About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2024)
4A Sunday, January 21, 2024 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL/WORLD Rifts in goals begin to emerge between Israel’s top officials Nasser Nasser Associated Press Mourners follow the funeral of killed Palestinians from their patly destroyed house in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem, Friday, Jan. 19. BY JULIA FRANKEL, NAJIB JOBAIN AND BASSEM MROUE Associated Press JERUSALEM — A member of Israel's War Cabinet cast doubt on the country's strategy for releas ing hostages held by Hamas, say ing only a cease-fire can free them, as the prime minister rejected the United States' calls to scale back its offensive. The comments by former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot late Thursday offered the latest sign of disagreement among top Israeli officials over the direction of the war against Hamas, now in its fourth month. In his first public statements on the course of die war, Eisenkot also said that claims the dozens of hos tages could be freed by other means amounted to spreading “illusions.” Meanwhile, a communications blackout in the territory entered in its seventh day Friday, the longest such blackout since the war began. The lack of communications ham pered the coordination of aid deliv eries and rescue efforts. Sparked by an unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas raid into Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverized much of the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people. Israel has said more than 130 hos tages remain in Gaza, but not all of them are believed to be alive. Israel's offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive mili tary campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authori ties, and uprooted more than 80% of the territory's population. The Hamas-run Health Minis try in Gaza said Friday that 142 people were killed and 278 people wounded the previous day, rais ing the total death toll since Oct. 7, to 24,762. and the total number of wounded to 62,108. Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged territory, including food, water and fuel. Several dozen trucks with critical supplies now enter Gaza each day, just a fraction of the pre war volume of about 500 trucks. Both the United States and United Nations have said more aid needs to be delivered. The United States, Israel's clos est ally, has provided strong military and political support for the cam paign, but has increasingly called on Israel to scale back its assault and take steps toward establishing a Palestinian state after the war — a suggestion Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected. Speaking during a nationally tele vised news conference Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his longstand ing opposition to a two-state solu tion, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel. Israel “must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said, add ing: “That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?” The U.S. has said the interna tionally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi- autonomous zones in the Israeli- occupied West Bank, should be “revitalized” and return to Gaza. Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007. Washington has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestin ians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem for their state. Those areas were captured by Israel in 1967. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the two-state solu tion was the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab coun tries and isolate Israel's arch-enemy, Iran. He said that without a pathway to a Palestinian state, Israel would not “get genuine security.” At the same conference, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. “But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestin ian state,” he said. A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, said late Thursday that there can be “no security and stability in the region” without a Palestinian state. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have said the fight ing will continue until Hamas is crushed, and argue that only mili tary action can win the hostages' release. Hamas seeks an end to the war before discussing hostage releases, and it has demanded the release of thousands of Palestinians impris oned by Israel in exchange for those held captive in Gaza. Commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahu's objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the United Nations world court, which Israel vehemently denies. Netanyahu's opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios in order to avoid looming investigations of govern mental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections. Polls show that the popularity of Netan yahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war. Speaking to the investigative program “Uvda” on Israel's Chan nel 12 television, Eisenkot said the Israeli hostages “will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting.” He said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels. Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal “is to spread illusions,” said Eisenkot, whose son was killed in December while fighting in Gaza. In a thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahu, Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the war's direction must be made urgently and that a discussion about an end game should have started immedi ately after the war began. He also dismissed suggestions that the military has delivered a decisive blow against Hamas. Gallant has said troops disabled the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza, from where signifi cant numbers of troops were with drawn earlier in the week, and that the focus is now on the southern half of the territory. “We haven't yet reached a strate gic achievement, or rather only par tially,” Eisenkot said. “We did not bring down Hamas.” The militant group has contin ued to fight back across Gaza, even in the most devastated areas, and launched rockets into Israel. In his interview, Eisenkot also confirmed that a preemptive strike against Lebanon's Hezbollah mili tia was called off at the last minute during the early days of the war. He said he was among those argu ing against such a strike in an Oct. 11 Cabinet meeting that he said left him hoarse from shouting. Such an attack would have been a “strategic mistake” and would likely have triggered a regional war, Eisenkot said. The former army chief said he examines every day whether he should remain in the five-member War Cabinet, which includes Netan yahu, Gallant,former Defense Min ister Benny Gantz and Ron Dermer, strategic affairs minister in the Netanyahu government. Eisenkot is a member of parlia ment in the opposition National Unity alliance headed by Gantz. Both joined Netanyahu to help lead the war. “I know what my red line is,” Eisenkot said when asked at what point he would quit. “It's connected to the hostages, that is one of the objectives, but it's also connected to the way in which we need to run this war.” The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking U.S. and Israeli targets. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Leba non threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target inter national shipping despite U.S.-led airstrikes. The United States conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as Presi dent Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the militants has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor. Jobain reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip, and Mroue reported from Beirut. FROM 1A Perry term, I will call a severe ‘general funk,"’ Perry wrote. “For most of 2021 and 2022 I could not force myself to go to the office and when I did I often sat and stared at the walls.” In LaGrua's dissenting opinion, the justice wrote she hoped future lawyers will look at the footnote “for guidance for what they ought to do when faced with a disciplinary default arising from, perhaps, their inability to recognize that they are in a serious funk due to stress, depression, or a chronic health condition (and sometimes all three).” “Of course, it is often dif ficult to recognize that you are in the fog until it has lifted,” LaGrua wrote. LaGrua's dissenting opin ion served as a reminder for lawyers of the programs available to the legal com munity for peer support. Responding to the spe cific allegations, Perry wrote he filed an answer to the August 2021 divorce within three weeks. He added that his client called two or three times a week “wanting the case to be resolved immediately while the courts were closed for COVID.” A new attorney was on file in this case in Novem ber 2021, less than two months after Perry's filing. Regarding the August 2020 divorce, Perry filed a response a month later. The client asked for him to withdraw in January 2022, which he did. “As I stated earlier, I do not deny that I was not responsive to attempts to get in touch with me dur ing this period,” Perry wrote. “I simply was not in a state of mind to respond appropriately.” In response to the July 2020 divorce case, Perry wrote he had difficulty get ting his client to “provide me with requested discov ery and was unable to get in touch” with him about a hearing. Perry asked the court to consider his physical health and mental state dur ing his time, adding that he believed no client was injured by his inaction. In his statement to The Times, Perry wrote that his life “has not been the same” since taking his second COVID-19 vaccine, includ ing four cardiac procedures. “No one will tell me the COVID shots caused these issues but when asked if I have had my updates I flat tell the provider that I have not and won't take them,” Perry wrote in his state ment to The Times. “More than one provider has told me they have reached the same conclusion for them selves and their family based on what they have observed with patients in their offices.” Perry said for several months he shut down and rarely went to his office. “I went so long without checking my post office box that the post office called to make sure I had not died from COVID,” Perry wrote, adding he does not remem ber much from this time. “... I was planning on retiring before these issues came up and began to be very selec tive in taking new cases and have taken very few since that time.” In mentioning his inten tion to file a reconsideration motion, Perry wrote LaGrua evidently agreed based on her dissenting opinion. ffl Apartments FOR RENT RPC Partners 2 Bedim Apartments Gainesville, Oakwood & Flowery Branch $ 300 Move in Special Plus Deposit 770-654-2807 NOW HIRING Off-Road Truck Drivers, Scraper Operators, and CDL Drivers/Heavy Equipment Operator Competitive pay, Great Benefits (401 k, Health Ins., Vacation) Apply in Person 1364 Candler Rd. 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