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Trust in Israeli gov’t almost non-existent: Ex-Egyptian diplomat
Hussein Haridy, a former Egyptian assistant foreign minister, says he expects the deadly Israeli attack on the Gaza school earlier today to affect the talks that the mediating countries have proposed to take place on August 15 either in Cairo or Doha.
Speaking on a personal capacity, he told Al Jazeera that his “trust and confidence in the Israeli government is almost non-existent”, further noting that it was unclear what level of authority the delegation that Israel was planning to send to the negotiations would have.
“Is this delegation empowered to sign the deal proposed by the mediators, as their communique stated, or [is Israel] just sending a delegation to just listen to what the mediators have to say?” Haridy asked.
Netanyahu has shown ‘relentless insistence’ that war will continue
Former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy told Al Jazeera that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has shown “relentless insistence” that the war will continue whether there is a ceasefire deal or not.
He said that Netanyahu is “putting down conditions across many issues, whether it’s the refusal on where Israel would withdraw from” or where Palestinians can move in Gaza.
He said he has also been placing conditions on “what kind of Palestinian prisoners are often being held without trial” in Israeli military courts” and what the conditions on those releases will be”.
“I can literally fill a day with Israeli named and unnamed military officials and commentators telling us that Netanyahu does not want a deal and therefore the onus shifts to the country [the US] that has the leverage right now with Israel” Levy said.
Houthis say new ceasefire proposal ‘provides political cover’ for Israel
The political office of Houthis, or Ansar Allah, in Yemen condemned the “new Zionist massacre” on the school in the Daraj neighbourhood of northern Gaza.
It says in a statement that the new proposal by the US, Qatar and Egypt as mediators for Israel and Hamas to negotiate once again for a ceasefire agreement “provides the leaders of the Israeli enemy entity with political cover” for more military action across the region.
“We renew our covenant and loyalty with Palestine, its people and its resistance, that Yemen continues in its solidarity and popular support and in the military escalation,” the group’s political office said.
