Israeli media: This is what Blinken will ask Netanyahu News

Israeli sources confirmed that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move to the third phase of the war, while Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that the War Council is not authorized to announce the transition to limited operations in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Channel 12 quoted sources as saying that Blinken’s request – who will visit Israel today – aims “in a way that allows displaced Palestinians from north to south to return to their areas in the northern Gaza Strip.”

The US Secretary of State will also call on the Israeli government to move negotiations forward to conclude a prisoner exchange deal, double the entry of aid into Gaza, transfer tax dues to the Palestinian Authority, and avoid a war erupting on the border with Lebanon.

Blinken held further talks with Arab leaders on Monday, as part of diplomatic efforts to prevent the expansion of the war in Gaza.

Blinken met in the UAE with its President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and is scheduled to later hold talks in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the city of Al-Ula before heading to Israel.

Blinken visited Jordan and Qatar yesterday, Sunday, and tried to reassure Arab officials that the United States opposes the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and instead wants neighboring Arab countries to play a role in governing the Strip in the future.

Blinken will conclude his tour in Israel today, Monday, where he will meet with Israeli officials tomorrow, Tuesday. This is his fourth tour in the region since the events of last October 7 began.

Ben Gvir’s statements

In a related context, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said that the reports and interviews of Israeli officials in the Western media regarding ending the fighting phase and moving to limited operations in Gaza “are practically an announcement of ending the war of subjugation and moving to a war of attrition,” pointing out that “Israel You won’t win that way.”

Ben Gvir’s statement comes in light of reports of disagreements within the Israeli War Council, news of an American move to push Tel Aviv towards reducing the pace of its military operations in the Gaza Strip, and Netanyahu’s assurances that “the war will not stop before achieving its goals.”

Last November, Ben Gvir threatened to resign from the Israeli government if Israel did not resume its war after the end of the truce, after Ben Gvir and two other ministers from his party voted against the temporary humanitarian truce agreement between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel.

Late last December, Ben Gvir also called for the dissolution of the Ministerial War Council, saying that the idea of ​​reducing activity in Gaza is “a failure in the management of the war by the limited government (the War Ministerial Council) and must be dismantled immediately.”