US continues gaslighting
US official says Hamas stands in way of ceasefire
During an appearance on the US network CBS, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that Hamas, not Israel, is standing in the way of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel has been accused of thwarting multiple ceasefire deals. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said his military must retain open-ended control over Gaza’s southern border area with Egypt, something Hamas has outright rejected.
Israel also killed the main Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in July while he visited Iran. Hamas has been seeking a permanent ceasefire and wants the withdrawal of Israeli forces as part of any deal.
Qatar said on Saturday that it’s suspending its mediator role until Hamas and Israel both show a “sincere willingness” to return to the negotiating table.
‘Implicit admission’ of Israel’s ethnic cleansing: US Muslim group
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sees the reported US freeze of the delivery of 130 bulldozers to Israel as an “implicit admission” that Israel is using the equipment to force Palestinians out of Gaza.
“By freezing the delivery of bulldozers to Israel, the Biden administration is clearly admitting that the far-right Israeli government is engaged in the war crime of ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Despite this implicit recognition that Israel is committing war crimes, President Biden steadfastly refuses to stop sending taxpayer-funded weapons,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director.
Awad noted that Israel’s army continues to use US arms to “kill civilians and destroy homes, hospitals, mosques, churches, UN facilities, schools, and civilian infrastructure in Gaza”.
“The complicity of the Biden administration with Israel’s genocide must end. All weapons deliveries to Israel must be stopped immediately.”
Muslim and Arab leaders fly to Saudi for talks on Middle East crisis
Arab and Muslim leaders have arrived in Saudi Arabia for a Monday summit focusing on Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.
Attendees will “discuss the continued Israeli aggression on the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese Republic, and the current developments in the region”, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced the summit in late October, during the first meeting of an “international alliance” pushing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This comes one year after a similar gathering in Riyadh of the Cairo-based Arab League and the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, during which leaders condemned Israeli forces’ actions in Gaza as “barbaric”.
The Saudi state-affiliated al-Ekhbariya news channel broadcast footage on Sunday of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati landing in Riyadh.
