Israel says that it will “annex” the buffer zone in Gaza if Hamas does not accept its latest proposal. What is the buffer zone? It is the perimeter that Israeli soldiers admit to deliberately bulldozing at the beginning of the war. It was once an industrial zone with agriculture and factories but now it is rubble. Israeli officials say that it will belong to Israel if Hamas rejects its ceasefire offer, which Israeli officials expect that they will. Haaretz reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had proposed the idea of annexing Gaza to appease Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is threatening to quit the government over the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza. US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly heading to the Middle East to try to broker a ceasefire, although, as Antiwar reports, “there’s no sign the US was putting any pressure on Israel to make concessions to reach a deal.” Meanwhile, the Senate voted against a bill to halt all weapons sales to Israel. The majority of Democrats voted for this bill though, including Senators Bernie Sanders who introduced the bill and Senator Raphael Warnock, suggesting that support for Israel is waning in Congress amongst Democrats. Not so with Republicans: every GOP Senator voted to keep the weapons flowing. While some House Republicans did vote to halt the sales, it wasn’t enough to carry the measure. The post Israel to Take More Gaza Land—With Full Backing of the U.S. Senate appeared first on Redacted.