KUALA LUMPUR – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation from Republican and Democratic party leaders to address lawmakers in the US Congress on July 24, a congressional source told AFP yesterday.
This comes amid intensified calls for the US ally and Hamas to reach a permanent ceasefire, with Israel confronting growing diplomatic isolation due to its strikes causing rising casualties in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden last week presented what he called an “Israeli three-phase plan” that would end the conflict, free all hostages, and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.
But Netanyahu’s office stressed that the strikes which were claimed to be sparked by the October 7 attacks would continue until Israel’s “goals are achieved” – including the destruction of “Hamas”, which has not given its response to the plan.
The four party leaders in the US House and Senate asked Netanyahu last week to speak before a joint meeting of Congress in a letter voicing solidarity with Israel “in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive.”
This is after Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called in March for Israel to hold new elections in a rare example of strident criticism from a senior American official of the country’s handling of the war in Gaza.
The rebuke from Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish American in history, came amid expressions of dismay from progressive Democrats who have condemned Netanyahu over his actions and vowed to snub the right-wing leader’s speech.
The attack on October 7 resulted in the death of 1,194 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
According to reports, Hamas also took 251 hostages – 120 of whom remain in Gaza, including 41 the army claimed to be dead.
Meanwhile, Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,654 people in Gaza – mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
A Gaza hospital said Thursday at least 37 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a UN-run school that the Israeli military alleged housed a Hamas compound.
US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators have resumed talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage-prisoner swap.
However, Israel is facing a mounting diplomatic chill, with international court cases accusing it of war crimes and several European countries recognising a Palestinian state.
US media reported on Monday that Netanyahu agreed to visit on June 13, but his office told Israeli media the date had “not been finalised” and it would not be on that date as it coincides with a Jewish holiday. – June 7, 2024
