Netanyahu says intense phase of Gaza war to end soon | CNN (2024)

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The family of Israeli-American hostageHersh Goldberg-Polin speaks with CNN's Anderson Cooper on June 24, 2024.

Family of Israeli-American hostageHersh Goldberg-Polin says they agreed to publishing new video of their son being kidnapped by Hamas for world leaders to see.

Some context: The group representing Israel’s hostages and their families released a video showing the kidnapping of three Israelis by Hamas on October 7. It includes footage of Goldberg-Polin’s kidnapping. The footage’s release comes after the group condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ssuggestionthat Israel could strike a “partial deal” with the militant group to free some, but not all, of the hostages.

More than 100 Israeli families filed a lawsuit in US federal court against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and other individuals on Monday for allegedly funding Hamas and playing a key role in the October 7 attack.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York, outlined allegations of how “Hamas did not carry out these atrocities without assistance,” and was allegedly aided and abetted by UNRWA and the organization’s current or former senior officials “who collectively spent over a decade prior to the October 7 attack helping Hamas build up the terror infrastructure and personnel” necessary for the attack.

One of the Israeli families’ main accusations was that UNRWA officials played a key role by sending aid to Gaza in US dollars that they knew locals could not spend without going through Hamas-affiliated moneychangers, according to the lawsuit.

According to the court documents, the defendants from UNRWA are current or former high-ranking officials with the organization.

“UNRWA is aware of reports of a lawsuit filed against it in the United States. However, as yet, it has not been served with any legal process and, therefore, is not in a position to comment at this time,” Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, told CNN.

CNN cannot confirm the allegations in the lawsuit.

Antony Blinken delivers remarks at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on June 24.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday the need to stop the conflict in Gaza from spreading, according to a readout of their meeting from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

This comes amid fears of an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

The top US diplomat “underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes,” the readout said.

Blinken “updated Minister Gallant on ongoing diplomatic efforts to advance security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza during a post-conflict period and emphasized the importance of that work to Israel’s security,” it said.

The two discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and Blinken “emphasized the need to take additional steps to protect humanitarian workers in Gaza and deliver assistance throughout Gaza in full coordination with the United Nations,” according to the readout.

Gallant was at the State Department for more than two hours today.

The fallout continues over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments Sunday about the war in Gaza.

Here’s what to know:

And here’s more headlines from Monday:

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrives at the US Department of State, ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC, on June 24.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant departed the US State Department in Washington, DC, on Monday afternoon after more than two hours.

He did not answer reporters’ questions about how the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went, the pause on heavy bombs or the video that appeared to show a Palestinian tethered to an Israel Defense Forces vehicle.

Gallant left amid continued shouts from protesters.

In this screen grab from video, Ayelet Levy Shachar speaks in an interview with CNN.

The mother of a Naama Levy, a 20-year-old held by Hamas since October 7, called on the international community on Monday to take “drastic measures” to force Hamas into releasing hostages.

Israel, the US, as well as Qatar, which acts as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, must apply “all pressure” on Hamas “since we do need to negotiate with this terror group … to bring my daughter back home,” Ayelet Levy Shachar said in an emotional interview with CNN.

Acell phone videopreviously released by Hamas showed Levy, who was 19 years old at the time, dragged by her hair at gunpoint by a Hamas fighter in Gaza. In the video, her hands were bound, and her ankles were cut. Her pants were soaked in blood.

On Saturday,thousands of peoplegathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to commemorate Naama Levy’s 20thbirthday.

Ayelet read a letter she had written to her daughter: “No mother should ever have to write this type of letter to her daughter on her birthday,” Ayelet said. “Ever since your abduction, we have been working relentlessly and in every way possible to bring you home.”

Sgt. Maj. Mohammad Alatrash, 39, was killed on October 7 and his body is being held by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a statement on Monday.

This brings the number of hostages believed to be dead from October 7 to 42.

In an update on June 8, the Israeli prime minister’s office had said that at least41hostagesfromtheOctober7attackwere believed to be dead, with their bodies being heldintheGazaStrip.

The Hostages and Missing Families forum mourned Alatrash in a statement and said it will stand by his family until his remains are returned to Israel.

A day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue “mowing the grass” in Gaza after the “intense phase” of the conflict ends, a US State Department spokesperson said that the US opposes continued military operations in Gaza.

Netanyahu did not explicitly say what “mowing the grass” would look like, but US officials believe it means continued limited military operations.

“We think continued military action in Gaza just makes Israel weaker, it makes it harder to achieve a resolution in the north, it adds to instability in the West Bank, it makes it harder for Israel to normalize relations with its neighbors,” said Miller.

“We want to see a transition to a different security environment and ultimately transition to a reunified Gaza and the West Bank,” said Miller, who acknowledged that the path to such an outcome would need to be worked out “with our partners in the region and ultimately with the government of Israel.”

Miller added that the US does not want to see Israel reoccupy Gaza.

Israel has stressed to Hamas through Qatar and Egypt, the mediators, that it’s committed to the latest Israeli ceasefire and hostage release proposal backed by the United States, an Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Monday walked back from his comments over the weekend where he appeared to dismiss the proposal.

Israel even passed on to the mediators the video segment in which Netanyahu said that Israel is still committed to the deal and asked to pass it on to Hamas, according to the source.

“Netanyahu’s words at the Knesset were an important correction. To this day he has not said publicly that he supports the Israeli proposal. Netanyahu’s words move the ball to Hamas’s court. If Hamas says yes, there will be a deal. We now need to push for a deal with everything we got,” the Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Remember: Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 14 in an interview on Sunday that he was ready to make “a partial deal” with Hamas to return some hostages still being held captive in Gaza. His comments were at odds with the aims of a broader proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden last month. That plan, which the US has said is an Israeli one, sets out conditions intended to lead to the eventual release of all remaining hostages, in return for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces.

What Hamas has said: In a pressstatement following the interview, Hamas said the words used by Netanyahu show that he is only looking for a partial agreement and not an end to the war in Gaza. Hamas continued to insist that any agreement include, “a clear affirmation of a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”

CNN analyst Barak Ravid first reported the new Israeli reach out to Hamas.

In this screen grab from video, a victim lies in the back of a truck during a kidnapping of three Israelis on October 7. The video was blurred by the source.

The group representing Israel’s hostages and their families has released a video showing the kidnapping of three Israelis by Hamas on October 7. The footage’s release comes after the group condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ssuggestionthat Israel could strike a “partial deal” with the militant group to free some, but not all, of the hostages.

The video, released Monday evening by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, shows Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen in the back of a pickup truck, being driven along a tree-lined road in southern Israel by militants wielding assault weapons. “Here are the dogs, here they are,” one of the gunmen can be heard saying.

Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli citizen then 23, can be seen with his face bloodied and what appears to be bone protruding from his left arm – blown off after a grenade was tossed into the bunker in which he and several others had been hiding from Hamas gunmen.

In a short statement issued after his interview Sunday, Netanyahu’s office sought to clarify his comments, saying he “has made it clear that we will not leave Gaza until we return all 120 of our hostages, living and deceased.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre on June 8 in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has walked back from his comments where he appeared to dismiss the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal backed by the United States.

His latest comments come the day after he said in an interview with a local Israeli media that he was ready to make “a partial deal” with Hamas to return some hostages still being held captive in Gaza, but reiterating his position that the war will still continue after a ceasefire “to achieve the goal of eliminating” Hamas.

Netanyahu’s comments were at odds with the aims of a broader proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden last month. That plan, which the US has said is an Israeli one, sets out conditions intended to lead to the eventual release of all remaining hostages, in return for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces.

CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

The US military delivered more than 1,000 metric tons over its temporary pier off the coast of Gaza over the weekend, US Central Command said Monday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

While aid is being delivered to the beach, its forward distribution by the World Food Programme remains paused as the organization conducts a risk assessment after the Israeli Defense Forces carried out operations near the pier as part of hostage rescue operations.

The pier has operated “uninterrupted” since it was re-anchored last week after being dismantled from the beach in anticipation of heavy seas, CENTCOM said.

The bulldozed or significantly destroyed area by the IDF during their Rafah ground operation, marked in yellow, stretches across the city and southern Gaza.CNN analyzed almost two months of satellite imagery from Planet Labs, PBC in revealing the extent of the destruction.

More than 2,900 acres — or almost 12 square kilometers — of southern Gaza has been affected by bulldozing or has experienced significant destruction by military strikes since the start of the Israel Defense Forces ground operation in Rafah, a CNN analysis of satellite imagery has revealed.

By comparing recent and archival satellite imagery from Planet Labs, CNN was able to identify the areas in southern Gaza that have been bulldozed or experienced significant building destruction since the start of the Rafah ground operation on May 6.

Bulldozing began around the Egypt-Gaza border crossing at Rafah shortly after the start of the operation, but now stretches the entire length of the border — known as the Philadelphi corridor — and deep into eastern and central Rafah.

That corridor has been a clear focus of the IDFs bulldozing operation, as now nearly every building within 500 feet of the entire border has been razed by bulldozers.It’s unclear from the satellite images whether or not the IDF, through its bulldozing operations, is preparing the ground for a permanent presence on the border.

The IDF has repeatedly claimed that it found evidence of smuggling tunnels from Gaza into Egypt along the border.

What Israel is saying: When asked about the analysis, the IDFdid not confirm the total area affected butsaid its actions were based on “military necessity” and they are “needed in order to implement a defense plan that will provide improved security in Southern Israel.”

Bulldozing is also occurring away from the border area.As the satellite imagery shows that since early May, large swaths of eastern and central Rafah – in some instancesentire city blocks — have been completely razed or significantly destroyed.

Israeli Defense MinisterYoavGallantspeaks during a joint press conference at Israel's Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 18.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed a transition into a new phase of the war in Gaza with US envoy and senior advisor to US President Joe Biden Amos Hochstein as the pair met in Washington.

Israeli officials have yet to clarify what Gallant means by “Phase C,” but on October 20, shortly after the terror attack that prompted Israel’s massive military response in Gaza, the Gallant and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that the war against Hamas would have three main phases: Phase One would entail a military campaign involving air and ground assets, while Phase Two would involve fighting but with “lower intensity” and to “eliminate pockets of resistance.”

Gallant said the third step “will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel.”

It’s unclear if Phase C is intended as the third phase of the plan previously outlined by Gallant. CNN has reached out to the Israeli Ministry of Defense for clarification but has yet to hear back.

Gallant said on X after the meeting that he emphasized to Hochstein that “the transition to Phase III of the fighting in Gaza will affect all sectors of the fighting.”

“We are preparing for every possibility, military and political,” Gallant said.

The statement added that Gallant and Hochstein discussed the escalating conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Knesset Member and former military chiefGadiEisenkotattends a demonstration in Shoresh near Jerusalem in February 2023.

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about a potential “partial deal” to secure the release of some hostages would go against an earlier decision made by the country’s war cabinet.

Eisenkot’s comments come after Netanyahu said he was ready to make “a partial deal” with Hamas to return some hostages in an interview with Israeli media on Sunday. Netanyahu also reiterated his position that the war will still continue after a ceasefire “to achieve the goal of eliminating” Hamas.

Eisenkot responded by saying Netanyahu’s remarks damaged Israel’s objectives.

“There are soldiers who are fighting now because they have war goals to return the hostages and therefore I think that an immediate clarification by the prime minister is required as to what he meant,” he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Monday that a “further escalation” of Israel’s conflict with Lebanon would cause “catastrophe” for the entire Middle East.

Heading into a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Baerbock called the situation along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon “more than worrying.”

“A further escalation would be a catastrophe for everyone in the region which is why it’s so important that we finally get a ceasefire in Gaza,” Baerbock told reporters.

There has been a sharp uptick in cross-border salvos by Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Evacuations have taken place in several northern Israeli settlements and Lebanese villages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview Sunday that the “intense phase of thewar with Hamas(in Gaza) is about to end,” which spurred concern that the Israeli military could turn its focus northward.

Baerbock said she will travel to Israel and Lebanon this week. She isdue to deliver a keynote speech at the Herzliya Security Conference in Israel, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Friday. She will then meet with her Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz in Jerusalem and the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Mustafa, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

Baerbock will then travel to Lebanon to meet with the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the families of the deceased hostages whose bodies are still being held in Gaza on Sunday, hours before telling Israeli media that the “intense phase” of the war is coming to an end, according to an Israeli official and one of the family members present at that meeting.

Ruby Chen, Hamas hostage family member, attends a press conference with the families of hostages held by Hamas at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., on January 17.

Ruby Chen, whose son Itay’s body is still being held by Hamas after his killing on October 7, told CNN that Netanyahu “did not give any indication” that there would be a shift in focus for the Israeli military, nor that he would be giving an interview later on Sunday.Chen also said he failed to understand the government’s logic.

Chen explained this was the first time the prime minister met just with families of the deceased hostages.

Chen added that gathering at the Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem lasted for more than two hours, running longer than expected. An Israeli official confirmed to CNN the meeting took place on Sunday.

Chen said that family members had an opportunity to express their feelings during the meeting and speak “heart to heart” with Netanyahu.

A Palestinian girl carries a child through the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza on March 3.

As many as 21,000 children have gone missing in Gaza since the war began, according to Save the Children.

The nongovernmental organization said in a statement on Monday that at least 4,000 children have likely been buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed during the fighting. At least 17,000 are believed to be have been separated from their families and unaccompanied.

“Others have been forcibly ‘disappeared,’ including an unknown numberdetained and transferredout of Gaza, their whereabouts unknown to their families amidstreports of ill-treatment and torture,” the statement read.

CNN could not independently verify Save the Children’s estimates.

The organization added that Israel’s current offensive in Rafah had forcibly “separated morechildrenand further increased the strain on families and communities caring for them.”

“Every day we find more unaccompanied children and every day it is harder to support them,” a Save the Children child protection specialist in Gaza said.

“There is no safe place in Gaza,” the specialist, who was not named for security reasons, added.

What Israel said:The Israeli military says the Save the Children report is based on numbers provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas.

The European Union’s top diplomat warned Monday that the chances of the war in Gazaigniting a wider conflict between Israel and Lebanon are growingdaily.

Borrell’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 on Sunday that the“intense phase of the war with Hamas is about to end,”which would allow Israeli forces to shift their focus to the northern border with Lebanon.

Borrell said he was“much more worried”about conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia, than before, as there have been“more bombings on both sides of the border with Lebanon.”

Smoke billows following an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the Lebanese-Israeli border on June 21.

Tensions betweenIsraeland Lebanon have risen sharply since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing military campaign by Israel in Gaza. The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has been firing missiles, mortars and drones into Israel, and Israel has returned that fire.

Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the mountainous border have fled as concerns intensify about the possible outbreak of another full-fledged war.

On the Lebanese side, residents of Shia-majority towns like Kafr Kila, Adaisa, AitaAl-Shaab and Aitaroun have almost all left. Frequent Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages have reduced many of these communities to rubble.

Marjayoun, in comparison, has been mostly spared. The town was the headquarters of the Israeli-armed and funded South Lebanese Army (SLA), a Christian-led proxy militia, during Israel’s decades-long occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended 24 years ago after a protracted guerilla war with Hezbollah.

When Israel pulled out in 2000,many of Marjayoun’s inhabitants fled south across the border to Israel, fearful of being accused by fellow Lebanese citizens of being collaborators with Israel.

Their departure, along with Lebanon’s collapsed economy, fear of yet another prolonged conflict, the absence of a functioning state and emigration have sapped Marjayoun of people and prosperity. Yet, more than two decades later, some residents still cling to their ancient town and vow not to leave.

Read more about the situation on the border here:

Two Jordanian army officers were killedafter three military trucks, part of a relief and humanitarian aid convoy heading to the Gaza Strip, crashed off the Dead Sea Highway in southwest Amman on Sunday,accordingto the Jordanian state news channel Al-Mamlaka.

Another two army officerswere injured. Both are in moderate condition, Al Mamlaka reported.

A military source in the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces said the country “will continue to send humanitarian relief aid to help the people in the Gaza Strip,” Al Mamlaka added.

In response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments saying the intense portion of the war in Gaza is about to end, Hamas said the Israeli leader is only looking for a partial agreement and not an end to the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s positions are “a clear confirmation of his rejection of the recent Security Council resolution, and the proposals of US President Joe Biden,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas continues to insist that any agreement include, “a clear affirmation of a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”

Hostage families sound off: In Israel, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters condemned any suggestion of a withdrawal without securing the return of all hostages. “The end of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, without the release of the hostages, is an unprecedented national failure and a failure to meet the goals of the war,” the Forum said in a statement on Monday.

Read more about what Netanyahu said here.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre on June 8, in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the “intense phase of thewar with Hamas(in Gaza) is about to end,” and that the military’s focus could then shift to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where fighting with the Iran-backed groupHezbollah has intensifiedin recent weeks.

Netanyahu, however, vowed that Israel would continue operating in Gaza until the militant group Hamas was eliminated.

In his interview, Netanyahu said that he is ready to make “a partial deal” with Hamas to return some hostages still being held captive in Gaza, but he reiterated his position that the war will still continue after a ceasefire “to achieve the goal of eliminating” Hamas.