area from which a projectile was launched toward Nirim in southern Israel earlier today,” the military claim.
The IDF issued a new set of evacuation orders on Monday and Tuesday, as at least 70 Palestinians were killed in the subsequent tank and aerial strikes in the area.
DOZENS KILLED IN ATTACK ON KHAN YUNIS
The nine-month-old war in the Palestinian territory raged on unabated, with Israel telling civilians in the eastern part of Khan Yunis to evacuate.
There was already intense shelling in the city, eyewitnesses said, while a medical source in the city’s Nasser Hospital told AFP the toll from the bombing in Khan Yunis has reached 26 dead. The health ministry had said there were 14 killed.
In a statement, the Israeli military said “due to significant terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the state of Israel … remaining in this area has become dangerous”.
It said its forces were “about to forcefully operate” in the area and told people to move to Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
Ahmed al-Bayouk, a 53-year-old man from Khan Yunis, told AFP: “We barely settle for a few days before the army comes, bombs, displaces us and destroys more.”
“Where should we go? Every place is at risk of bombing.”
REGIONAL VIOLENCE SPREADS
Israel attacked Yemen for the first time on Saturday, in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on Tel Aviv by the Huthi rebels.
There were also further exchanges of fire between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Israeli military over the weekend, as tensions remained high along the border.
Yemen’s Huthi rebels promised a “huge” retaliation against Israel following a deadly strike on the port of Hodeida, a day after the first fatal attack by the Huthis in Israel.
Israel said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen and struck targets in southern Lebanon.
But Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry warned Israel’s attack on Hodeida “aggravates the current tension in the region and halts the ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza.”
Abdul Malik al-Huthi, chief of the Iran-backed group, said the strikes on Hodeida would lead to “further escalation and more attacks targeting Israel” after the deadly Huthi drone strike on Tel Aviv changed the rules of engagement and opened “a new phase” in operations.
Huthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the rebels’ “response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge.”
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the fire left raging by the strikes on rebel-held Hodeida port “is seen across the Middle East and the significance is clear.”
Gallant warned of further operations if the Huthis “dare to attack us” after the Huthi drone strike hit Tel Aviv, at least 1800 kilometres from Yemen.
It appeared to be the first to pierce Israel’s intricate air defences.
The Huthis control swathes of Yemen, including much of its Red Sea coast.
In Hodeida, six people were killed and 83 wounded, health officials said in an updated statement carried by Huthi media.
Firefighters struggled to contain the massive blaze caused by the strike. A port employee said fuel storage tanks and a power plant were still burning on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen towards the Red Sea resort town of Eilat. The rebel spokesman said ballistic missiles were fired towards the port.
ISRAEL VACCINATES TROOPS AS GAZA CONTAGION SPREADS
Israel has started vaccinating its troops in Gaza against polio and supplying vaccines for the Palestinian population after health agencies said the virus has been found in the territory.
Many more diseases are “spreading out of control” inside Gaza, a World Health Organisation spokesman said due to open sewers in the streets and dystopian living conditions brought on by the war, forced migrations, tent encampments, and the destruction of the health system.
ISRAELI SETTLERS ATTACK U.S. VOLUNTEERS
Israeli settlers attacked a group of foreign volunteers helping Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, injuring some who needed hospital treatment, the activists and Israeli army said on Sunday.
Eight mainly American volunteers were working with the farmers in an olive grove near the Palestinian village of Qusra when Israeli settlers came after them, said David Hummel, an American-German in the group.
“We were standing there peacefully, not a threat to anyone, when they started coming towards us and pushing us down the path,” Hummel told AFP.
“They started attacking and beating us all with sticks and metal pipes and they were throwing rocks as well at us,” he said.
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Originally published as Israel-Gaza war: Donald Trump to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu as Democrats boycott visit
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