Withdraw some troops from parts of Gaza? Israel agrees to withdraw troops from Gaza – Blinken
Israel has agreed to withdraw its troops from parts of Gaza as part of ongoing attempts to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, following the latest round of negotiations in Qatar.
Speaking to reporters in Doha, Blinken was asked to comment on earlier reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convinced Washington to allow Israel to keep its forces in the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza.
While he did not share any specific details about the ongoing talks, which are being mediated by the US, Egypt, and Qatar, the secretary of state said that “the United States does not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel,” and that the current agreement being discussed is “very clear on the schedule and the locations of (Israel Defense Forces) withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that.”
Blinken added that the latest proposal is “probably the best, possibly the last opportunity” to reach a ceasefire deal in the ten-month conflict, and said that Washington will do “everything possible to get it across the finish line.” https://www.rt.com/news/602914-blinken-israel-gaza-withdrawal/Lapid demands deal on Israeli captives ‘before they all die’ in Gaza
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has renewed his call for an agreement for a Gaza truce and the release of captives in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Lapid expressed concern in a Tuesday posting on X, stating that more captives are being lost as time passes.
He also pointed the finger at Benjamin Netanyahu. Lapid censured the rhetoric employed by Netanyahu and his ministers, saying they were sabotaging prospects of any deal. “Enough with the briefings, enough with the tweets, enough with the rhymes in front of cameras,” he wrote on X. “All of Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop. Deal now, before they all die.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military announced the recovery of the bodies of six captives who had been held since October 7, 2023.
The newspaper Israel Hayom reported that Israel was conducting examinations on the bodies of the six to determine if they were possibly killed by Israeli fire. https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/08/20/731745/%C2%A0Lapid-IsraelClashes erupt as Orthodox Jews protest military draft (VIDEO) [The police have this down to a physical science, and clearly lift weights, too.]
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in late June that there was no legal ground for conscription exemptions for the religious community https://www.rt.com/news/602888-jerusalem-orthodox-clashes-police-draft/Iran can strike Israel from both air and ground — mission to UN (Only those two? Aren’t there more options?)
“The timing, conditions, and manner of Iran’s response will be meticulously orchestrated to ensure that it occurs at a moment of maximum surprise; perhaps when their (Israel’s – TASS) eyes are fixed on the skies and their radar screens, they will be taken by surprise from the ground – or perhaps even by a combination of both,” the mission told The Wall Street Journal.
At the same time, the Iranian mission pointed out that Tehran does not intend to disrupt negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is conducting a military operation against Hamas. The Iranian diplomats said that the response “must be carefully calibrated to avoid any possible adverse impact that could potentially influence a prospective ceasefire.” https://tass.com/world/1831871Suezmax Tanker Crew Forced To Abandon Ship After Missile Attack In Red Sea https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/suezmax-tanker-crew-forced-abandon-ship-after-missile-attack-red-sea
