Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address Congress on Wednesday. He has signaled that a cease-fire deal could be taking shape after nine months of war. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters gathered near the U.S. Capitol to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza.
Quick Read
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address Congress on Wednesday, signaling a potential cease-fire deal after nine months of war.
- Hundreds of protesters gathered near the U.S. Capitol to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza.
- Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military’s latest order in Khan Younis are sleeping in the streets; over 39,100 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
- Officials from Egypt, Israel, the U.S., and Qatar will meet in Doha to discuss a proposed three-phase cease-fire and the release of remaining hostages.
- Protesters near the U.S. Capitol were taken into custody while protesting Netanyahu and the war in Gaza, chanting against him and calling for a “student intifada.”
- Jewish Americans held a prayer service near Union Station, led by T’ruah, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
- In Tulkarem, West Bank, hundreds attended the funeral of two people killed during an Israeli raid.
- Israeli military released footage of a person dressed as a paramedic holding a gun during the Tulkarem raid.
- Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed Jews are allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, but Netanyahu’s office denied any changes to the longstanding policy.
- Elon Musk stated that his Starlink service is active at a Gaza hospital with Israel’s approval.
- The Gaza Health Ministry reported 55 people killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, with the overall death toll in Gaza exceeding 39,100.
- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed a drone attack on Eilat, which Israel’s air force intercepted.
- The mother of an Israeli hostage criticized the delay of the Israeli negotiating team for cease-fire talks, accusing Netanyahu of prioritizing personal considerations over a deal to free the hostages.
- Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken hostage on Oct. 7, condemned Netanyahu for continuing his U.S. PR mission despite the ongoing hostage crisis.
- Zeina Hutchinson from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee called for Netanyahu’s arrest while reading the names of Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli military.
- Over 1,000 protesters gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol, carrying signs branding Netanyahu a “war criminal.”
- A large effigy of Biden with blood dripping from its mouth and devil horns was erected, with chants accusing Biden of genocide.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israel’s Netanyahu poises to address Congress as thousands protest in Washington
Newslookls- WASHINGTON- (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington to address Congress on Wednesday. He has signaled that a cease-fire deal could be taking shape after nine months of war. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters gathered near the U.S. Capitol to denounce Israel’s war in Gaza.
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military’s latest order to leave parts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis say they are sleeping in the streets. The Health Ministry in Gaza says over 39,100 Palestinians have been killed in the war. On Thursday, officials from Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar will meet in Doha with the aim of resuming talks for a proposed three-phase cease-fire to end the war between Israel and Hamas and free the remaining hostages.
Here’s the latest:
Protesters taken into custody near US Capitol ahead of Netanyahu’s speech
Police have taken people into custody near the U.S. Capitol at a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza. A handful of people were led away by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., while others chanted for them to be released. More than 1,000 people gathered Wednesday morning on Pennsylvania Avenue within sight of the Capitol building. Protesters carried signs branding Netanyahu a war criminal.
A large group of protesters marched toward the Capitol after blocking a nearby intersection and calling for a “student intifada,” invoking an Arabic word for “uprising” or “resistance.” “Shut it down!” they repeatedly chanted. “Bibi, Bibi, We’re not done! The intifada has just begun!” they also shouted, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Across the street from Union Station, Jewish Americans gathered for a prayer service led by T’ruah, an organization of rabbis calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Rabbi Bill Plevan, of New York, said he believed prayer could be a catalyst for peace. “We’re here to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress,” he said. “We’re here to say we don’t stand by his policies. As American Jews, we don’t support this war.”
Mourners attend the funeral of 2 killed in Israeli raid in the West Bank
TULKAREM, West Bank — Hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral of two people killed during an Israeli raid in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem that killed six people, at least three of them known militants. The bodies of Iman Juma’a, a 50-year-old woman, and Yazan Abdo, a 30-year-old man, were carried through the streets.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military released footage of a person dressed as a woman wearing a paramedic vest and holding a gun, but did not show the person’s face. The video could not be independently verified by the AP, and the military did not provide any further evidence. At the funeral, the body of Juma’a was covered with a paramedic jacket.
Tulkarem and its two refugee camps have become a flashpoint in the West Bank and are regularly raided by Israeli forces. Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are active in the city.
Netanyahu’s office rejects far-right minister’s comment on prayers at the Temple Mount
JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right national security minister says Jews are allowed to pray at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, threatening to stoke tensions that are already soaring over the war in Gaza.
Itamar Ben-Gvir has said before it’s his policy that Jews should be able to pray at the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. But his statement on Wednesday comes at a politically sensitive time, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress in Washington. Netanyahu’s office quickly released a statement saying nothing had changed in the decades-old arrangement that prohibits Jewish prayer at the site.
“I am the political echelon and the political echelon permits Jewish prayer there,” Ben Gvir said during a conference focused on Jewish access to the compound. Since Israel captured the site in the 1967 Mideast war, Jews have been allowed to visit but not pray there. Perceived encroachments have set off widespread violence on a number of occasions going back decades.
Musk says Starlink is active at a Gaza hospital, with Israel’s OK
JERUSALEM — Billionaire Elon Musk in a statement on X says his satellite internet service Starlink is active for a hospital in Gaza, as the besieged territory has faced months of communication issues.
Israel’s Communication Ministry said the service has been in use at the Emirati-run field hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza for the past six months, and they were unclear why Musk mentioned it Wednesday. During a visit to Israel in November, Musk met with Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomi Karhi and agreed that Starlink would operate in Gaza only with approval from the Israeli government. In February, the ministry announced that Starlink would be available at certain hospitals in Gaza for videoconferencing.
Gaza has experienced frequent communications blackouts as the infrastructure crumbles with months of fighting and a lack of fuel.
Dozens die in Gaza, raising the death toll over 39,100
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Gaza Health Ministry says the bodies of 55 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours.
Hospitals also received 110 wounded, the ministry said Wednesday. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war rose to at least 39,145, the ministry said, and another 90,257 have been wounded. Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250.
Cease-fire negotiating team that was meant to depart has been delayed, Israeli official says
An Israeli official said Wednesday that a negotiating team meant to depart to continue cease-fire talks was delayed.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss developments in the sensitive talks, did not give a reason for the delay, saying the team would likely be dispatched next week.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq sends drones to attack ‘a vital target’ in Eilat
BEIRUT — An umbrella group of Iran-backed factions in Iraq says it has carried out an attack with drones on “a vital target” in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said the early Wednesday attack comes in retaliation for what it called Israel’s massacres in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said its air force shot down two drones that were flying toward Israel from the east. It added that the drones did not enter Israel’s air space.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks against Israel in recent months, but most of the drones were shot down before reaching their targets. A drone attack by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi last week rebels killed one person in the center of Tel Aviv and wounded at least 10 others near the United States Embassy.
Mother of Israeli hostage slams delaying of negotiating team to cease-fire talks
The mother of an Israeli held hostage by Hamas in Gaza has slammed the delay of the Israeli negotiating team to cease-fire talks.
“Instead of announcing in Congress that he agrees to the deal on the table, Netanyahu is preventing the deal’s fruition because of personal considerations. Even if we hear of more hostages who died in the tunnels, he will continue his PR mission in the U.S. and will continue to drag his feet,” said Einav Zangauker, who has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu throughout the war. Her son Matan was taken hostage on Oct. 7.
Protestors demand Netanyahu’s arrest
Zeina Hutchinson, director of development for the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, on Wednesday read off the names of several Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli military.
“We protest this homicidal maniac, his supporters and his enablers,” she shouted from the stage, referencing Netanyahu. “And we demand his arrest.”
She was among hundreds who gathered to protest near the U.S. Capitol.
More than 1,000 protestors line Pennsylvania Avenue
More than 1,000 people gathered Wednesday morning on Pennsylvania Avenue within sight of the U.S. Capitol building, with more streaming in from multiple directions.
Protesters carried signs branding Netanyahu a “war criminal” and several erected a large effigy of Biden with blood dripping from its mouth and devil horns.
The crowd chanted: “Biden Biden, you can’t hide/We charge you with genocide.”
