Netanyahu pledges to keep working with Biden; Israel ready to hit Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen again

Israel was prepared to attack Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen again following its air strike last week, the country’s top diplomat said, though it would prefer the US-headed maritime security coalition to take the lead role.

Israeli forces recovered the bodies of five hostages killed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and then held in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

Netanyahu says he will keep working with Biden after 2024 election exit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Joe Biden for his support of Israel and pledged to continue working together at a meeting marking the US leader’s first sit-down with a foreign counterpart since forgoing re-election.

“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said on Thursday in the Oval Office.

Netanyahu said the two had “known each other for 40 years”, adding, “I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.”

Despite the public display of goodwill, the two leaders have clashed over Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union. The meeting comes at a politically fraught time for Biden’s party.

Democrats are heading into the November election against Republican Donald Trump with Vice-President Kamala Harris as their likely nominee and the conflict in Gaza has threatened to fracture their electoral coalition. Harris has expressed more empathy for Palestinian suffering than Biden throughout the war.

Earlier: Netanyahu vows to press on in Gaza in defiant speech to Congress

Netanyahu’s visit has put a spotlight on those tensions. He delivered a fiery address to Congress on Wednesday that defended Israel’s war, dismissed concerns about the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza and urged the US to fast-track weapons to help his country achieve victory.

The speech was boycotted by many top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and drew massive protests near the US Capitol. Video footage showed some demonstrators pulling down a US flag near Washington Union Station and setting it on fire. Netanyahu in his speech called the protesters “useful idiots” for Hamas’ backer, Iran.

Netanyahu is also seeking to foster ties with Trump, with a visit on Friday to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. The two enjoyed a close relationship during Trump’s presidency but they split over Netanyahu’s recognition of Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Harris on Thursday denounced what she called “despicable acts by unpatriotic protestors and dangerous hate-fuelled rhetoric” in Washington. Harris said in a statement she supported the “right to peacefully protest” but condemned the burning of the US flag, saying “it should never be desecrated in that way”.

Netanyahu’s address made no direct mention of a ceasefire proposal put forward by Biden. Senior administration officials said on Wednesday that negotiations for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas were continuing. Netanyahu, however, repeated his stance that the war would not end until Hamas is destroyed.

Israel ready to hit Houthis again while urging US to take lead

Israel was prepared to attack Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen again following its air strike last week, the country’s top diplomat said, though it would prefer the US-headed maritime security coalition to take the lead role.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the Iran-backed militant group was planning fresh attacks after a long-distance Houthi drone killed a man in Tel Aviv on 19 July. The Houthis were, he said, undeterred despite Israel’s counter-strike on the Red Sea port of Hodeida the following day.

“They will continue,” Katz said in an interview in his Jerusalem office. The Houthis were working with Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s allied militant groups, and Shiite militias in Iraq, he said.

The foreign minister reiterated Israel’s threat to escalate fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon unless the group retreated from the border area, where the two sides have traded rocket fire since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in October. Both Hezbollah and the Houthis have launched missiles at Israel in solidarity with their fellow Islamist group and Palestinian civilians.

Asked if Israel has a list of prospective targets to restrain the Houthis, he said: “Yes, from the beginning of the war, after they attacked Israel, our intelligence began to work so that we will have enough.”

Israel’s capabilities are stretched, however, by the 1,931km distance to Yemen, while the Houthis have defied bombing attacks for several years during their war with Saudi Arabia. They’ve also withstood strikes from the US and UK that began in January to try to stop the group’s shipping attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Katz suggested the 10-nation coalition set up by the US late last year to counter the Houthis may be better placed.

“We would prefer that the coalition will lead the war against the Houthis,” he said.

Israeli military recovers bodies of five hostages from Gaza

Israeli forces recovered the bodies of five hostages killed during Hamas’s 7 October attack and then held in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

The remains of Maya Goren, Oren Goldin, Ravid Aryeh Katz and soldiers Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski were brought back from the Khan Younis area, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday.

The recovery operation was conducted by the Israeli Security Agency and IDF on Wednesday. The military said it was determined that Goren had been murdered, while the others fell in combat. Goldin and Katz were members of security squads that battled Hamas-led fighters in border villages.

The war between Hamas and Israel began when thousands of Hamas operatives broke into Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israel attacked by air, sea and land, and has killed some 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel says 115 hostages remain in Gaza, with 41 of them declared dead in absentia.

Australia joins US in sanctioning Israeli settlers in West Bank

Australia imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on seven Israelis over settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, joining the US, Japan and others in targeting extremists in the territory.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the Magnitsky-style targeted financial penalties on Thursday. The new measures would also apply to one entity — a youth group responsible for inciting and perpetrating violence, she said.

The individuals sanctioned had been involved in violent attacks, including “beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians, resulting in serious injury and in some cases, death”, Wong said in a statement.

She called on Israel to hold the perpetrators of settler violence to account and to cease ongoing settlement activity, saying it “only inflames tensions and further undermines stability and prospects for a two-state solution”.

Israel’s ruling coalition government is the most right-wing in the nation’s history, and while global attention has been focused on the conflict in the Gaza Strip, settler violence in the West Bank has escalated.

Last week, Israel’s parliament passed a resolution expressing formal opposition to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, warning that it could serve as a base for terrorist groups.

Australia’s sanctions follow Japan’s announcement that it would freeze assets owned by four Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday that violent acts by extremist settlers in the West Bank had risen since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October.

The moves come after Biden signed an executive order in February empowering the State Department to penalise those who threaten peace and stability in the West Bank. DM

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