A effort to get the Israeli held hostages by Hamas and stop the fighting for a period of time….
This is a effort by President Biden who is dealing with a Israel leader and group that seems to NOT want to stop the fighting to get hostages freed…
America’s Congress is still focused on internal political gamesmanship for the 2024 Election….
It is influenced by ex-American President Donald Trump, who is NOT into World Affairs….
The US military continues to trade shots with the Iran backed Houthi in Yemen….
In a twist?
The US fore-warned Iran of the ISIS attack that took the lives of 84 and wounded more this month…(Pure Biden)
The ‘Deal’ progress…..
American-led negotiators are edging closer to an agreement in which Israel would suspend its war in Gaza for about two months in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas, a deal that could be sealed in the next two weeks and would transform the conflict consuming the region.
Negotiators have developed a written draft agreement merging proposals offered by Israel and Hamas in the last 10 days into a basic framework that will be the subject of talks in Paris on Sunday. While there are still important disagreements to be worked out, negotiators are cautiously optimistic that a final accord is within reach, according to U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive talks.
President Biden spoke by phone separately Friday with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, who have served as intermediaries with Hamas, to narrow the remaining differences. He is also sending his C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, to Paris for Sunday’s talks with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials. If Mr. Burns makes enough progress, Mr. Biden may then send his Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, who just returned to Washington, back to the region to help finalize the agreement.
“Both leaders affirmed that a hostage deal is central to establishing a prolonged humanitarian pause in the fighting and ensure additional lifesaving humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in need throughout Gaza,” the White House said in a statement Friday night summarizing the president’s conversation with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister. “…
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Here’s what we know:
The number of countries that said they would temporarily stop sending money to UNRWA is growing after the agency said it had fired employees accused by Israel of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.
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The chief of the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians issues a dire warning.
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U.S. says it has destroyed another anti-ship missile in Houthi territory.
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Allegations against the U.N. aid agency follow decades of friction with Israel.
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Suspension of funds hits as Gaza is struggling with vast hunger.
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Israel says it is advancing in Khan Younis, a day after the top U.N. court declined to order an end to the war….
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US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the United States struck a Houthi anti-ship missile that was prepared to launch and presented an imminent threat to commercial vessels and US Navy ships in the Red Sea on January 27. Houthi-controlled outlet al Masirah claimed on January 27 that the United States and United Kingdom conducted two airstrikes targeting Ras Issa, which is Yemen’s main oil export terminal. It is unclear whether the CENTCOM announcement and al Masirah claim are referring to the same incident. The US strike follows the Houthis’ anti-ship missile attack targeting the British-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged commercial oil tanker Marlin Luanda on January 26. The attack caused a 19-hour fire at one of the vessel’s tanks, making it the “most damaging” Houthi attack since the Houthis started their attack campaign targeting international shipping in October 2023.