Chuck Schumer: “It couldn’t have happened without steadfast diplomacy and until the potency of Hamas was radically reduced.” John Barrasso: “I think that the world is seeing Donald Trump coming into power in the United States, and we're seeing changes around the world to reflect a new strength in America." Hakeem Jeffries: “This long-overdue agreement will secure the release of many of those hostages, set the stage for others to come home.” Bernie Sanders: “Both sides must honor the deal and implement it as quickly as possible… The United Nations and other aid organizations must finally be allowed unfettered access to all areas of the Gaza.” Claudia Tenney: "After Biden's repeated failure to free the Israeli & American hostages being held by Hamas, President Trump has already negotiated a deal to release the hostages, & he hasn't even been sworn in yet. The world is a safer place with President Trump as America's Leader." (Read more at USNews)
U.S. diplomacy
in the Middle East
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17 February 25، 01:40 - شبکه اجتماعی ویترینسلام وقت بخیر دعوت می کنم یادداشت ...
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26 October 24، 14:13 - ناشناسUN Resolution 1701 is out there ...
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8 October 24، 12:36 - ناشناسhe should say that. he is a realtor
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8 September 24، 14:34 - ناشناسlikely been shot by a cheap racket, hahahahaha
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8 September 24، 14:34 - ناشناسwon't be accepted by hamas
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3 September 24، 09:41 - شبکه اجتماعی ویترینسلام ایام به کام دعوت می کنم برای ...
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17 August 24، 12:09 - ناشناسthe most sometimes is not good, good enough at least
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29 July 24، 11:51 - ناشناسof all the nerve
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29 July 24، 11:40 - ناشناسNational security is beyond party lines
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29 July 24، 11:33 - ناشناسEscalation can be managed. better ...
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Biden said. “I’ve worked on foreign policy for decades. This was one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced. We reached this point because to the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.” (Read more at The Hill)
Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington in his final days as the U.S. top diplomat, Blinken said Washington envisioned a reformed Palestinian Authority leading Gaza and inviting international partners to help establish and run an interim administration for the enclave. A security force would be formed from forces from partner nations and vetted Palestinian personnel (Read more at AOL).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel 'must accept' Gaza Strip and West Bank united under Palestinian Authority. Blinken’s remarks provide a rare window into US intelligence assessments of Hamas’s strength, which is likely to ruffle Israel’s positioning after a potential ceasefire, given its stated objective of “total victory and the eradication of Hamas” (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Joe Biden emphasized Tuesday the importance of overcoming obstacles and showing flexibility to secure a cease-fire agreement in Gaza. The remarks were made during a phone call between the two leaders (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said there’s a “distinct possibility” that Israel and Hamas will be able to reach a ceasefire deal before President Joe Biden leaves office in a week. “The pressure is building for Hamas to come to yes,” (Watch more at Bloomberg).
But it is not enough to seal a deal. "We're making some real progress," Biden told reporters at the White House. "I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to have a prisoner exchange," he said, adding Hamas was getting in the way of that. The president said he met with negotiators. a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and this was the most serious attempt so far. However, Israel still insists on keeping a 1 km landscape along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, which will restrict the return of residents to their homes and represent a retreat from what it (Israel) had agreed upon in July (Read more at Reuters).
A prominent American Quaker organisation has cancelled its advertising with the New York Times (NYT) after the newspaper refused to allow an advertisement referring to Israel’s aggression in Gaza as genocide (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
“Well, I think we’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” Witkoff said at a Trump press conference in Palm Beach, Florida (Read more at Arabnews).
Hamas says it will free its remaining hostages only if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free (Read more at Arabnews).
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for a final push for a Gaza ceasefire before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to go free under a truce (Read more at Globe and Mail).
The Palestinian Authority (PA) asked the United States to approve a four-year $680m plan to boost the training of its special forces and bolster its supply of ammunition and armoured vehicles. The US delegation expressed satisfaction with the campaign in Jenin and pledged to deliver armoured vehicles and ammunition (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Six current and former students allege the school violated the students’ constitutional rights. The federal lawsuit was filed on Friday in the US District Court in Detroit. The plaintiffs allege that the school violated the students’ constitutional rights to free speech, due process and equal protection under the law (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old student from George Mason University (GMU), accusing him of being involved in a plot to attack the Israeli consulate in New York, in a case involving an undercover informant or agent who helped the teenager come up with the plan. Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, a first-year student and an Egyptian national, has been charged with one count of distributing information related to explosives that could be used to murder internationally protected persons (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Burns is due to meet Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Doha (Read more at Dohanews).
The lawsuit, opens new tab filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleged that the State Department under Secretary of State Antony Blinken has deliberately circumvented a U.S. human rights law to continue funding and supporting Israeli military units accused of atrocities in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank (Read more at Rueters).
Mike Casey, one of only two people explicitly focused on Gaza, left over inaction and doing ‘what the Israelis want’. Mike Casey arrived in Jerusalem in 2020. “The more informed you become on this issue, you can’t avoid realizing how bad it is,” Casey said. Casey resigned in July after four years at the job, discreetly leaving the post unlike other recent high-profile government departures. Now Casey reflected on how, as one of only two people in the entire US government explicitly focused on Gaza, he became an unwilling chronicler of a humanitarian catastrophe (Read more at Guardian).
However, Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, in Washington acknowledged that previous hopes for a ceasefire had ultimately been dashed, making the current outlook more tentative (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The security operation to regain control in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp from militants is the largest conducted by Palestinian security forces in years. Palestinian and U.S. officials said Palestinian leadership launched the operation out of fear that Islamist militants — emboldened after armed rebels took control of Syria — could try to overthrow the Palestinian Authority (Read more at Axios).
The arrests occurred during a sit-in at NYU, where students were nonviolently blocking access to the Bobst Library. According to the American Association of University Professors, the professors were not involved in the protest itself but were there to ensure the safety of the student demonstrators (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Mufid Abdulqader was convicted in a terrorism case civil liberties groups say highlights US's disproportionate targeting of Muslim charities. In 2020, Abdulqader had put in a plea for compassionate release on the grounds of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was tearing through the Seagoville federal prison in Texas where he was serving his sentence (Read more at Middle East Eye).
“We’re now looking to close a hostage release deal and a cease-fire, which would stop the war and reunite hostages with their families,” Sullivan said. “Just over one year ago, we reached a deal that brought 78 hostages out of Gaza and home to their families. It’s time to finish the job and bring all of the hostages home.” Sullivan will travel to Doha and Cairo from Jerusalem to advance these negotiations (Read more at Media Line).
Two-pronged diplomatic push sees Blinken covering Jordan, Turkiye, while Sullivan holds talks in Israel, Qatar and Egypt. Washington has acknowledged Ankara’s right to defend itself from what it perceives as a security threat, but has also said it will continue working with the SDF (Read more at Aljazeera).
PA's Jenin offensive is driven by fear that Trump will be drawn to a plan floated by UAE to install a different ruling elite. Looming over the Palestinian Authority’s battle with anti-occupation armed groups in Jenin are fears that US President-elect Donald Trump is amenable to sidelining the PA’s current leaders in a future post-war Gaza Strip in favour of the United Arab Emirates and its Palestinian allies (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Steve Witkoff, who will formally take up the position when Trump's administration starts, said he hoped and prayed there would be ceasefire in Gaza between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. "You heard what the president said, they better be released," he said, referring to Trump. "Listen to what the president has got to say. It's not a pretty day if they're not released," Witkoff added (Read more at ArabNews).
The Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority argue that a law Congress enacted in 2019 to allow victims of terrorism to sue the authorities violates their due process rights (Read more at NBCNews).
Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump’s administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said the source. Witkoff’s conversations appear to have been aimed at building on nearly 14 months of unsuccessful diplomacy by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt aimed at a lasting ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in Gaza (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Trump said Mr Boehler was a lead negotiator for him on his team that worked the Abraham Accords in 2020, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab nations. “He has negotiated with some of the toughest people in the World, including the Taliban, but Adam knows that NO ONE is tougher than the United States of America, at least when President Trump is its Leader (Read more at Strait Times).
Trump wants Netanyahu to make a deal, but experts say the compromises needed to reach a deal with Hamas might bring an end to the Netanyahu government. It is hard to tell whether Netanyahu is a prisoner of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich like many say or that he himself shares their ideas. Hamas is trying to survive, to stop the war in order to not cease [existing] as an organization. If Trump demands the end of the war in Gaza, it will entail steps, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners, that cannot be accepted by the current government. This will lead to an election in Israel, which could be something Trump actually wants (Read more at Media Line).
The United States on Monday welcomed Israel's one-year extension of a lifeline to Palestinian banks, after threats by the far-right finance minister to sever the connection amid the Gaza war. The United States had pressed Israel to maintain the waiver which allows Israeli banks to work with Palestinian ones, fearing otherwise that the comparatively stable West Bank would descend into economic havoc (Read more at Barron's).
“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump said (Read more at Aljazeera).
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that Captain Omer Maxim Neutra, a 21-year-old lone soldier from New York, was killed during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack and that his body remains in Gaza. Neutra, a tank platoon commander in the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade, was among four soldiers abducted during the assault near Nahal Oz (Read more at Media Line).
Biden was snapped with a copy of the book The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, written by renowned Palestinian American author Rashid Khalidi, which he seemingly purchased in a 'Black Friday' sale in a bookshop in Nantucket. Khalidi is a historian and expert on Middle Eastern affairs who teaches at Columbia University, and who is known for his opposition to US policies on Palestine and Israel (Read more at New Arab).
He pleaded for Trump to secure his release. Netanyahu calls video cruel psychological warfare, vows to bring hostages home. Biden administration is working to secure release before Trump's inauguration (Read more at Reuters).
This is the second year in a row that pro-Palestinian protesters have used the nationally televised parade to call for a ceasefire in Gaza amid nearly 14 months of conflict following Palestinian militant group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel. All of the demonstrators have been released as of Friday, according to the NYPD. (Read more at The Hill)
The U.S. "will make another push, with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza," he said. Biden also wants the hostages released and to end the war without Hamas in power (Read more at Reuters).
The U.S. "will make another push, with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others, to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza," Biden said. He also wants the hostages released and to end the war without Hamas in power (Read more at Reuters).
Rawhi Fattouh, 75, said last year that "Jerusalem belongs exclusively to the Palestinians, the Arabs and the Muslims." Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to appoint a longtime confidante, Rawhi Fattouh, 75, as his successor “provides valuable clarity and strengthens governance,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said (Read more at JNS)
A phone call to President-elect Donald Trump, an appeal to Saudi Arabia, checking in with Tiffany Trump’s Lebanese American in-laws, or just hoping for the best. Palestinian officials are pursuing a hodgepodge of diplomatic overtures to secure a productive relationship with a new Trump administration, five years on from a falling-out with the last one (Read more at CSMonitor).
UN security council voted 14-1 in favor of resolution but it was not adopted because of the US veto. The resolution demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the war between Israel and the Palestinian group, along with “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. Robert Wood, deputy ambassador to the UN, said that the US position remained that there had “to be a linkage between a ceasefire and the release of hostages”. (Read more at Guardian)
The Treasury Department said in a statement the sanctions targeted the group's representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts for the group and weapons smuggling into Gaza (Read more at Daily Observer).
Trump's Middle East envoy epitomises the president-elect's disdain for policy wonks and international relations experts. With Trump saying he will use the hostage deal to expand the 2020 Abraham Accord agreements, Witkoff is likely set to delve deeper into the world of Gulf politics and the Israel-Palestine conflict (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Although the previous administration of US President-elect Donald Trump was seen as a staunch ally of Israel, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine’s minister of state for foreign affairs and expatriates, says Palestinians remain hopeful about his return to the White House (Read more at Arabnews).
The United States wants real and extended pauses in fighting in Gaza so assistance can get to people who need it, but the best way to help people would be to end the war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. “Israel, by the standards it set itself, has accomplished the goals that it set for itself,” Blinken told reporters during a visit to Brussels. “This should be a time to end the war.” (Read more at NBCNews)
Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago. Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country. The spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for confirmation or comment (Read more at Arabnews)
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited a statement by Abbas’ office saying he spoke with Trump over the phone, congratulating him on his election victory earlier this week. Trump told Abbas that he was committed to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza and to work with him and other relevant stakeholders “to promote peace in the region (Read more at Middle East Monitor)
Palestinians, locked in war with Israel for more than a year, expressed fear at Donald Trump’s return to the White House, while the leaders of the Hamas group and the Palestinian Authority urged him to act for peace (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Cairo's plan would have seen four Israeli hostages and 100 Palestinian terrorists released over a 10-day period after an initial 48-hour pause in fighting. Another proposal from Doha last week reportedly involved the release of 11 hostages in exchange for a one-month ceasefire, with priority given to living female captives. During talks in Doha at the end of last month, CIA Director Bill Burns reportedly proposed a 28-day ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing eight hostages and Israel freeing dozens of Palestinian prisoners (Read more at JNS).
In an effort to engage with “leaders of the Arab-American community,” Harris headed to Michigan, a key swing state that is home to more than 200,000 Arab American voters. There, she pledged to do “everything in her power to end the war”. While acknowledging the “suffering in Gaza”, she reiterated, once again, that she must “ensure Israel is secure”. Trump has consistently prioritized ‘security’ concerns over humanitarian considerations and repeatedly affirmed that Israel should seek a swift victory. Moreover, Trump has frequently voiced skepticism about the two-state solution, suggesting that achieving peace might be difficult under this framework (Read more at Palestine Chronicle).
Taskin Torlak, 37, Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, was one of three US service members hurt May 23 while working on the temporary floating pier that Biden had announced with great fanfare during his State of the Union address in March. The other two service members suffered minor injuries and returned to work after the incident, which the Pentagon has said was not combat related (Read more at NewYork Post).
In phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Blinken "reviewed actions Israel has taken to date and urged further actions to substantially increase and sustain humanitarian aid – including food, medicine and other essential supplies – to civilians across all of Gaza.” Asked what consequences Israel might face if it does not meet the 30-day requirements, Miller declined to speculate, saying: "I do not know what the factual situation that we will face in that period will be." (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı)
While Muslim community leaders who have requested meetings with the Vice President say they have been snubbed, at a rally in Michigan on Sunday Trump was endorsed by several Muslim figures who appeared on stage with the Republican candidate. Anxiety in the Harris campaign over the Arab-American vote appears to be more justified, and is compounded, say observers, by her failure to make any meaningful pledges to end the war. They appear to have miscalculated the level of anger and disappointment at the Biden administration’s support for a war that has bombed Gaza to the stone age and killed six per cent of its population (Read more at Alahram).
Dubbed "Prince of Polling," globally-acclaimed public opinion pollster John Zogby tells TRT World it would be an "accurate" assessment to suggest Gaza war might bolster Netanyahu in next election while potentially costing Harris in US. Arab Americans have been voting overwhelmingly Democrat since 2004 as a protest against then President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and the revelations at Abu Ghraib prison. She and the Democrats have really alienated Arab Americans and Muslims who could be decisive in those states (Read more at TRTWorld).
Israel's decision for a month's waiver extension on co-operation between Israeli and Palestinian banks covered a "very short term" and would create "another looming crisis" by Nov. 30, the United States warned on Thursday. The remarks came after a spokesman for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would sign the waiver to extend banks' co-operation for another month after the cabinet agreed (Read more at AOL).
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides leads the European Union nation closest to Gaza. The small Mediterranean island nation has played a critical role in efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza since the war between Hamas and Israel began more than a year ago. He said that Biden and White House officials briefed him on the latest stepped-up efforts by the U.S. administration and other mediators but declined to offer further details about the discussion (Read more at Associated Press).
State Department officials gathered the incidents from public and non-public sources, including media reporting, civil society groups and foreign government contacts. The mechanism, which was established in August 2023 to be applied to all countries that receive US arms, has three stages: incident analysis, policy impact assessment, and coordinated department action. None of the Gaza cases had yet reached the third stage of action. Options, the former official explained, could range from working with Israel’s government to help mitigate harm, to suspending existing arms export licences or withholding future approvals (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The United States has asked Israel to explain a “horrifying” strike in northern Gaza, State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said on Tuesday, an attack on a residential building in which at least 93 Palestinians were killed or missing. Miller said he could not speak to the specific death toll, but the US was seeking more information. He said it was a “horrifying incident with a horrifying result.” Washington contacted Israeli officials and “made clear we want to know exactly what happened, how you could have a result that produces, according to reports, dozens of children dead, and we don’t yet know the answer to that question,” Miller said (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Washington believes that Hamas is being led in Gaza by a council until its hierarchy is re-established after Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the terror group’s chief in the Strip, on Oct. 16, Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said. JNS asked why Washington isn’t pressuring Qatar to push Mashaal into a deal, given that the terror leader is a guest in the Gulf state. Miller cited the prior “tireless efforts” and “intense focus” of Qatari Prime Minister Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to try to seal an agreement. “They have a channel with Hamas that is productive for trying to reach this agreement,” Miller said. “The fact is it’s Hamas that holds the hostages, and so it’s Hamas with whom they have to negotiate.” (Read more at Jewish News Agency)
The warning came a day after Israel’s Knesset voted to ban the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (Unrwa) from operating in occupied Palestine, and Israel. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US was “deeply troubled” by the bill (Read more at Middle East Eye).
CIA director Bill Burns floated a deal for a 28-day Gaza ceasefire, the freeing of around eight hostages by Hamas and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Burns discussed the idea during a meeting on Sunday with Israeli and Qatari counterparts (Read more at Arabnews).
US Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein said “We have two greater evil candidates; there is no lesser evil .. We are at the tipping point. It feels like we’re closer now than ever before.” What’s unique about this ordeal is that social media users and independent media outlets based in the region have been broadcasting the war crimes taking place there on a day-to-day basis. For that reason, Netanyahu’s assaults on the surrounding civilian population are crucial to the upcoming elections since the violence in question has always been funded by US taxpayer dollars (Read more at Palestinechronicle).
President Joe Biden formally apologised on Friday for the U.S. government's role in running abusive Native American boarding schools for more than 150 years, and was heckled at the event over his support for Israel's war on Gaza. A pro-Palestinian protester shouted: "How can you apologize for a genocide while committing a genocide in Palestine?" The president replied, "There is a lot of innocent people being killed and it has to stop." (Read more at New Arab)
The Biden administration believes Sinwar was the main obstacle to an agreement, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the region this week hoping to achieve a breakthrough. Among the options is an Egyptian proposal for a two-week cease-fire in exchange for the release of six hostages. Still, it is not immediately clear who would be the decision-maker for any proposal brought forward to Hamas, which has yet to choose Sinwar’s successor (Read more at NBC News).
In each call, US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin said he cites the need for Israel to be more precise during military operations against Palestinian group, Hamas, to limit civilian casualties, and cites the need to get humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. “Failure to do that will create a generation of Palestinians that really will continue to resist cooperating with Israel in the future. So you’re actually increasing the numbers of insurgents … if you fail to do that,” Austin said. “It’s a strategic imperative in my view.” (Read more at Middle East Monitor)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that Israel has so far taken insufficient steps to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and he asked it to work to improve the situation. Blinken held "extended conversations" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders, who committed to act upon the U.S. requests (Read more at USNews).
Police have arrested an unknown number of pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Minnesota after a group of students briefly occupied an administrative building in protest against Israel's genocide in Gaza, organisers said. The Monday afternoon protest prompted an alert from school officials: "Protestors have entered Morrill Hall on the East Bank, causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building," the alert said (Read more at TRTWorld).
They discussed security and economic stability in the West Bank as well as the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to improve its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. The U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo noted the Palestinian Authority’s progress on strengthening its CFT regime to further support these relationships, including by completing key milestones related to the assessment of AML/CFT risks within its jurisdiction and bolstering effective compliance with international standards (Read more at US Treasury).
Harris dodged a question on whether Arab American and Muslim anger over US support for Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza and more recently in Lebanon could cost her the election in the battleground state of Michigan, but said she would continue speaking out about the tragic loss of innocent lives (Read more at Arabnews).
He praised the Israeli leader as doing a good job while attacking President Joe Biden's administration. "He's called me. I haven't spoken to him. I'm going to speak to him probably now," Trump said. "Biden is trying to hold him back….and he probably should be doing the opposite actually." (Read more at USNews)
Joe Biden is expected to use Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wind down the war in Gaza, but in the waning months of his term the U.S. president may lack leverage to bend the Israeli leader to his will (Read more at AOL).
Miller told a regular press briefing that Sinwar had been the "chief obstacle" to reaching an end to the war. "That obstacle has obviously been removed. Can’t predict that that means whoever replaces (Sinwar) will agree to a ceasefire, but it does remove what has been in recent months the chief obstacle to getting one," said U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller (Read more at USNews).
Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said “We’ve had a small number of special operations forces that have been advising the Israelis on hostage recovery efforts. That included working side by side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza who’ve been holding people, include Americans, hostage since Oct. 7 last year,” (Read more at The Hill).
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the Security Council on Wednesday at a meeting convened by France UK and Algeria that such a policy “would not just be horrific and unacceptable” but also had “implications under international and US law”. The sudden surge in pressure is in part a response to growing fears that Israel may be trying to force Palestinians to leave northern Gaza using starvation, but also reflects a new assertive line being pushed by the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, worried her election prospects will be damaged if the administration is seen to have presided over an enforced mass exodus (Read more at Guardian).
The US & Canada have made coordinated designations of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Samidoun is said to be a sham charity that fundraises for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organisation (Read more at Global Sanctions).
Israel is highly dependent on U.S. military aid as it fights a war on several fronts and has been under intense scrutiny as warnings emerge again about the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza. Israeli authorities closed crossings into Gaza earlier this month, halting deliveries of food and essential supplies to 400,000 Palestinians before some trucks were able to enter again (Read more at Axios).
USAid officials attend meetings at site where Palestinians say they were subjected to rape, electrocution and beatings. Established after the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the subsequent war on Gaza, the Sde Teiman base became a makeshift centre to hold Palestinian detainees. Since October 2023, more than 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza have been detained by the Israeli military there, often held without charge or evidence of wrongdoing (Read more at Middle East Eye).
"We have been making clear to the government of Israel that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to allow food and water and other needed humanitarian assistance to make it into all parts of Gaza, and we fully expect them to comply with those obligations." the State Department said. Despite the US's alleged concerns, it has made clear that its funding of Israel's war machine is unconditional, with the US continuing to provide weapons and diplomatic support for Netanyahu's government despite it crossing alleged red lines set by Washington (Read more at New Arab).
But it is "meaningless" unless a deal is actually reached, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said. "We must have a ceasefire and a hostage deal as immediately as possible," she said (Read more at USNews).
He added "they never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place — the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate. It could be so beautiful. ... it could be one of the best places in the world." . He claimed he's "been there" despite public records showing he's never visited Gaza, and his campaign told the New York Times "Gaza is in Israel. President Trump has been to Israel." (Read more at Axios)
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff “will plant a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in honor of the victims and deliver remarks,” according to the White House. Trump will deliver remarks in Miami at an Oct. 7 remembrance event (Read more at USNews).
The United States imposed fresh sanctions on individuals and a "sham charity" it said were international financial supporters of Hamas, among others, on the anniversary of the group's bloody attack on Israel. Among the individuals targeted are Yemeni national Hamid Abdullah Hussein al Ahmar, said to be an international supporter of Hamas, and nine entities linked to him. Several Europe-based fundraisers were also named, including Italy-based Mohammad Hannoun, Majed al-Zeer in Germany and Adel Doughman in Austria (Read more at Barrons).
Harris sidestepped a question in the interview on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a ”real close ally.” ”I think with all due respect the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people and the answer to that question is yes,” Harris said (Read more at First Post).
Polls show Stein garnering just 1% in the Nov. 5 election, while Harris and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, are almost tied with 49% and 48%. But Stein, who has been campaigning on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate U.S. arms embargo on Israel, won 40% of the Muslim vote in Michigan in an August poll. Democrats could win back those voters if they demanded and work to enact an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon (Read more at USNews).
The emails, which haven’t been reported before, reveal alarm early on in the State Department and Pentagon that a rising death toll in Gaza could violate international law and jeopardize US ties in the Arab world. The messages also show internal pressure in the Biden administration to shift its messaging from showing solidarity with Israel to including sympathy for Palestinians and the need to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza (Read more at Irish Examiner).
Protesters chanted "Hands off the Middle East," "Free Palestine" and "Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city," demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the US ally (Business Standard).
“He absolutely hasn’t given up,” Mr Sullivan said in an interview with MSNBC hours before Mr Biden addressed the UN General Assembly for the last time as president. Mr Biden will huddle with world leaders gathered in New York to work on a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza (Read more at Straitstimes).
The White House national security communications adviser said, “It’s tough to get him to say yes to things that he’s already said he wants. It’s very, very difficult. But as the president said the other day, everything is unrealistic until all of a sudden it’s not anymore.” Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges against Sinwar, along with others in connection with the Oct. 7 attack (Read more at Politico).
The crash of the Palestinian banking system could bring down the Palestinian Authority, creating a power vacuum that could throw the West Bank into chaos and exacerbate the conflict in the region. Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist anti-Palestinian settler, has taken many steps over the last two years to weaken the Palestinian Authority as part of his ideology of annexing the West Bank (Read more at Axios).
The congresswoman’s statement about the publication of the cartoon “Tlaib Pager Hamas” came after many users on the social media platform X had condemned it as anti-Arab as well as Islamophobic. A statement from the Democratic US House representative also expressed concern that the cartoon by Henry Payne would “incite more hate and violence against Arab and Muslim communities” (Read more at Guardian).
US officials now believe that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza is unlikely before President Joe Biden leaves office in January, the Wall Street Journal reported. “I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters before the Wall Street Journal report was published. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90 percent of a ceasefire deal had been agreed upon (Read more at Aljazeera).
Some Arab American and Muslim voters angry at U.S. support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza are shunning Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race to back third-party candidate Jill Stein in numbers that could deny Harris victories in battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election (Read more at The News).
White House spokesperson John Kirby said the visit would be the first-ever by a president of the Gulf Arab country to Washington, adding that Vice President Kamala Harris would meet separately with the UAE leader. Discussions would also focus on climate, clean energy and UAE's role as a partner in the Group of Seven's global infrastructure partnership, Kirby told reporters (Read more at Gulf Today).
He is attempting to block over $20 billion in arms sales to Israel through a series of resolutions. Sanders said he has support for the proposal, which would halt the sale of missile systems, tank rounds, new fighter jets, and other weapons responsible for the destruction in Gaza (Read more at New Republic).
Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, questioned the Security Council’s effectiveness, asking, “Why has it been unable to stop this human tragedy, the worst of its kind to this day?” “Had the US not shielded one side time and again, multiple resolutions of this council would not have been flagrantly rejected and defied,” Shuang stated. He urged the US to “show a responsible attitude”, cease its passivity, and use its’ strategic influence to pressure Israel into ending its military operations immediately, as demanded by council resolutions months ago (Read more at Middle East Eye).
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "I don't have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal." Talks over months have so far failed to reach a deal to end war, now in its twelfth month, even after U.S. President Joe Biden in June publicly laid out a proposal that Israel had agreed to (Read more at Reuters).
For the last three months, the Biden administration has been caught between its interest in de-escalating the situation in the Middle East through a ceasefire deal in Gaza and an obstinate Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is not interested in bringing this unjust war to an end (Read more at Al Ahram).
Matt Nelson of Boston reportedly sets himself on fire outside Israeli consulate, becoming latest individual in US to self-immolate to protest Israel's genocidal war in Gaza being carried out with American weapons (Read more at TRTWorld).
He called on the Justice Department to initiate independent investigations into the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish American activist, by Israeli forces in the West Bank. He said, "By continuing to credulously accept the explanations of an extremist Israeli government whose stated goal is to annex the West Bank and push Palestinians off their land, the United States makes a mockery of its values." (Read more at Anadolu Agency)
The US vice president and Democratic nominee has failed to back Aysenur Eygi’s family’s call for an independent investigation. But she also urged “full accountability” for the killing. Israel’s preliminary investigation indicated it was the result of a tragic error for which the [Israeli military] is responsible (Read more at Aljazeera).
Last month, the art museum — founded by Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi — announced a policy prohibiting employees from wearing anything that expressed "political messages, slogans or symbols". The Museum said they violated its updated dress code by wearing keffiyeh head scarves, which have become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause (Read more at Khaleej Times).
A breakthrough could offer a major boost, a vaunted “October surprise”, to Biden’s heir Kamala Harris in the razor-thin race against Donald Trump for the White House. Polling shows that Harris has more to gain than lose from a tougher stand on Israel, while the reverse is true for Trump. The Biden administration is striving for another prize ahead of the November election: Israeli-Saudi normalisation. But calm in Gaza is a prerequisite (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The Israeli foreign ministry “sent a classified cable” to the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, and to all Israeli consulates in the U.S.” about South Africa’s ICJ case. Israeli diplomats “were instructed to ask members of Congress to issue public statements condemning South Africa’s actions against Israel and threaten that it could lead to suspending U.S. trade relations with South Africa.” (Read more at Palestine Chronicle)
US settlement proposal includes all the contentious points, foremost among them the Philadelphia Corridor between the Gaza Strip and Egyp. It also focused on the number of senior Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who will be released as part of the potential deal, rather than the total number of prisoners to be released (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia, reaching a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza and the tense situation in the Indo-Pacific are among the items on their agenda (Read more at Anadolu Agency).
Statements so far from the administration differ from remarks that follow killings of Israeli Americans. The State Department's immediate response drew the ire of Palestinian Americans, who accused the White House of treating the death of Israeli Americans with higher concern than other Americans killed by Israel (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The White House is reassessing its strategy for a hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal as President Biden's top aides deliberate whether there is a point in presenting a new proposal as Hamas and Israel both take tougher positions in negotiations, U.S. officials say. The murder of six hostages by Hamas, military control of the Philadelphi corridor, and the Hamas's new demand to release 100 more Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences for murdering Israelis caused significant pessimism at the White House. Officials feel Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar doesn't want a deal right now (Read more at Axios).
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head Friday while protesting in the Israeli-occupied town of Beita. Her family called on President Biden, Vice President Harris and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to order an investigation and “ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.” The IDF said in a statement that the incident is under review (Read more at New York Post).
They said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation (Read more at Business Standard).
"Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support," Trump said, speaking remotely to a crowd of more than 1,000 Republican Jewish Coalition donors in Las Vegas. In the United States, the federal government does not directly accredit universities but has a role in overseeing the mostly private organizations that give colleges accreditation (Read more at Reuters).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged both Israel and Hamas to finalize an agreement for a truce in Gaza. In an interview with US news channel Fox, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded less optimistic a deal would be reached soon and said, "It's not close." (Read more at Times of Oman).
The incident occurred during a regular protest march in Nablus that has witnessed repeated attacks by settlers. Fouad Nafaa, head of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, confirmed that the woman arrived at the hospital in critical condition with a severe head injury. “We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately she died,” Nafaa told Reuters (Read more at Media Line).
Walz's comments came in an interview with a local Michigan public radio station — a state with a large Muslim American population that is also a potentially pivotal swing state. The Democratic ticket looks to balance its support for Israel with the humanitarian plight of civilians (Read more at NewArab)
The Board, which operates independently but is funded by the US social media firm, said the phrase “From the river to the sea” has several meanings, and as such its use cannot in itself be deemed to be harmful, violent or discriminatory. Critics of the phrase say it is anti-Semitic and a call for Israel’s eradication (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Hamas' new demand to increase the number of Palestinian prisoners released as part of the deal raised even more concerns and questions among U.S. negotiators about whether an agreement is possible. U.S. officials said one of the main arguments made in the meeting was that after Hamas murdered the hostages, including an American, the U.S. shouldn't push for a proposal that gives Hamas additional concessions and instead focus on applying more pressure and accountability measures against Hamas (Read more at Axios).
U.S. prosecutors charged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and five other leading figures in the Palestinian militant group with offenses including terrorism over the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The indictment that was unsealed Tuesday marks the first step in the U.S. trying to hold Hamas accountable for the killing and kidnapping of hundreds of civilians, including U.S. citizens, but it's largely symbolic as Sinwar is believed to be hiding in Gaza and the DOJ notes in a statement that three of those charged are believed to be dead (Read more at Axios).
Kamala Harris' strong support for Israel as it continues its war in Gaza is fueling calls for a fresh round of protests at campaign stops, universities and public events in the weeks ahead, activists told Reuters, describing what they said was her failure to listen to pro-Palestinian voices. They plan to show up in force during Harris' debate against Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Sept. 10 (Read more at Arabnews).
at least 1.7 million Palestinians were crowded into a “safe zone” whose size is equivalent to just 70 percent of the total area of Washington’s Dulles International Airport. the US government has lobbied Israel on “several mitigating measures”, based on the assessment that Israel is “unlikely” to change its overall policy (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The problem that has been dogging any breakthrough is a lack of trust. This is largely because America cannot be a strong ally with Israel and at the same time an honest broker. Any proposal that leaves out an end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will ultimately be rejected. If the members of the UNSC are serious about wanting an end to the war, they can simply pass a resolution that details steps to this end and that does not include any vague wording about allowing the Israeli army to stay in Gaza (Read more at Arabnew).
At the University of South Florida, all activities which may feature signs, tents or amplified sound now require prior approval. Likewise, at the University of California, the university president ordered chancellors on all 10 campuses to ban student encampments and "overnight loitering". Using a mask to hide your identity or block walkways and university buildings is now also prohibited. New York University says identifies "Zionists" as hate speech and be subject to punitive action. At GWU, the mandatory orientation briefing for new enrollments included a briefing on what students could and could not say with regards to criticism of Israel on campus (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The United States has repeatedly voiced optimism for talks on reaching a truce proposed by President Joe Biden in the more than 10-month conflict, despite repeated differences voiced between Israel and Hamas. Kirby said that senior White House official Brett McGurk stayed in Cairo for an extra day to allow further talks at a lower level (Read more at Defense Post).
Constructive ambiguity is not a strategy. It is a mechanism to bypass awkward moments. The US markets a ceasefire deal without a ceasefire. Instead of an end to hostilities by all sides, it simply proposes a hostage-prisoner exchange during a pause in Israeli bombardment (Read more at Arabnews).
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Hamas to accept a “bridging proposal” put forward by the US that appears to differ from a previous proposal adopted by the UNSC and agreed to by the Palestinian group (Read more at Aljazeera).
Disappointed Pro-Palestinian activists said Kamala Harris' speech to close the Democratic convention in Chicago failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo, after a week in which the most divisive issue facing the party was mostly ignored (Read more at USNews).
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said in her Democratic National Convention speech: "I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself," Harris said while adding "what has happened in Gaza is devastating", and "heartbreaking." (Read more at USNews)
During their call, Biden asked for Israeli forces to be pulled out from a 1- to 2-kilometer strip along the Egypt-Gaza border during the first phase of the Gaza deal so negotiations on the deal can move forward. The Israeli officials said Netanyahu partially accepted Biden's request and agreed to give up one Israeli position along the border. Netanyahu's partial agreement resulted in the U.S. supporting the Israeli position that other IDF forces remain along the Philadelphi corridor in the first phase of the deal (Read more at Axios).
He sought to inject urgency into efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire deal and said “the United States does not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel ... the agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that." The US official said even if Hamas were to agree on the bridging proposal immediately, there would have to be additional conversations to iron out details on implementation of the deal (Read morea t Euractiv).
Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the vice president is “working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza”. Soon afterwards, fellow Squad member Ilhan Omar of Minnesota ripped into Ocasio-Cortez (Read more at TRTWorld).
The crowd turned its frustration toward Vice President Kamala Harris, referring to the Democratic candidate as "Killer Kamala". The DNC's security team confirmed that protesters breached a portion of the fencing on the outer perimeter near the convention arena but said law enforcement personnel acted quickly and there was no threat to attendees (Read more at Business Standard).
Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan criticised United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an updated proposal. The senior Hamas said that it “raises many ambiguities” because it is “not what was presented to us nor what we agreed on.” (Read more at HumEnglish)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his ninth visit to the Middle East since thw war on Gaza said in Israel warned against any moves that could heighten regional tensions, following threats from Iran and Lebanese group Hezbollah to avenge the recent Israeli assassinations of two leaders (Read more at AlAhram).
If the party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, does not change her policy on Israel, I will not be casting a ballot for her and I will not be the only one. More than 700,000 Americans have cast an “uncommitted” vote in the Democratic primaries (Read more at Aljazeera).
From the 40 students arrested or disciplined when the university called upon police to the campus on April 18, only two remain suspended. Moreover, from the over 80 students arrested between April 29 and May 1, only five now face interim suspension without access to the campus (Read more at YahooNews).
Blinken’s agenda includes four steps – getting an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, getting Hamas to release all remaining Israeli captives, trying to bring in badly needed humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza and, finally, trying to establish the conditions for a broader regional peace. Pundits here in the US and in the Middle East consider the latter as a bid to prevent an Iranian attack on Israel for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the former political chief of Hamas (Read more at Aljazeera).
The group blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for moving the goalposts and the U.S. for indulging him. The rejection makes President Biden's goal of getting a deal this week almost impossible (Read more at Axios).
A senior U.S. official said that unlike past rounds of talks, the Israeli team was "empowered" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate in real-time with more autonomy (Read more at Axios).
"It was consensus of all of the participants over the past 48 hours that there's really a new spirit here to drive it to a conclusion. The Israeli team that was here was empowered...We made a lot of progress in the number of issues that we've been working on," an official said (Read more at Reuters).
He said that the deal is now in sight, but he warned that it was "far from over." "There's a couple more issues. I think we've got a shot," he added, without elaborating (Read more at USNews).
Since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election, some Black Americans – who previously opposed President Joe Biden – have changed their minds about not voting for the Democratic party (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said "Israel's fundamental principles are well known to the mediators and the U.S., and Israel hopes that their pressure will lead Hamas to accept the principles of May 27, so that the details of the agreement can be implemented." A Hamas source told al-Jazeera the group was briefed by the mediators about Thursday's talks and said what is being presented now doesn't coincide with what Hamas accepted on July 2 (Read more at Axios).
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel, said the U.S. fully expects talks to continue and it would continue to work with the parties involved, adding that agreement was still possible (Read more at YahooNews).
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has demanded that Gaza ceasefire mediators present a plan to implement a proposal supported by US President Joe Biden that it had agreed upon on July 2 (Read more at TRTWorld).
The Gaza Civil Emergency Service, which has a credible record stating casualty numbers, said about 100 people were killed in Saturday's strike. Israel said around 20 militants had been operating at the compound. "Yet again, far too many civilians have been killed," Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris told reporters. "We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm," the White House said (Read more at USNews).
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that Smotrich's claims that a ceasefire deal would be a surrender to Hamas or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners are "dead wrong," and said the minister was misleading the Israeli public (Read more at Reuters).
The Biden administration is clinging to the stubbornly elusive goal of a cease-fire deal to end the fighting in Gaza. It has important effects on other areas where you could see conflict — whether it’s in the north of Israel and Lebanon, whether it’s Iran, whether it’s in the Red Sea with the Houthis. Israel in particular decided that the only way to eventually calm Gaza is through more fighting now. You have a situation where each of the parties believes that in order to deter the other, they have to climb the ladder (Read more at Politico).
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army admitted that its soldiers were responsible for the bombing of the water reservoir in Tal al-Sultan. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, an investigation into the incident has been initiated. Also, fuel restrictions imposed by Israel have further hindered the operation of remaining desalination facilities in the region (Read more at Anadolu Agency).
“They are all lying and playing for time, pretending that we are close to an agreement to stop the war ... we no longer trust or believe American officials, especially the CIA director currently in the region,” Hamas official Mahmoud Taha said on Friday (Read more at The National).
Bad weather and distribution challenges inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the U.S. military says was its biggest aid delivery effort ever in the Middle East. The pier was only operational for about 20 days. "The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete. So there's no more need to use the pier ... the temporary pier has achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza," Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told a news briefing (Read more at USNews).
Hamas said it was ready to engage “positively and in a constructive manner” with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces, the reconstruction of Gaza, a return of those displaced, and a “genuine” prisoner swap deal if Israel “clearly announces commitment to such deal” (Read more at Irish Times).
“There’s a major contradiction here and the fact that both the US and the Israeli side have said on the one hand, that they don’t want a future in Gaza in which Hamas has any kind of political role left. “At the same time, this is an agreement that would have to be reached through negotiations with Hamas, so, how do you do that? How do you eliminate them as a political force and at the same time reach a negotiated solution that is agreed upon by all parties?” (Read more at Aljazeera)
The first phase would last for six weeks and would include a “full and complete ceasefire,” a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. 600 trucks would be allowed into Gaza each day. The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. The third phase calls for the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza (Read more at Euronews).
When it comes to red lines, the US has one rule for its enemies and another for its allies and clients. One of the most infamous historical examples of red lines was seen in the lead up to the 2003 US-led invasion and another example of red lines came with former US President Barack Obama’s warning to the Assad regime against use of chemical weapons in Syria. Needless to say, Israel was true to its word in ignoring Biden’s feeble and non-credible red line warning as it launched a major military operation on Rafah (Read more at TRT World).
Nikki Haley, former United States Republican presidential candidate, visited Israel's which was organised by a right-wing member of the Israeli Parliament, Danny Danon. The message drew fury on social media (Read more at GEO).
National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters: "We still don't believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is warranted. US President Joe Biden earlier said Washington would not continue providing aid to Israel if it moved forward with a long-threatened invasion of Rafah, but his “red line” has become increasingly blurry amid the continuing military operations there. Israeli troops are now estimated to occupy 60 per cent of the city, including the hill that overlooks the border with Egypt, according to the BBC (Read more at The National).
Under U.S. pressure, the Egyptian government agreed to resume the flow of aid trucks to Gaza through Israel, after deliveries were halted two weeks ago in protest of Israel's takeover of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. Senior U.S. officials were also involved in the talks and pressured Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to find a solution that would allow the reactivation of the Rafah crossing as soon as possible. The main goal of the plan was to remove Hamas from involvement in the Rafah crossing (Read more at Axios).
His remarks referred specifically to a case at a different tribunal, the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ). He also amped up his criticism of the ICC, a separate war crimes court, saying that “we reject” ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s bid to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its defense minister (Read more at Arabnews).
Pier estimated to cost $320m, involve 1,000 US troops. UN reiterates land crossings more 'efficient'. The temporary floating pier was pre-assembled at the Israeli port of Ashdod and moved into place on Thursday on the shore of Gaza, which lacks port infrastructure of its own. No U.S. troops went ashore, the Pentagon's Central Command said (Read more at Reuters).
The White House sees a hostage deal as the only viable path to a ceasefire in Gaza, and possibly ending a war. Hamas has claimed it left the hostage talks last week because of the Israeli military's operation at the Rafah crossing (Read more at Axios).
The group was set up on 12 October, days after Hamas's surprise attack on southern Israel, to "change the narrative" on Israel, including by conveying "the atrocities committed by Hamas... to all Americans". Among the business leaders in the group were the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, Dell CEO and founder Michael Dell, and Joshua Kushner, a financier and brother to Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. They urged New York City's mayor to use police to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Sullivan said the United States wants to see Hamas defeated. He also said that Palestinians caught in the middle of the war. Biden has sought to influence Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to the war, but Israel is a sovereign, democratic nation that ultimately makes its own decisions, Sullivan said (Read more at Reuters).
(Reuters) - A group of Harvard students said on Tuesday they would peacefully end a pro-Palestinian protest encampment after the university agreed to discuss its endowment with the protesters and begin reconsidering involuntary leaves it imposed on some (Read more at USNews).
The revelation from US intelligence could challenge Israel's justification for large-scale military operations in the city. However, Israeli officials have been compelled to engage in indirect negotiations with Sinwar, particularly regarding the release of captives. Sinwar's role as a negotiator is pivotal, as Hamas negotiators must obtain his approval before making concessions, according to some officials (Read more at Al-Ahram).
It is a strategic maneuver aimed at consolidating US and Israeli control over land and sea. Once the goods are offloaded at the pier, they still need to be transported across Gaza to reach the populations in need. The Netzarim Corridor’s checkpoints, also known as Route 749, could become bottlenecks for these deliveries (Read more at The Cradle).
Hamas said on Friday it would consult with other militant Palestinian factions on its strategy to negotiate a halt to the war triggered by its Oct. 7 onslaught into Israel. "We are working hard to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion, if only virtually," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said (Read more at USNews).
United States is studying Hamas's response to a ceasefire proposal and will discuss it with allies in the Middle East in the coming hours, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. CIA director Bill Burns is in the region "working on this in real time," Miller said (Read more at Reuters).
Analysts say expelling Hamas leaders from Qatar will not help Israel because the Hamas leadership in Gaza is making the decisions over a possible ceasefire. Doha has hosted Hamas’ political leadership at the US’ request since 2012 and provided billions in cash to the Hamas authorities in recent years with the approval of the US and Israel (Read more at The Cradle).
The Israel Defense Forces recently told the U.S. government and aid groups that they had developed a plan to move people out of Rafah, the main to al-Mawasi, a small strip of land on the southern Gaza coast. The IDF has begun ordering tents for al-Mawasi (Read more at Politico).
However, the aid was ultimately recovered and returned to the organization responsible for its distribution. Describing the incident as the "first widespread case of hijacking seen" in Gaza, U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller indicated that Hamas held the aid trucks for a period before eventually releasing them (Read more at I24).
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday he did not see any indication Hamas was planning any attack on U.S. troops in Gaza but added adequate measures were being put in place for the safety of military personnel (Read more at USNews).
However, Israeli warns that the army will keep fighting the Palestinian militant group after any ceasefire. "Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done," Blinken said. Hamas's aim remains an "end to this war", said senior Hamas official Suhail al-Hindi (Read more at France 24).
First it is not violent. The takeover of the respective halls comes in the footsteps of students from previous generations at both Columbia and Princeton who opposed the Vietnam War or the apartheid regime in South Africa. Second Jewish students have not been harassed. Third, whereas some students have remained steadfast to the demands of disclosure and divestment, others have been open to various compromises (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The cost estimate for constructing the pier has surged to $320 million, a substantial increase from earlier projections (Read more at I24).
Comparisons are being made to the 1968 anti-Vietnam War protests and the role they played in costing Democrats the presidency. Through it all, the Biden White House has demonstrated only limited concern, apparently convinced that they’ll weather this storm. Should the war continue, many young voters will be hard-pressed to vote for Mr Biden. They won’t vote for Mr Trump. Most likely they’ll either vote for a third party or not at all (Read more at The National).
More than 13,080 meal equivalents of Jordanian food supplies were delivered, while the US provided over 25,000 Meals Ready to Eat. According to CENTCOM's estimates, the US has airdropped approximately 1,110 tons of humanitarian assistance into Gaza thus far (Read more at Breaking the News).
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Sunday sought to play down warnings, telling US media that Israel has “agreed to listen to US concerns” before moving into Gaza's last enclave of relative respite (Read more at The National).
One of the two hostages Keith Siegel said, "We are in danger here. There are explosions. It's stressful and frightening, and it's been going on for a very long time ..." Both men urge the Israeli government to "reach a deal" to free the hostages (Read more at NPR).
US thinker, anti-racism activist and potential US presidential candidate Cornel West has appeared at university student demonstrations against the Israeli (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken's support for Israel's genocide has angered many officials and diplomats in the State Department. Hala Rharrit, the Arabic-language spokeswoman for the US State Department, has resigned in protest against White House support for Israel’s war on Gaza (Read more at The Cradle).
Between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinians have crossed into Egypt from Gaza since the start of the war triggered by the Hamas. More humanitarian aid could reach northern Gaza via the floating pier, including if an Israeli ground offensive disrupts deliveries in the south (Read more at France24).
Columbia University canceled in-person classes and police arrested dozens of students at New York University and Yale. dozens of protesters were arrested at Yale and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public on Monday as some of the most prestigious US universities sought to diffuse campus tensions over Israel’s war with Hamas (Read more at Arabnews).
The U.S. was the only nation in the 15-member U.N. Security Council to vote against the resolution. Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan expressed disappointment at the number of countries that have supported the Palestinian request. “Regardless of the Palestinians’ failure to meet the necessary criteria for UN membership, most of you sadly decided to reward Palestinian terror with a Palestinian State.” (Read more at The Time).
A New York city academic explains why despite this setback, he'll keep advocating for Palestinians and other oppressed people across the world (Read more at TRTWorld).
The #BDS movement is witnessing a resurgence after many TikTok users urged their followers to boycott major brands due to their direct involvement in supporting Israeli forces. As TikTok has explained, there is a lot of pro Palestine content on its platform because their user base is broadly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause (Read more at NewArab).
Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton believes “The fact that Iran has not yet been held to account for any of it, suggests that we’re still in the very early stages of the war ... This is not a Gaza versus Israel war, or a Palestinian versus Israel war, or an Arab versus Israel war. This is an Iranian war against Israel, fought through terrorist proxies.” (Read more at CNBC).
In 1918, the United States and its allies sought a German surrender that would neutralize its war-making capabilities without having to transform its state and society. A true solution to what contemporaries called the “German question” came only after World War II, when America and its allies demanded unconditional surrender from Hitler, occupied Germany and de-Nazified its institutions (Read more at NewYork Post).
Secretary Blinken emphasized that a revitalised PA is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza. Since the war broke out in October, the United States has been pressing for the Palestinian Authority to root out corruption and bring in new faces in hopes that the PA, which has limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank, can take charge of Gaza as well should Hamas stop governing the Gaza Strip (Read more at NewArab).
Tim Walberg, a Republican representative from Michigan, which has a sizeable Arab community, was recorded making the comments during a meeting with his constituents. Walberg later released a statement backtracking on his remarks but did not apologise. He said his call for Gaza to be nuked was a "metaphor" to stress the need for Israel to win its war "as swiftly as possible (Read more at NewArab).
However, hours after Biden's Friday statement, the Washington Post reported that his government had signed off on additional bombs and warplanes for Israel in recent days worth billions of dollars. Biden also said Arab Americans have been a target of hate crimes while noting the fatal October stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian American in Illinois, the November shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont, and the February stabbing of a Palestinian American man in Texas (Read more at USNews).
19 senators encourage Joe Biden to 'publicly outline a path' for US to recognize 'nonmilitarized' Palestinian state. The senators said they have been "particularly disappointed" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to engage on a path to a Palestinian state (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
That proposal would see Israeli forces working to curb Hamas militants’ ability to smuggle weapons into Rafah, choking off their capacity to wage further war against Israel. It’s unclear for how long Israel would stay on the border along the eight-mile stretch. Egypt have lobbied Washington to urge Israel not to invade Rafah. They worry the operation would push Gazans, including Hamas militants to flee across the border into Sinai (Read more at Politico).
Jared Kushner, former US President Donald Trump's son-in-law suggested that Israel should remove Palestinian civilians from Gaza while it "cleans up" the territory. This sheds light on potential future implications for Gaza under a Trump presidency amidst Israel's ongoing conflict (Read more at Jordannews).
A day after UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini publicly complained that Israel blocked him, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel, defended the need for him and his staff to visit Gaza. Senator Chris Van Hollen, in a CBS News interview Sunday, said that Israeli charges that UNRWA is a proxy for Hamas were "flat-out lies" aimed at getting rid of the agency (Read more at Barron's).
He will visit the Middle East this week and meet senior leaders in Saudia Arabia and Egypt to "discuss the right architecture for lasting regional peace". "We've also impressed upon Israel the imperative of having a plan for Gaza for when the conflict ends, which we hope will be as soon as possible, consistent with Israel's needs to defend itself and make sure Oct. 7 can never happen again," Blinken added (Read more at USNews).
The first case, Defense for Children International – Palestine v Biden, alleged that Biden Administration, has “actively abetted” Israel to commit genocide. The case was dismissed. In another case, US District Judge in Amarillo, Texas rejected the Biden administration’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit, that alleges Biden Administration put US visitors to Israel under increased risk of harm by providing economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza (Read more at Aljazeera).
The Sinn Fein leader, who was in Washington for a St Patrick's Day reception, says we're at a tipping point and big decisions now need to be made by the United States. Ceasefire now has to be the absolute priority (Read more at Skynews).
This sea route will be the first passage in or out of Gaza in more than 75 years not controlled by either Israel or Egypt. That also opens a window of opportunity for establishing links with an EU member state and, potentially, trade ties with the rest of this powerful economic and political union. It is a clear sign that the Biden administration is recognizing and internalizing the need to take a different approach to the war (Read more at Arabnews).
Questions include who will provide security for the US soldiers erecting the pier, who will distribute the aid, and whether building the pier is necessary. Some US officials say it is redundant, as Morocco has opened a land corridor to deliver aid by truck. It is also unclear how the causeway will be anchored to the shore, as US soldiers will be forbidden from setting foot on Gazan soil (Read more at The Cradle).
“Mahmoud Abbas doesn’t tolerate succession planning,” the former official, who has met with Abbas said. “He believes in perpetual resurrection.” A poll late last year showed 90 percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign. The reason the US doesn't know who will succeed Abu Mazen is because Abu Mazen doesn't know (Read more at Middle East Eye).
"The president was very clear that the US would continue to support Israel and to assist Israel to defend itself, so I don't think that's going to change," Varadkar said after their Oval Office meeting. "But I think none of us like to see American weapons being used in the way they are. The way they're being used at the moment is not self-defense." (Read more at NewArab)
He said, "I can tell you is we're working intensively with Israel, with Qatar, with Egypt, to bridge the remaining gaps and to try to reach an agreement". When asked about a possible Israel military offensive on Rafah, Blinken said the US had not seen such plans, reiterating that Washington wants a "clear and implementable plan" to ensure civilians are "out of harm's way". (Read more at Barron's)
The CFO of McDonald’s announced that the boycott’s impact on sales in the arab region and the Islamic world. McDonald's shares plummeted by over 3 percent, heading towards recording its biggest daily loss in five weeks (Read more at Jordannews).