Netanyahu seeks to place onus on Hamas for a deal; Colombia’s Petro bans coal exports to Israel

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro signed a decree banning coal exports to Israel in a bid to pressure the government of Netanyahu to end the conflict in Gaza.

Israel’s economic growth slowed more than expected over the second quarter of the year, failing to sustain its initial rebound from the war against Hamas.

Netanyahu seeks to place responsibility with Hamas for a deal 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sought to place the onus on Hamas for a ceasefire and hostage deal as the top US diplomat arrived in Tel Aviv to press for an agreement.

“We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of his Cabinet meeting. “There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on. We know how to distinguish between the two very well.”

While in Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to meet with Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a senior State Department official. Blinken, who has made nine trips to the region since the conflict erupted, heads to Egypt on Tuesday.

During high-level negotiations at a two-day summit last week in Doha, Israel and the US worked to narrow gaps with Egyptian and Qatari officials serving as intermediaries for Hamas. Talks are set to resume in Cairo later this week, though no official date has been set.

The war in the Palestinian enclave broke out after Hamas fighters swarmed into southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people. Israel responded with an air and ground assault and more than 40,000 people have died, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza.

US officials said efforts to reach an agreement on ending the conflict were nearing the final stages and Israeli negotiators over the weekend “expressed to the prime minister cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress on the deal, in accordance with the updated American proposal”, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

Read More: Israel ‘cautiously optimistic’ on new US proposal for Gaza truce

The proposal closely resembles a previous three-phase plan unveiled in May by US President Joe Biden, calling for a suspension of hostilities, the swap of hostages for prisoners, some withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of Palestinian civilians to the northern Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu has previously insisted that the Israeli army remain stationed along the strategic Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors in Gaza to prevent arms smuggling from Egypt and block Hamas gunmen from returning to northern Gaza alongside civilians. Another sticking point in the talks has been the number of Israeli hostages who would be freed in the first round of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In the statement on Sunday, Netanyahu also accused Hamas — designated a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union — of being “completely obstinate.” He said international pressure should be directed at Hamas and its key commander, Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding in Gaza.

Israel sent an advance “working team” to Cairo on Sunday to provide the logistical framework for the follow-up principals’ meeting, according to a government official who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

Colombia’s Petro signs decree banning coal exports to Israel

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro signed a decree banning coal exports to Israel in a bid to pressure the government of Netanyahu to end the conflict in Gaza.

The decree, published on the presidential website, is dated 14 August.

The Andean nation is the biggest supplier of the fossil fuel to Israel. The Colombian Miners Association has warned that given the free trade agreement between the two nations, Colombia can’t stop coal exports to Israel and companies that produce the mineral may consider taking action.

Israel’s GDP growth slows as wartime exports, investments cool

Israel’s economic growth slowed more than expected over the second quarter of the year, failing to sustain its initial rebound from the war against Hamas.

Gross domestic product rose by an annualised 1.2% in seasonally adjusted terms, after surging by a revised 17.3% during the previous three months, according to preliminary figures published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected growth of 5.9%.

GDP expanded at a quarterly rate of 0.3%, the figures showed.

The figures were weak compared to forecasts, as well as preliminary signs from leading indicators, according to Ronen Menachem, chief markets economist at Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. GDP per capita shrank by an annualised 0.4%, “which clearly indicates the significant damage that the ongoing war is causing to the economy”, he said.

The biggest drivers of the slowdown were exports, which, excluding diamonds and startup companies, declined for a third consecutive quarter by 7.1%, as well as a stagnation in fixed asset investments. Imports, not including defence imports, ships, aircraft and diamonds, also shrank an annualized 7.3%.

Fixed asset investments rose by just 1.1%, following the 65.4% slump in the last quarter of 2023 that was driven by construction. The sector relies on Palestinian workers from the West Bank, who have been banned from entering Israel since the start of the war. The government has not been able to keep its promise to replace them with other foreign workers.

A spike in government and private consumption did little to offset the slump in exports and investments.

The Israeli finance ministry projects growth of 1.9% for the year, while the country’s central bank has already downgraded its forecast to 1.5%.

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel after deadly strike

Hezbollah said it launched a salvo of rockets at northern Israel following one of the deadliest strikes on Lebanon since both sides began trading fire more than 10 months ago.

The Saturday barrage on Israel’s Upper Galilee came after the Israel Defense Forces said it struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in Nabatieh overnight, along with other Hezbollah structures in south Lebanon. Ten Syrian nationals were killed and five others were injured, including two in critical condition, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli military identified about 55 projectiles crossing from Lebanon, some of which fell in open areas. No injuries were reported, while multiple fires were ignited and authorities are working to extinguish them. A projectile fired earlier on Saturday injured two soldiers.

A commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan force was killed in the IDF’s attack on south Lebanon, the military said in a post on X.

The latest exchange is likely to increase concerns that the almost daily trading of fire between the two sides could escalate even as US officials said talks over a ceasefire in Gaza are nearing the final stages.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks after Israel blamed Hezbollah for an attack that killed 12 teenagers at a soccer field in the Golan Heights. Israel retaliated by striking and killing a senior commander of the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut. Hezbollah — designated a terrorist organization by the US — said the death of the commander, Fuad Shukr, crossed a red line and it threatened to respond fiercely.

One of the most powerful militias in the Middle East, Hezbollah has been firing on Israel since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October. The Lebanese-based group has said it’s acting in solidarity with Palestinians and Hamas, and will stop once there’s a ceasefire in Gaza. DM

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