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Palestinian Government Says It's Ready to Run the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
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Palestinian Government Says It's Ready to Run the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows an afternoon view of destroyed buildings in Gaza, on January 20, 2025, following a ceasefire deal a day earlier between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)

The Palestinian government says it is ready to take responsibility for running the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and is committed to managing crossing points in collaboration with the European Union and Egypt.
The Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs, Varsen Aghabekian, told a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday on Gaza that the government welcomes any assistance to train and equip the Palestinian police and security forces. She also called for urgent humanitarian aid, The Associated Press said.
She expressed hope that the six-week ceasefire will lead to a final ceasefire and lay the foundations for a political track to end Israel’s occupation within a year as called for by the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest tribunal.
Israel’s political coordinator, Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly, told the council “This war will not end until every hostage is returned and Hamas’ ability to terrorize is dismantled.”
She said the Middle East stands at “a turning point” where Iran’s proxies Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon have suffered “devastating losses” and its “network of terror” including the Houthis in Yemen have faced significant setbacks.
Ben Naftaly said Israel has no interest in a conflict with Syria “but we will not tolerate a situation that endangers our civilians, allows Iran to re-establish itself in the region, and transfer weapons to Hezbollah.”

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Arab World

Israel's Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures

File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
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Israel's Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures

File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)

Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday he would resign on March 6, taking responsibility for the massive security lapse on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a cross-border attack on Israel.

Halevi, who had been widely expected to step down in the wake of the deadliest single day in Israel's history, said he would complete the Israel Defense Forces' inquiries into Oct. 7 and strengthen the IDF's readiness for security challenges. It was not immediately clear who would replace Halevi, who said he would transfer the IDF command to a yet-to-be-named successor.

Despite public anger over Oct. 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has resisted calls to open a state inquiry into its own responsibility for the security breach that resulted in 1,200 Israelis killed and about 250 hostages taken.

"On the morning of Oct. 7, the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel," Halevi wrote in his resignation letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Israel, he added, paid a heavy price in terms of human lives and those kidnapped and wounded in "body and soul."

"My responsibility for the terrible failure accompanies me every day, hour by hour, and will do so for the rest of my life," said Halevi, a military veteran of four decades.

Halevi was in lockstep with former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who was fired by Netanyahu in November, and at loggerheads with some ministers over military conscription exemptions given to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.

A number of senior military officers have already resigned over the failures of Oct. 7, and the head of the military's Southern Command, Major-General Yaron Finkelman, also announced he would be resigning.

After 15 months of war in Gaza, the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas went into effect on Sunday, with three hostages being released among a planned 33 in the next six weeks. Some 94 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, though some may have since died in captivity.

HARDLINERS RAPPED HALEVI'S CONDUCT OF GAZA WAR

Katz thanked Halevi for his contributions to the military and that he would continue to fulfill his duties until a successor is named, while there would be an orderly search for his replacement. Netanyahu also accepted Halevi's resignation.

Halevi was often criticized by hardliners in Netanyahu's government including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said his conduct of the war in Gaza was too soft.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict since October 2023 and the heavily built-up territory has been widely demolished by Israeli bombardments and airstrikes.

Smotrich on Tuesday praised Halevi for the military's success in shattering Hamas' military capabilities during the war but also put blame on his shoulders for the Oct. 7 debacle.

"My criticism of his failure in the campaign to eliminate Hamas' civilian and governmental capabilities, as well as his responsibility for the October 7th failure, does not diminish the great gratitude we owe him for all his work and contributions over the years and his achievements," said Smotrich, who opposed the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

"The coming period will be marked by the replacement of the senior military command as part of preparations for the renewal of the war, this time in the West Bank until complete victory."

Halevi said that despite the failings of Oct. 7, Israel had notched many military achievements since then which had "changed the Middle East".  

He pointed to Israel's military degradation of Hamas that had created conditions for returning hostages, its "unprecedented" damage inflicted on Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a significantly weakened Iran, and its destruction of significant parts of Syria's military.