Israel dropped 153 tonnes of bombs Sunday on Gaza

AFP | Jerusalem

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Israeli forces dropped 153 tonnes (337,307 pounds) of bombs on targets in Gaza in response to what it said was a ceasefire breach by the Palestinian group Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament yesterday.

“One of our hands holds a weapon, the other hand is stretched out for peace,” Netanyahu told members of the Knesset. “You make peace with the strong, not the weak. Today Israel is stronger than ever before.” Israel said Sunday that it had launched a wave of air strikes against targets in Gaza after two of its soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas.

Netanyahu also met yesterday with top US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after weekend violence threatened to wreck a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza. “Prime Minister Netanyahu met earlier today with special envoy Steve Witkoff and (US) President (Donald) Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on the developments and updates in the region,” Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office, told journalists.

She added that US Vice President JD Vance and his wife were due to visit Israel “for a few days and will be meeting with the prime minister”.

Later, Netanyahu himself confirmed that the visit would begin on Tuesday. Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament on Monday that “tomorrow, Vice President JD Vance will arrive... and we will discuss two things... the security challenges we face and the diplomatic opportunities before us.”

“We will overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities,” he added.