This article was originally published in English
Telephone conversation between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: ongoing talks to ensure the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza examined. Blinken in the Middle East to avoid an offensive in Rafah
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Waiting for a Hamas response to Israel’s counter-proposal on hostagesto worry the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu it is also the possibility that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may issue arrest warrants against him and Israeli officials for war crimes. To avoid this, Netanyahu is conducting “relentless telephone pressure” on the United States. Washington, according to media reports, is in fact attempting “a desperate diplomatic effort” to circumvent what would be “a serious deterioration in Israel’s international status”. Last week Netanyahu called the ICC investigations outrageous, saying they would set a dangerous precedent.
The Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned Israeli embassies around the world to prepare for “an anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel wave” if arrest warrants were issued.
Biden-Netanyahu phone call: ongoing talks to secure the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza examined
International diplomatic efforts are intensifying to try to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas for the release of the hostages and for a ceasefire in Gaza. On the evening of Sunday 28 April, a telephone call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: among the topics discussed, Washington’s latest attempt to avoid theoffensive on Rafah and promote an agreement that gives respite to the displaced people of the Strip. Biden and Netanyahu, we read in a note from the White House at the end of the phone call between the two leaders, “have examined ongoing talks to secure the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza“. Biden, the note continues, “referred to his statement with 17 other world leaders asking that Hamas release its citizens without delay to guarantee a ceasefire and aid to the population of Gaza”.
Antony Blinken’s seventh trip to the Middle East starting October 7
After the stop in Saudi Arabia for a special meeting of the World Economic Forum, this week the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Jordan and Israel on his seventh trip to the area starting October 7. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken will speak about efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza that will see the release of hostages and provide humanitarian aid to the Strip.
