Please let this be real.
I can’t help but wonder if the proposed date a new election in the fall might have been part of a one-two punch resulting in the change from Bibi. (We can only hope that Bibi is feeling absolutely desperate, and with good reason.)
The article said the phone call was “spurred by” the deliberate attacks that killed the 7 World Central Kitchen workers.
After U.S. ultimatum, Israel immediately promises to open new aid routes into Gaza (CBC)
Israel promised it will open new humanitarian aid routes into Gaza on Thursday, immediately after its most important international ally appeared to threaten it with an ultimatum.
“There’s been growing frustration,” with Israel’s handling of the war, White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
In the coming hours and days, he said, the U.S. would look for several specific changes: new humanitarian aid crossings into Gaza, an immediate ceasefire as Israel takes new steps to protect civilians, and more movement in hostage negotiations.
This marked the first time the Biden administration has threatened publicly to use its leverage on Israel to get specific changes in Gaza, another indicator of the shifting politics of the war.
In Washington, criticism of Israel, once relegated to the fringe, has moved into the mainstream, with Biden facing particular pressure from his party’s left.
What’s less clear are the specifics of the U.S. ultimatum.
The White House had repeatedly refused to specify what it would do if unsatisfied with what it hears back from Netanyahu’s government.
“What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. And if we don’t see changes from their side, there’ll have to be changes from our side,” he said.
“But I won’t preview what that could look like.”
This is absolutely horrifying. I read about it earlier, but it’s just as shocking the second time.
On a related note, Kirby declined to comment on news reports that purport to identify one of the reasons for a high number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
Israeli and British outlets this week reported on an artificial intelligence program, called Lavender, that the Israeli military has used to identify suspected Hamas operatives.
The list purportedly grew to 37,000 at one point — but was eventually scaled back — and those people were targeted for bombing, even if they were surrounded by civilians.
Military personnel rarely questioned the AI before approving strikes, according to the reports.
Monsters. The leaders in Israel have lost their humanity.
Hoping for real changes, BIG changes, immediately, not some bullshit pretense with incremental changes. I don’t think Biden would accept that if Bibi tried it.
Open thread.