Lapid assures Netanyahu ‘safety net’ should he sign ceasefire deal
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has reiterated that Netanyahu would not be left without a “safety net” should he accept a ceasefire and lose the support of government coalition members Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“There’s a hostage deal on the table. It is not true that Netanyahu has to choose between the kidnapping deal and his continued tenure as prime minister,” Lapid said on X. “I promised him a safety net, and I will keep that promise.”
Netanyahu’s government depends on the support of the two far-right ministers, whose parties give the prime minister a majority in parliament. But the two have repeatedly threatened to resign and bring down the governing coalition should Netanyahu sign a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The ministers’ parties have a combined 13 seats in the Israeli parliament while Lapid’s party has 24 seats.
Families of captives urge Netanyahu to delay US Congress speech
A group representing the families of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip has urged the Israeli prime minister to postpone his speech to the US Congress until a deal to release their relatives is signed.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu is to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress on July 24.
Israel and Hamas are currently engaged in some of the most serious talks in months on an agreement that would halt the war in exchange for the release of captives as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The captives’ families called on Netanyahu to prioritise a deal before he travels abroad.
“A speech without concrete action to seal the deal and bring our loved ones home is premature and misses the mark of this war’s top priority – the return of all the hostages,” it said in a statement.
A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel marking nine months since the start of the war and calling for the release of captives in Gaza
We should all be ashamed of Palestinians’ sacrifice: UN special rapporteur
Francesca Albanese has described Palestinians in Gaza – people from all walks of life – as “heroic”.
“We should all be ashamed of the sacrifice that has been imposed on them, largely because of the culture of impunity that has enveloped the multilateral system, ultimately enabling their genocide,” the UN special tapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories said in a post on X.
She made her comments in response to a statement by the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, who said his staff has been working non-stop despite being displaced and facing death and destruction.
Palestinians in Gaza have been heroic. Gaza's children, mothers and fathers, doctors, nurses, teachers, cooks, journalists, lawyers, ministers of faith, academics, intellectuals, artists, engineers, poets, musicians, farmers, drivers, fishermen, bakers, workers from all paths of… https://t.co/Z4KV24UURw
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) July 8, 2024
