European governments won’t stray far from US position on Israel

European governments are largely sticking to positions adopted by the US and are reluctant to signal a change despite the carnage in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara.

“Where there is a will there is a way, but there is no will on the part of the European governments to go far from what the American position is,” he said.

“Most European powers since the war in Ukraine have been playing the role of a client of the United States than independent powers of their own, and the same goes with the situation in Gaza.”

Bishara said there is some “meagre” change from the British government like resuming funding to UNRWA that is welcome, but that is nothing compared to continuingwar on Gaza.

Bishara noted that the first step new UK Foreign Minister David Lammy took was to go to Israel and “have a photo-op with the criminal prime minister there”.

“Apparently, a British foreign minister needs to get the blessing of the prime minister of a country that is basically on trial for genocide and a prime minister that is being prosecuted by the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for war crimes,” he said.

But the UK and other European countries have been quick to warn their citizens to evacuate Lebanon and other countries as Iran and its axis of forces are preparing to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.

“Whenever they make a serious move, it’s when there’s a security issue threatening their own nationals,” Bishara said.

‘Reasonable suspicion’ prisoner abuse committed: Israeli military

The Israeli military reports that after the hearing today on the appeal filed by five soldiers arrested for torturing and sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner, their detention has been extended until Sunday.

“In its decision, the military court stated that from the evidence there is a reasonable suspicion that the acts attributed to them were committed,” the military says.

“The military court also determined that there was a clear cause of danger from the attributed acts.”

Far-right Israelis have protested and attacked the military site where the soldiers are being held prisoner to secure their release.

US, Egypt and Qatar invite Israel, Hamas to resume talks next week

A statement from the leaders of the three mediating countries invited Israel and Hamas to resume ceasefire talks on August 15 in either Doha or Cairo. Both cities have hosted previous ceasefire talks, which have for months failed to result in a deal.

No rush.... It's the 8th today, why wait until next Thursday.

It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families.

The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal. The three of us and our teams have worked tirelessly over many months to forge a framework agreement that is now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude.

This agreement is based on the principles as outlined by President Biden on May 31, 2024, and endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2735. There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay.

It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire, and implement this agreement.

As mediators, if necessary, we are prepared to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties.

We have called on both sides to resume urgent discussion on Thursday, August 15 in Doha or Cairo to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.

President of the United States Joe Biden
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Emir of the State of Qatar HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

US, Qatar and Egypt call on Israel and Hamas to resume talks in Cairo in mid August

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/politics/qatar-egypt-israel-hamas-talks/index.html

On Thursday night, the mediators stepped up the pressure on Israel and Hamas to resume talks in either Cairo or Doha next week. A source familiar the discussions told CNN that a meeting is being planned for August 15 and is expected to happen.

Mediating parties’ patience ‘running out’ amid bid to resume ceasefire talks

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, says the latest invitation extended to Israel and Hamas by mediating parties to resume ceasefire talks means “their patience is running out”.

“It’s certainly the case for mediators Egypt and Qatar,” Bishara said. He said among the key factors to consider is the possible escalation towards a full-blown war in the region, with Hezbollah and Iran threatening that they will respond to Israel.

“It seems like the Iranians sort of leaked that only a ceasefire will cool the spirits in the region – and I think that was echoed in Washington,” Bishara said.

He added that there are many details that need to still be discussed, such as how many captives and Palestinian prisoners would be released in the first phase of the deal, and whether Israeli forces would withdraw from much of the Gaza Strip.


It probably just means more bombs on Gaza as what happens every time there are new negotiations :/

As long as US and Europe keep sending weapons, Netanyahu isn't going to back down. Will Biden finally put his foot down? So far the opposite is happening, more US military to the ME.

“There is a policy!” Francesca Albanese EXPOSES Israel’s Systematic Torture of Palestinian Prisoners

“There is a policy! Something that is organised and it is confirmed by the patterns and the scale of violations.”

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese exposes Israel's systematic and widespread torture, torment, abuse and humiliation of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

"I do believe that they are de facto hostages of an unlawful occupation." Francesca Albanese

Masked Israeli soldier defends rape of Palestinian prisoner on TV

A masked Israeli soldier has appeared on a live television programme to “defend the good name” of the Israeli military after multiple soldiers were detained for raping a Palestinian prisoner.

The assault, which took place in the infamous Sde Teiman detention centre and was filmed by security cameras, continues to cause controversy inside Israel, with many backing the arrested soldiers, despite the horrific crimes they are accused of.

The Israeli military earlier today said there is “reasonable suspicion” the soldiers are guilty of what they are accused of, and extended their detention until Sunday.

An Israeli soldier who raped a Palestinian prisoner alongside other soldiers appeared on Israeli channel 14 to defend his unit that committed the rape. The incident sparked outrage as it was filmed on CCTV cameras and spread to the media.

The incident happened in the Sde Teiman… pic.twitter.com/jL7qME3mDn

— red. (@redstreamnet) August 8, 2024

This is not the way to de-escalate...

Iran would face ‘significant’ consequences if it attacks Israel: US official

A senior US administration official has warned Iran that it would face “significant” consequences if it decides to attack Israel, the Reuters news agency reports.

The official, which Reuters did not name, said an Iranian attack would jeopardise Gaza ceasefire talks and result in consequences that would severely impact Iran’s economy.

Tensions have been high and a retaliatory attack is expected against Israel following the recent assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Austin says US fighter jets deployed to Middle East to ‘deter aggression’

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, in which he reaffirmed the US’s “ironclad support” for Israel as tensions ramp up in the region.

“The US F-22 Raptors that arrived in the region today represent one of many efforts to deter aggression, defend Israel and protect US forces in the region,” Austin said.

Austin also “stressed the importance of concluding a ceasefire deal in Gaza that releases” captives held in the Palestinian enclave.

I called Israeli Minister of Defense Gallant today to brief him on U.S. force posture adjustments and reinforce my ironclad support for Israel’s defense. The U.S. F-22 Raptors that arrived in the region today represent one of many efforts to deter aggression, defend Israel and…

— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) August 8, 2024

US unlikely to put new pressure on Israel despite call by mediators for Gaza ceasefire deal

The question is, immediately, is this new grounds for hope? A new impetus? A new hardening of the mediators’ positioning? Meaning, also, that the US will now finally apply that leverage to get this ceasefire deal done once and for all.

I just got off a background call with a senior US administration official, and I have to say the impression I got from that was – no, not really.

This is really, in the words of the administration official, a sign of impatience and frustration that it’s taken so long and the whole process has not been moving as it should have been.

So this is about making a powerful statement using the leaders of these three countries to put their names on a statement saying now is the time for a ceasefire.

But I didn’t get any impression that the US is prepared to use any more leverage on Israel, and it is Israel that keeps adding proposals to the ceasefire whenever a ceasefire agreement seems to be close.

Preparatory talks, we were told, will begin fairly soon, before next Thursday’s talks. But there is no expectation that then people will be signing on the dotted line. There are four or five issues, were are told, that need to be worked out.

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.

Smotrich rails against renewed Gaza ceasefire effort

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has taken to X to voice his disapproval of a new push to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, announced yesterday by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US.

“The time has not come for a dangerous trap in which the ‘intermediaries’ dictate a ‘formula’ to us and impose a surrender agreement on us that will drain the blood we shed in the most just war we are waging,” he wrote in a long post.

He also said that reaching a yet-hypothetical deal with Hamas would “leave Hezbollah on the fences of the residents of the north,” and “play down Israel’s deterrence and its image in the Middle East [and] will present it as a weak patron state”.

Smotrich called on PM Netanyahu not to move “an inch” from his red lines in negotiations, which reportedly were the main sticking point preventing a deal from being reached the last time negotiations were being conducted in mid-July.

42% still prefer Netanyahu's genocide vs Gantz's push for a ceasefire.

Netanyahu, Likud gain popularity at home, poll shows

A poll indicates that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is regaining popularity over his rival Benny Gantz.

According to a poll by Lazar Research cited by Israeli newspaper Maariv, 42 percent of respondents said Netanyahu is better suited to be prime minister, compared with 40 percent who picked Gantz.

If elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud party would score the most seats in parliament, with 22, while Gantz’s National Unity would finish second with 20, the poll showed.

Netanyahu has faced fierce criticism during the war on Gaza for failing to secure a captive release deal and previous polling has shown him and his party trailing in popularity to Gantz.

Not that Gantz would be much better anyway, at least he wants the hostages out. It's like Biden-Trump in reverse.

Israeli military announces attacks on locations in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said it has attacked the “headquarters” of Lebanese group Hezbollah in the Hanaway area of southern Lebanon, as well as “terrorist infrastructure” in the Ayta ash Shab area.

It said it also attacked a Hezbollah “launcher” in the Ayta ash Shab area, from which rockets were launched into Birnit in the Upper Galilee area of northern Israel.

The Israeli military also said that a “number of missiles” were fired from Lebanon into the Manara and Kiryat Shmona area of northern Israel, but fell in open areas and caused no casualties.

Hezbollah raises ‘flag of revenge’ in south Lebanon, signalling response to Israel’s actions

The war of words between Hezbollah and Israel is intensifying, and there are growing fears that months of cross-border strikes between the two sides could escalate into an all-out war.

Hezbollah says its attacks on Israeli military sites are in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s recent assassination of numerous Hezbollah commanders, as well as the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, has the region bracing for what’s to come.

Israeli forces carry out raids, arrests in Tulkarem

The Israeli military has carried out raids in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem governorate, arresting three people, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces surrounded the family home of a wanted man in the city of Tulkarem, arresting his father and brother in order to pressure the man to surrender himself.

The Israeli military also arrested a man after raiding his house in the town of Faroun, south of Tulkarem.

Pregnant woman among 7 killed by Israelis in possible Gaza City ‘war crime’: HRW

Israeli soldiers stormed a home in Gaza City in December, throwing grenades and firing assault rifles in an attack that killed at least seven people, including a pregnant woman, and left a five-year-old seriously injured, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report calling for a probe of the possible war crime.

Witnesses to the slaughter of the family said the Israeli soldiers also “shot a blind 73-year-old man after securing the building and forcing all other family members out”.

“They decimated a Palestinian family and orphaned a small child who may never be able to walk again,” HRW’s Belkis Wille said in the report. “This incident highlights the deadly cost of Israeli forces’ failure to safeguard, and in some cases to apparently target civilian lives in Gaza, including children,” Wille said.