Kamala Harris and Joe Biden now ‘desperate’ for ceasefire deal in Gaza: Analyst
Rami Khouri, a distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, told Al Jazeera that the new effort by mediators to lock in a ceasefire deal is very significant, and also crucial for US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It’s significant because you’ve had all three heads of state send this together to the two parties – Hamas and Netanyahu. And basically ordering them to get their act on the road and meet by next Thursday, August 15,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.
“I also think the timing is unbelievably significant. Why the 15th? I think it’s because the two most desperate people in the world now for a ceasefire – other than the Palestinians – are Kamala Harris and ‘Genocide Joe’ Biden, as he is well-known in the US now,” Khouri said.
“They are desperate to have this ceasefire happen … because the Democratic Party convention starts in Chicago on the 18th and 19th up to the 22nd. They have to produce a Democratic Party platform which will shape Kamala Harris’s campaign and which will also define Joe Biden’s legacy, and possibly get that ‘genocide’ preface out of his name,” he said.
They may be desperate, but are they willing to bring the sanctions to force Netanyahu into a deal. I doubt it. Plus it's still going to be genocide Joe, not ceasefire Joe. Too late.
But it would help Kamela Harris as the uncommitted campaign has switched to never Harris. So far her only retort to the anti genocide protestors has been:
“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that.”
The American media may love that response, but she's not winning any Muslim voters over with that kind of attitude. The US political system sucks.
US CENTCOM head meets Israeli military chief
Michael Kurilla, the head of the US army’s Central Command, is back in Israel for the second time this week.
Kurilla, who landed in Israel yesterday, met Herzi Halevi, the Israel military’s chief of the general staff, for a “situational assessment” on regional security, as well as Tomer Bar, a commanding officer with the Israeli air force, the Israeli army said in a post on X.
The Israeli military will “continue to deepen its relationship with the US Armed Forces out of commitment to strengthening regional stability and coordination between the two militaries,” the post added.
Iran stocks up with highly explosive cruise missiles: Report
Iran’s navy has acquired undetectable cruise missiles that have highly explosive warheads, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says. The missiles, Tasnim said, “can cause extensive damage and sink their targets”.
Besides the cruise missiles, Iran’s navy has also added a range of new combat and reconnaissance drones, electronic warfare systems and naval radar, it said. The military build-up comes as Iran continues to threaten retaliation for the July 31 assassination of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
