The Israel-Hamas war

The Israel-Hamas war|The negotiations
Defense Minister's words about Macron: "Hostile politics"

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant denies that the country, together with the United States and France, agreed on cooperation to reduce tensions between Israel and Lebanon. This after French President Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday that a "contact group" should be formed between the US, France and Israel.

In a post on X, Yoav Gallant instead attacks Macron's policies.

"While we are fighting a just war and defending our people, France has adopted a hostile policy against Israel," he writes, stressing that Israel will not cooperate within the proposed framework.

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Continued attacks on Rafah - Biden accuses Hamas of obstructing ceasefire

Israel's military, the IDF, continues to attack Rafah with drones and artillery. Residents of the city described to AFP how Thursday's attacks were the worst in a long time.

- There was very intense shelling, says a resident of Rafah, to the news agency.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israel's bombs hit a so-called safe zone, something that the IDF denies, writes CNN.

At the same time, the negotiations on a possible ceasefire appear to have stalled. The proposal, which was voted through in the UN Security Council on Monday, and which Israel is said to have accepted, has not yet been approved by Hamas. Instead, the terrorist organization has contracts with proposed changes.

US President Joe Biden says Hamas is "the biggest obstacle so far" to reaching an agreement.

- I have presented a strategy that has been approved by the UN Security Council, the G7, the Israelis. The biggest obstacle so far is that Hamas refuses to sign even though they have submitted something similar, says Biden at the G7 meeting currently underway in Italy.

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The Israel-Hamas warThe reactions
Experts: Risk of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah boiling over

The risk of full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah is growing, even if neither side wants it. This is according to analysts that CNN spoke to.

According to Heiko Wimmen of the Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group, there is a "slow motion escalation" that is constantly increasing.

He does not believe that either side will take an active step towards full-scale war, but adds that the further into each other's territories they bomb and the heavier weapons are used, the more the risk of "something going wrong" increases.

Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that the IDF is not interested in widening the conflict to eliminate Hezbollah. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu is under political pressure to act in the north because so many Israelis have been displaced by the conflict.