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SvennoJ on 25 August 2024
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Hamas says it stressed permanent ceasefire in Cairo talks

The Palestinian group has spoken about the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in the Egyptian capital. Here is a translated summary of what it said:

  • The movement’s negotiating delegation left Cairo after meeting with mediators in Egypt and Qatar and listening to the results of the last round of negotiations.
  • The movement’s delegation demanded that the occupation be bound by what was agreed upon on July 2, in accordance with a plan laid out by US President Joe Biden and a UN Security Council resolution.
  • Hamas confirmed its readiness to implement what has been agreed upon to achieve the interests of Palestinians and stop the aggression against them.
  • In Cairo, it stressed the need for any agreement to include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
  • It also stressed the necessity that any agreement include the freedom of return for Gaza residents to their homes, relief and reconstruction, and a captive-prisoner exchange deal.


‘No time to lose’, UN peace envoy says

Tor Wennesland says a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is needed as is the release of Israeli captives being held there. “There is no time to lose,” he said in a post on X.

“Ongoing ceasefire/hostage release talks in Cairo are crucial to saving civilian lives, reducing regional tensions and enabling the UN, in cooperation with the PA [Palestinian Authority], to accelerate efforts to address the pressing needs of Gaza’s long-suffering population,” he said.

His comments came after a meeting with PA Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.


The Muslim American vote can’t be taken for granted

As the US presidential election approaches, the race to attract voters has intensified. Among the different constituencies the Democrats and Republicans are battling over, there is one that stands out: the Muslim community.

Although Muslims constitute roughly 1 percent of the American population, they are an important voting bloc because they are concentrated in swing states, which are often narrowly won in elections.

In this election cycle, the Muslim community seems more united than ever over a single political issue: the war in Gaza.  Any candidate hoping to win over large segments of Muslim voters would have to address community demands for an end to the bloodshed in Palestine.


US cannot be ‘credible mediator’ while arming Israel

Analyst Rami Khoury says Washington has not been putting any serious pressure on Israel, despite rhetoric about stopping the civilian suffering in Gaza.

“They’re continuing to give Israel the money on the guns and the diplomatic protection that it needs. And this is one of the problems. The United States cannot be a credible mediator while it is also the primary funder, military provider and diplomatic shelter of the party that’s conducting the genocide, which is Israel,” Khoury, a professor at the American University of Beirut, told Al Jazeera.

“This is totally bizarre and no other place in the world would accept this.”


Malaysia’s Ibrahim slams ‘inaccurate narratives’ on Gaza

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says the Western world needs to stop trying to control the international media merely for the sake of highlighting “inaccurate narratives” about the ongoing war in Gaza.

Inaugurating the All-Malaysian Mosque Summit for Al-Aqsa and Palestine in Kuala Lumpur, he stressed that the West does not need to teach the Muslim world about the “meaning of democracy, human rights, and sustainable development,” Anadolu reported, quoting the Malaysian state-run Bernama news agency.

“We need to be clear and cannot be determined by the Western countries that want to start the narrative on October 7,” Anwar was quoted as saying.

​“The continuous destruction [in Palestine] happened since 1948, followed by the direct invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. In fact, now the destruction continues, whether infrastructure or human and genocide. This is what happened,” he said.