Benny Gantz Delays Statement after Four Hostages Were Rescued

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz - Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz - Reuters
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Benny Gantz Delays Statement after Four Hostages Were Rescued

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz - Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz - Reuters

Israel's centrist war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has delayed a statement he was due to give later on Saturday in which he was widely expected to announce his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government.

Last month, Gantz presented the conservative prime minister with a June 8 deadline to come up with a clear day-after strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been pressing a devastating military offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But following news that Israeli forces had rescued four Israeli hostages alive from Gaza, the minister's spokespeople said his statement would be postponed. They did not give a new time for the address, in which political commentators in leading Israeli newspapers said he was expected to announce his resignation, Reuters reported.

The departure of Gantz's centrist party would not pose an immediate threat to Netanyahu's governing coalition, which controls 64 of parliament's 120 seats, but it could have a serious impact nonetheless.

With Gantz gone, Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war.

Netanyahu would have to rely more heavily on the political backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered Washington even before the war and who have since called for a return to a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.

This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure at home, with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its stated goals - the destruction of Hamas and the return of 120 remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Gantz's exit might also indicate limited prospects of success in the latest ceasefire efforts, according to political analysts, who say he would have been more likely to stay on if a deal appeared more probable.

Polls have shown Gantz, a former army commander and defence minister, to be the most formidable political rival to Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

He joined a unity government soon after Oct. 7, saying he was putting aside political considerations in the national interest.



Putin Proposes Direct Peace Talks with Ukraine after 3 Years of War

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to make a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 11 May 2025. EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to make a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 11 May 2025. EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
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Putin Proposes Direct Peace Talks with Ukraine after 3 Years of War

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to make a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 11 May 2025. EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to make a statement to the media at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 11 May 2025. EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Türkiye that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace, an initiative welcomed by US President Donald Trump.

Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Russian leader, who has offered few concessions towards ending the conflict so far, said the talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul will be aimed at eliminating the root causes of the war and restoring a "long-term, lasting peace" rather than simply a pause for rearmament.
"We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions," Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday, according to Reuters. "We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul." Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about facilitating the talks, which he said could lead to a ceasefire.
"Our proposal, as they say, is on the table. The decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their personal political ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples."
In a message on the social network Truth Social, Trump hailed Putin's proposal as a positive for ending the war.
"A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!" Trump said. "Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending 'bloodbath' hopefully comes to an end."
Putin's proposal for direct talks with Ukraine came hours after major European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face "massive" new sanctions.
Putin dismissed what he said was the attempt by some European powers to lay down "ultimatums".
Russia, Putin said, had proposed several ceasefires, including a moratorium on striking energy facilities, an Easter ceasefire and most recently the 72-hour truce during the celebrations marking 80 years since victory in World War Two.
Both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating the temporary truce proposals, including the May 8-10 ceasefire.
Despite Putin's call for peace talks, Russia on Sunday launched a drone attack on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, injuring one person in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital and damaging several private homes, Ukrainian officials said.
Putin said that he does not rule out that during his proposed talks in Türkiye both sides will agree on "some new truces, a new ceasefire," but one that would be the first step towards a "sustainable" peace.