7, May 2024
US brands Israel border closures ‘unacceptable’ 0
The White House said Tuesday that key ally Israel must reopen Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, while expressing hope that a ceasefire deal with Hamas was within reach.
Israel sent tanks into the southern Gaza city of Rafah and seized control of the crossing, a key aid passage, while warning it will deepen its operation if truce talks fail to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
President Joe Biden declined to answer questions on the ceasefire talks and the operation in Rafah as he met his Romanian counterpart in the Oval Office, merely smiling at reporters.
“The crossings that have been closed need to be reopened, it is unacceptable for them to be closed,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.
“We believe Rafah border crossing should be quickly reopened for the movement of humanitarian assistance,” Jean-Pierre added.
Israel had already committed to reopening another crossing at Kerem Shalom, which was closed after a rocket attack on Sunday killed four Israeli troops, on Wednesday, she added.
The United States, Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer, has repeatedly said it opposes a major offensive in Rafah, where more than 1.2 million displaced Palestinians are living.
But the White House said Israel had told it that the current operation was of “limited scope, scale and duration.”
“What we’ve been told by our Israeli counterparts is that this operation last night was limited and designed to cut off Hamas’s ability to smuggle weapons” into Gaza,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
Washington would closely monitor the situation, he added.
‘Remaining gaps’
The Israeli military’s thrust into the eastern sector of the city came shortly after the Palestinian militant group Hamas said it had accepted a ceasefire proposal, but Israel demurred.
The talks got back underway on Tuesday amid high hopes and tensions after more than seven months of conflict.
“A close assessment of the two sides’ positions suggests that they should be able to close the remaining gaps, and we’re going to do everything we can to support that process,” Kirby said.
The fact that all parties, including CIA chief Bill Burns, were present at the talks in Cairo indicated they were at an advanced stage, he added.
“Everybody’s coming to the table,” Kirby said. “That’s not insignificant.”
The White House hoped for news “very, very soon” but it would be “foolhardy” to predict when the negotiations might bear fruit, he added.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that has killed at least 34,789 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Source: AFP
13, May 2024
Russia: President Putin set to replace Shoigu as defense minister 0
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a surprise new defense minister, nominating civilian Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister who specialises in economics, for the job more than two years into the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said.
Putin wants Sergei Shoigu, defence minister since 2012 and a long-standing ally, to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, and to also have responsibilities for the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin announced on Sunday.
The changes, certain to be approved by parliamentarians, are the most significant Putin has made to the military command since sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 in what he called a special military operation.
The shake-up gives Shoigu a job that is technically regarded as senior to his defence ministry role, ensuring continuity and saving Shoigu’s face.
Putin’s defence chief Shoigu survived Wagner’s challenge – but for how long?
Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff and someone with a more hands-on role when it comes to directing the war, will remain in post.
Sergei Lavrov, the country’s veteran foreign minister, will also stay in his job, the Kremlin said.
The appointment of Belousov, a civilian official known for his economic decision-making rather than battlefield knowledge, is the biggest surprise.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, told reporters that the change made sense because Russia was approaching a situation like the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, when the military and law enforcement authorities accounted for 7.4% of state spending.
That, said Peskov, meant it was vital to ensure such spending aligned with the country’s overall interests, which was why Putin now wanted a civilian with an economic background in the defence ministry job.
“The one who is more open to innovations is the one who will be victorious on the battlefield,” Peskov said.
The change is also likely to be seen by an attempt by Putin to subject defence spending to greater scrutiny to ensure funds are effectively spent after a Shoigu ally and deputy defence minister was accused by state prosecutors of taking a bribe.
Source: Reuters