Washington:

The Biden administration is convinced that Iran will attack Israel in the coming days and is preparing to help it repel it , three American sources told Axios, according to which the Iranian attack – in retaliation for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran – could follow the same pattern as the one conducted on April 13, but potentially larger, could involve the Lebanese Hezbollah.

But the administration fears that, unlike four months ago, it may be more difficult to mobilise the same regional and international coalition that helped Israel defend itself from the swarm of drones and missiles launched in April, reports Adnkronos news agency.

The killing of Ismail Haniyeh “does not help” efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas, US President Joe Biden admitted, speaking to reporters at the Andrews air base where he went to welcome prisoners exchanged with Russia.

Biden – who yesterday had a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – said he was “very concerned” about the latest escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

“We have a ceasefire base, it has to go forward and they have to go forward,” the president urged again, in a reference to the phone call with Netanyahu, which he called “very direct.”

Ismail Haniyeh will be buried in Qatar today. The body of the Hamas political leader arrived in Doha yesterday from Iran, after thousands of people attended his funeral in Tehran.

According to Hamas and Qatari state media, the funeral prayer will be held after the Friday prayer at Qatar’s national mosque, followed by burial in the city of Lusail.

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U.S. President Joe Biden, right, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on July 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Thursday to discuss the war in Gaza — and the possibility of securing a cease-fire deal — with U.S. President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mr. Netanyahu’s first White House visit since 2020 comes at a time of growing pressure in Israel and the U.S. to find an endgame to the nine-month war that’s left more than 39,000 dead in Gaza and some 1,200 dead in Israel. Dozens of Israeli hostages are still languishing in Hamas captivity.

‘Gaps are closable’

Mr. Biden reiterated in their Oval Office meeting his calls for Israel and Hamas to quickly agree to a ceasefire deal that would bring home the remaining hostages, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby. White House officials say the negotiations are in the closing stages, but there are issues that need to be resolved.

“The gaps are closable,” Mr. Kirby said. He added, “But it’s going to require, as it always does, some leadership, some compromise.”

Ms. Harris is scheduled to meet separately on Thursday with Mr. Netanyahu. She is also expected to press him on securing a deal to release the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that launched the war.

Mr. Netanyahu, last at the White House when former President Donald Trump was in office, is headed to Florida on Friday to meet with the Republican presidential nominee.

Relationship of 40 years

The conservative Likud Party leader Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years. Mr. Netanyahu, in what will likely be his last White House meeting with Mr. Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they’ve known each other and thanked the president for his service.

“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu told Mr. Biden at the start of their meeting.

A U.S.-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases is something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for Mr. Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed Ms. Harris. It could also be a boon for Ms. Harris in her bid to succeed him.

Following their talks, Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu met with the families of American hostages.

Crucial for Harris

For Ms. Harris, the meeting with Mr. Netanyahu is an opportunity to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She’s being scrutinised by those on the political left who say Mr. Biden hasn’t done enough to force Mr. Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.

A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said there is “no daylight between the president and vice president” on Israel. Ms. Harris’ last one-on-one engagement with Mr. Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she’s taken part in more than 20 calls between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu.

Mr. Netanyahu is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He faces pressure from the families of hostages demanding a cease-fire agreement to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who demand he resist any deal that could keep Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.

Mr. Netanyahu, in a fiery address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, offered a robust defence of Israel’s conduct during the war and lashed out against accusations by the International Criminal Court of Israeli war crimes. He made the case that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively keeping “Americans boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.”

“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Our fight, it’s your fight. And our victory will be your victory. ”

Israel has agreed to delay an expected invasion of Gaza for now so that the United States can rush missile defences to the region to protect its troops there, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. and Israeli officials.

Israel is also taking into account in its planning the effort to supply humanitarian aid to civilians inside Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to free hostages held by Hamas militants, the report said.

Threats to U.S. troops were of paramount concern, it said.

The U.S. military and other officials believe their forces will be targeted by militant groups once the invasion of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory starts.

The United States is hurrying to deploy nearly a dozen air-defence systems to the region, according to the Journal.

Reuters reported on Monday that Washington advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault in the Gaza Strip and is keeping Qatar – a broker with the Palestinian militants – apprised of those talks as its tries to free more hostages and prepare for a possible wider regional war.

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Washington, United States:

The Pentagon plans to send the two Iron Dome missile defense systems it had previously purchased from Israel back to that country to defend itself against inbound missiles, a US official and a congressional aide said.

The Department of Defense told members of Congress at a briefing on Wednesday it planned to lease the Iron Dome systems back to Israel, the US official and the congressional aide told Reuters. In this type of a financial arrangement, the ownership remains with the buyer.

The transfer back to Israel could come within days, the congressional aide said.

The Pentagon had been considering and testing the systems as a way to defend the territory of Guam from Chinese missiles.

The White House on Monday said it expected to fulfill additional security requests from Israel as quickly as possible. Biden promised replenishment of interceptors used by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system as well as ammunition in addition to redoubling the U.S. military presence in the region.

The Pentagon declined to comment.

Iron Dome was developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems with US backing to counter rocket fire from Lebanon that hit Israeli towns during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, and from Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas Islamists took control in 2007. It became operational in 2011.

In August 2022, Israel said Iron Dome interceptor had shot down 97% of Palestinian rockets it had engaged during a weekend surge of Gaza fighting.

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Tel Aviv, Israel:

Palestine’s Hamas “must be stopped”, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday as he reiterated United States support to Israel after last week’s attack by the Islamist group.

Chuck Schumer led a five-member bipartisan Senate delegation which met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet, President Isaac Herzog and families of US citizens held captive in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

“We say this to the Israeli people: we have your back, we feel your pain, we ache with you, and we… will stand by you in these difficult times,” Chuck Schumer told a news conference.

He vowed Washington would remain Israel’s “unrelenting partner” and said that in the senators’ meeting with Israeli officials, they discussed Israel’s needs to “defend itself” and “extinguish the threat of Hamas”.

Chuck Schumer condemned the “vicious, horrible, inhuman nastiness of Hamas”, saying “the world can’t move on”.

“If we don’t prevent the threat of Hamas from recurring, it will happen again… They must be stopped,” he added.

More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since Hamas group entered Gaza border communities on October 7 and kidnapped at least 155 others, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has pummelled the narrow Palestinian enclave with air strikes and artillery fire, killing at least 2,670 people.

Chuck Schumer said the US Senate would move to prepare an aid package to Israel as the war drags on and reiterated Israel’s “right to defend itself”, and Washington would do “everything it can to get the hostages released”.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney accused Hamas, which rules Gaza, of “holding their own population as human shields”, arguing that any civilian deaths in the Strip are “because of Hamas”.

With hundreds of children among those killed in Gaza, Chuck Schumer said “we have to minimise civilians casualties”.

As Israel seeks to avenge the worst attack in its history, the Arab League and African Union warned earlier Sunday a ground invasion could lead to “genocide”.
 

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