Hamas…Israel Conflict Day 316…No DEAL….

Sec of State thought he had a ‘Deal’ with Israel and Hamas….

He did NOT….

Rumors of Trump talking to Netanyahu on the phone askingb that there NOT be a settlement for Biden to have?…

The slugging goes on….

 

• President Biden discussed a possible cease-fire in Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the White House said on Wednesday. Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call. Mr. Biden stressed to the Israeli prime minister the urgency of bringing the cease-fire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles, according to a White House statement. Mr. Netanyahu’s office didn’t immediately comment on the call, but the Israeli prime minister has insisted that his country’s soldiers continue to patrol part of an area of Gaza along the border with Egypt. Hamas and Egypt have rejected that demand.

• An Israeli airstrike hit a school turned shelter in Gaza City, killing at least two people, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense emergency services. Israel’s military said it had conducted a “precise strike” Wednesday that hit Hamas militants operating a command and control center from inside the Salah al-Din school. Tens of thousands of people displaced by Israeli bombardment have sought shelter in schools. Israel has stepped up strikes on such facilities in recent weeks, accusing Hamas of operating inside them. The result has often been a high civilian death toll, according to Gazan medics. The civil defense forces said Wednesday’s strike also wounded 15 people, 10 of them children.

• The Israeli military again ordered Palestinians to “immediately” leave parts of Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, on Wednesday, saying that it would act “forcefully” against militants in the area. More than 150,000 displaced people have been living in the areas subject to the new evacuation orders, according to the United Nations. Nearly a dozen such orders issued just this month by the Israeli military have so far affected an estimated 250,000 people and further disrupted the already limited access to water in the enclave, as well as the movement of aid, the U.N. said. The latest orders have raised expectations of a new Israeli advance in central Gaza, where Civil Defense said airstrikes had killed at least 28 people since Tuesday. In a statement, the Gaza Health Ministry said that Israeli military operations were approaching the vicinity of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah. The Israeli military said it had been “made clear” to hospitals that they did not need to evacuate, but did not respond to questions about which hospitals this was communicated to and how.

• Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that more than 150 tunnels had been demolished along the Egypt-Gaza border area, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and that Hamas’s Rafah Brigade had been defeated. He said the Israeli military was ”looking to the north now,” indicating that it was starting to wrap up a three-month offensive in southern Gaza. The push was widely criticized by the International Court of Justice and othersas leaving Gazans without a safe place to shelter during the war and cutting off one of the main aid routes into Gaza. Hamas to did not immediately respond to Mr. Gallant’s claims.

• A merchant ship in the Red Sea was on fire and drifting on Wednesday west of the Yemeni port of Hudaydah after its crew exchanged fire with men on two small boats and the ship was then hit by an “unknown projectile,” Britain’s maritime tradeoperation said. The vessel is a Greek-flagged oil tanker, The Associated Press reported. Since late last year, the Houthi militia, which is backed by Iran, has staged a series of missile and other attacks from bases in Yemen against commercial ships in the Red Sea, claiming to be attacking in support of Gaza. The attacks have disrupted a vital global shipping route….

More…

Iran Update, August 21, 2024

Aug 21, 2024 – ISW Press