As Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to bow to pressure, the US charges Hamas’s top leaders over their roles in the 7 October attack and says it is time to ‘finalize’ a deal to end the Gaza warGood morning.US officials unsealed criminal charges against Hamas’ top leaders over their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the 7 October attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.Who is named in the complaint? The complaint names six defendants, three of whom are dead. The living defendants are Yahya Sinwar, the militant group’s chief, who is believed to be in hiding in Gaza; Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Doha and heads the group’s diaspora office; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon. The deceased defendants are former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July in Tehran; the military wing chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel said it killed in a July airstrike; and Marwan Issa, a deputy military commander, who Israel said it killed in a March strike.What does the complaint say? The complaint describes the massacre as the “most violent, large-scale terrorist attack” in Hamas’s history, detailing how Hamas operatives arrived in southern Israel with “trucks, motorcycles, bulldozers, speedboats, and paragliders” to engage in a brutal campaign of violence that included rape, genital mutilation and machine-gun shootings at close range.What has Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance been on ending the war? Netanyahu gave a televised address in response, during which he ruled out making any “concessions” in the stalled talks or “giving in to pressure” to end the war. His main political rival, Benny Gantz, has accused the Israeli prime minister of putting his personal interests before those of his country.Who else has resigned? Among other key ministers who are reported to have submitted resignations are Olha Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister in charge of leading Ukraine’s push to join the EU, and Oleksandr Kamyshin, the minister for strategic industries, who oversees arms production and development.What is the reason for this reshuffling? The reshuffle has been portrayed as a political “reset” engineered by Zelenskiy and his close circle. Speaking in a video address on Tuesday evening, the president said he was refreshing his team before an “extremely important autumn”. He promised a “slightly different emphasis” in foreign and domestic policy. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/first-thing-us-charges-hamas-leaders-with-terrorism
Author : Vivian Ho
Publish date : 2024-09-04 13:20:06
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