Israel National News reports: “Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar hosted Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger in Jerusalem on Sunday, marking the first official foreign visit to Israel since the launch of Operation Rising Lion. During their joint press conference, Sa’ar addressed key regional and diplomatic challenges, including efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and the expansion of normalization agreements in the Middle East.

‘Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza. We said yes to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposals. But unfortunately, until this moment, Hamas hadn’t,’ Sa’ar stated. He called on European states to ‘back the American initiative for a ceasefire – and to shatter Hamas’ illusions,’ stressing that Israel would prefer a diplomatic resolution, but would resort to military means if necessary to secure its objectives…”