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African Delegation, Including Egypt, Visits Ukraine on Peace Mission

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
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African Delegation, Including Egypt, Visits Ukraine on Peace Mission

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine on Friday as part of an African peace mission that includes Egypt, the South African presidency said on Twitter.

Ramaphosa is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and then travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

The South African presidency posted footage of Ramaphosa arriving by train in the Bucha area near Kyiv after travelling via Poland.

Along with Senegal President Macky Sall, Ramaphosa is heading a delegation including leaders from Zambia, the Comoros, and Egypt's prime minister.

The peace mission could propose a series of "confidence building measures" during initial efforts at mediation, according to a draft framework document seen by Reuters.

The document states that the objective of the mission is "to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations".

Those measures could include a Russian troop pull-back, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, suspension of implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting Putin, and sanctions relief, it indicated.

A cessation of hostilities agreement could follow and would need to be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, the document stated.

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Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
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Netanyahu Prepares Grounds to Dismiss Chief of Staff

Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)
Netanyahu with dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in October 2023 (dpa)

After the successful ousting of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing the grounds to dismiss Army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, reports in Tel Aviv revealed.
The PM’s intentions were visible through a series of preliminary measures. In a nine-minute video statement posted to social media on Saturday, Netanyahu claimed the ongoing investigation into the alleged theft and leak of classified documents, including by his aides, aimed at harming him and “an entire political camp.”
He then asserted that vital classified documents weren’t reaching him. “I am the prime minister. I need to receive important classified documents, and indeed sometimes important information doesn’t reach me.”
Netanyahu then defended his former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who is accused of leaking a classified document in a bid to sway public opinion against a truce-hostage deal in Gaza.
Last Thursday, Feldstein was charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state.
The PM considered accusations against his spokesman as a “witch hunt” against his aides and Israelis who support him.
For the past 14 years, the Israeli right had run a large-scale incitement campaign against the security services. But in the last year, this camp increased its attack, particularly against the Chief of Staff, Halevi, who believes it is necessary to stop the war and ink a deal with Hamas.
The right-wing “Mida” website published a report entitled “Herzi Halevi’s Political Sabotage,” describing the man’s “rising against the Israeli political leadership.”
The report said Halevi's inappropriate behavior started during the first weeks of the war when the Army announced it was “ready for a ground attack,” accusing Netanyahu of delaying such an operation.
Mida then listed several other instances in which it described Netanyahu as a great leader who ordered strong attacks and deep military operations. It then accused the army of refraining from following his orders.
The report concludes that the “freeing of hostages file was the straw that broke the camel's back.”
In an April 2024 speech marking the six-month anniversary of the war, Halevi has said that it is time to end the war in Gaza and reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, while Netanyahu took a hardline stance, refusing to compromise on what he called “red lines.”
The Madi website also criticized Halevi for saying that the government was responsible for ordering the army of again operating in Jabalia, a decision that resulted in significant Israeli casualties.
“Halevi should have been dismissed as soon as the government was formed, and this was Netanyahu's mistake. But it is not too late to fix it. You can't win wars with rebel chiefs of staff,” the website wrote.