Ceasefire deal with Hamas still far off - Netanyahu; Israel to seize control of Gaza food distribution

Israel planned to wrest control over food distribution in the Gaza Strip from Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, in what he described as an effort to block what he said is the group’s practice of commandeering humanitarian aid.

Lebanon’s former central bank governor spent a third day in custody after being charged over corruption allegations, a case that’s shocked a population unused to the prosecution of senior officials linked to the country’s economic collapse.

Netanyahu says ceasefire deal with Hamas is not close

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the prospect of reaching a ceasefire agreement with Hamas soon, blaming the militant group for stalling talks.

“Hamas is not there with a deal,” he said to Fox News on Thursday. “Unfortunately, it’s not close.”

The two sides have been negotiating for months over a deal to pause fighting in Gaza and get Hamas to release more hostages it’s holding in the Palestinian territory. The US is mediating along with Qatar and Egypt.

Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages over the weekend who it said were executed by Hamas shortly before. That prompted tens of thousands of Israelis to protest on the streets and to go on strike, with many of them blaming their government for not making an earlier deal with Hamas.

“I have red lines,” Netanyahu said. “They were set before this massacre, this latest murder. But they’ve become redder. I have areas of flexibility; I’ve given them to my negotiating team and I stand by them.”

He was especially angry at the idea that the killing of the six hostages should lead to more flexibility.

“To go and make concessions after these murders?” he asked. “It’s a licence to kill hostages. That’s what Hamas will understand. Kill hostages, get concessions.”

Hamas, in a statement on Thursday, reiterated that Israeli forces must withdraw from the border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi corridor. Netanyahu says doing that will allow for arms to be smuggled from Egypt into Hamas’ hands.

The Philadelphi corridor has emerged as a key sticking point between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel in recent weeks. Still, Netanyahu emphasised it’s not the only one.

Israel and Hamas are yet to agree on how many hostages will be released from Gaza in the first phase of a deal, as well as how many Palestinians will be freed from Israeli jails.

Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the US, killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage when its fighters swarmed into southern Israel from Gaza on 7 October. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

There are now around 100 hostages left, though Israeli officials have said many of them are probably dead.

“Hamas has consistently said no,” Netanyahu said. “They don’t agree to anything.”

Netanyahu seeks Israeli control over Gaza food distribution

Israel planned to wrest control over food distribution in the Gaza Strip from Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, in what he described as an effort to block what he said is the militant group’s practice of commandeering humanitarian aid.

“They steal the food, charge exorbitant prices for it from the Gaza population and that’s how they hope to continue to survive,” Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem. “We have to take that away from them. I don’t want to run Gaza. I don’t want to administer Gaza. But I want to take this away from them.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Netanyahu envisioned Israeli forces distributing food and essential items to Palestinians or international aid groups continuing to do so but under Israeli supervision.

Israel’s resistance to allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza in the early days of the war drew worldwide condemnation and pressure from the US. Any direct involvement by the Israeli army in distributing aid to Palestinians would risk angering Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, who opposed letting humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

Lebanon’s ex-top central banker in custody over graft charges

Lebanon’s former central bank governor spent a third day in custody after being charged over corruption allegations, a case that’s shocked a population unused to the prosecution of senior officials linked to the country’s economic collapse.

The state prosecutor detained Riad Salameh at a police station in Beirut after summoning him for questioning on Tuesday. He was then charged by the financial prosecutor with embezzling public funds, forgery, illicit enrichment and money laundering, an official in the Lebanese judiciary said, preferring to remain anonymous as the information is not public.

Salameh (74) was head of Lebanon’s central bank for three decades before stepping down last year and is widely blamed for setting policies that triggered a 2019 financial crisis and saw Lebanon default on some $30-billion of eurobonds. The central bank was left with a $70-billion hole in its balance sheet and people’s savings were wiped out by a currency collapse.

Salameh’s final years in office were mired with corruption charges, international investigations and an Interpol Red Notice that remains in effect. He’s been sanctioned by both the US and the UK, with the US Treasury accusing him of abusing his position of power to enrich himself and his associates.

The former governor has repeatedly denied allegations against him and has said that his fortune was amassed during his previous career in finance.

The judiciary’s move was the first detention of a former official of Salameh’s stature, despite years of investigating corruption cases involving high-ranking figures.

“We are surprised by what happened and we don’t know the background of such a decision,” Hafez Zakhour, one of Salameh’s lawyers, told Bloomberg.

Salameh, who was a private banker at Merrill Lynch before becoming governor in 1993, played a key role in maintaining Lebanon’s currency peg for over two decades before it unravelled during the crisis. He has largely stayed out of the spotlight since his 30-year term ended and has evaded previous requests for questioning.

The current case centers around $41-million that Salameh allegedly embezzled from the central bank via fake companies that bought treasury bills and made profits from selling them.

The former governor is among suspects in a joint investigation by France, Germany and Luxembourg that’s probing money laundering and embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon between 2002 and 2021. DM

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