Benny Gantz

International mediators and Hamas delegates were in Cairo Tuesday for talks to try to secure a pause in the war in Gaza ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has issued a warning, stating that if Hamas does not release hostages by March 10, Israel will initiate an offensive against the city of Rafah. This marks the first time Israel has specified a deadline for potential military action in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel has threatened to invade Gaza's Rafah by the start of Ramadan if Hamas does not return the remaining hostages by then, despite international pressure to protect Palestinian civilians sheltering in the southern city.

Yesterday, Macron had a telephone conversation with a member of the Israeli war cabinet, Benny Gantz, and warned that the plan to deport the Palestinians is not acceptable.

Blinken said this in a telephone conversation with Benny Gantz, the Israeli opposition leader who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet in San Francisco, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Summit.

Lapid said he wanted the creation of a "national reconstruction government", which could be led by Netanyahu's Likud party, but that it was important for Netanyahu to go, the BBC reported.

Although there were unofficial announcements that about 50 hostages would be released, Hamas released only two elderly women.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant again addressed the soldiers near Gaza, repeating that Israel will launch a ground offensive against the enclave. He added that the troops were ready and that it would be a "deadly" attack.

Macron in Tel Aviv

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has said that his visit to Ankara and talks with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar have opened the doors for cooperation between Türkiye and Israel, as he was about to depart from Türkiye.

Ties in the field of defense and security between Türkiye and Israel have entered a new era as the latter's defense minister paid a rare visit to Ankara amid ongoing normalization efforts between the two Mediterranean states after years of tension.

Turkish and Israeli defense ministers will hold a rare face-to-face meeting as the latter will pay a visit to the Turkish capital tomorrow as part of the ongoing normalization process between the two countries.