Its been a whole Month….
The American President has been unsuccessful in getting the Israel Prime Minister to show some regard for the thousand of deaths and destruction in the messy Israeli occupation of North Gaza….
Protests continue in America and around the world against the Israeli attacks….
Talk of hostage releases for some cease fire time?
Here’s what we know:
The episode highlights the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war.
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Houthi rebels shot down a U.S. drone off Yemen, the Pentagon says.
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Hamas is discussing the possible release of a few hostages in exchange for a brief pause in fighting, officials say.
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The White House condemns Rashida Tlaib’s embrace of the ‘River to the Sea’ slogan.
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Blinken says Gaza and the West Bank must be ‘unified’ under Palestinian Authority.
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A Biden aide said any cease-fire would ‘legitimize’ Hamas.
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Brazil accuses 2 of plotting attacks for Hezbollah.
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As Israel pushes into northern Gaza, thousands of people make the risky trek south.
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G7 ministers call for ‘humanitarian pauses,’ putting pressure on Israel…..
President Biden IS TRYING to set up a solution to the end of the conflict that would please the Palestainas and other Arab counties….
So Far?
The Israeli’s aren’t listening it would seem….
And the Biden offer isn’t even something those in Gaza want it seems….
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Wednesday that Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority once the war is over, offering a strong signal about what the United States sees as its preferred endgame in the fight between Israel and Hamas.
The message, delivered during a meeting of foreign ministers in Tokyo, came as President Biden feels growing pressure to use his leverage to push for sustainable, long-term goals in the region and minimize civilian casualties. But increasingly, the United States and Israel are showing signs that their interests are diverging.
The remarks by Mr. Blinken on Wednesday reflect a deep anxiety on the part of Mr. Biden and his aides inside the White House as the conflict enters its second month. What started in the days after Oct. 7 as an unambiguous rush to the defense of an ally has become a much more complicated diplomatic challenge for the president to help define an alternative to open-ended war in the Middle East.
Mr. Biden wields key leverage as a world leader strongly allied with Israel, and his administration has sought to rally Arab nations and others behind a vision that looks beyond the fighting and the deep emotions that have divided the region for years.
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Mr. Blinken offered no details about how such an arrangement might be implemented; it would not be a solution in the near term as the violence continues. But restoring the Palestinian Authority — which administers parts of the West Bank — to power in Gaza would not be easy even if Israel managed to end Hamas’s rule. Its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is deeply unpopular. Many Palestinians view him as corrupt and say his attempts to win independence through peace talks have failed….
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Veterans of the often contentious diplomacy between the leaders of Israel and the United States said the willingness of the president and the secretary of state to be critical of Israel in public is a response to that dissatisfaction with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“The U.S. is increasingly unhappy and frustrated, perhaps even annoyed,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Middle East peace negotiator…..
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Hamas is talking about hostage releases for a pause in the Israel attacks…
Discussions are underway for Hamas to release a small number of hostages, including some Americans, in return for a short pause in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to officials briefed on the discussions.
Under the terms being negotiated, Hamas would release up to 15 hostages and Israel would pause attacks on Gaza for three days, which would allow time for humanitarian aid to be shipped into the enclave and hostages to be transported out, according to one person briefed on the discussions.
Other officials confirmed the outlines of a deal but declined to discuss the specific numbers of hostages being discussed. Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip and staged the surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and other Palestinian groups are believed to be holding more than 240 hostages.
William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, has been helping facilitate the talks, according to U.S. officials. Mr. Burns is currently visiting countries in the Persian Gulf and is expected to continue his work on the hostage issue, according to the people briefed on the hostage negotiations.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, declined to discuss the negotiations but said there had been a couple of humanitarian pauses that allowed people, including hostages, to leave Gaza.
“This is not a new idea, but it is something that we believe should continue to be pursued,” Mr. Kirby said.
The new proposal would free Israeli female civilians and children, and people from other countries, including Americans, taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 when the group attacked Israel. It is not clear how many Americans might be released….
image….Sec of State exiting a US Air Force B-757 during ‘old fashion shuttle diplomocy’ in the Middle East….
Kim Hung-Ji-Reuter