Middle East: Israel, Hamas urged to resume cease-fire talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Thursday that Israel would send negotiators to talks seeking a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal. 

The announcement came after a call from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks. Israel would send a delegation to "finalize the details and implement the framework agreement," Netanyahu's office said. 

The talks are likely to take place in either Cairo or Doha, with Egypt and Qatar mediating alongside the United States. 

The three mediators on Thursday also urged both sides to return to the table and to finalize an agreement for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, which entered its 11th month this week.

Israel and Hamas observed a truce lasting roughly one week late last November, during which time hostages were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, but have failed to reach any similar deal since despite frequent mediation. Each side tends to blame each other for the impasse.

The leaders of the United States, Qatar and Egypt have urged Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations in either Doha or Cairo next week to talk over differences regarding a potential cease-fire and hostage-release deal.

In a joint statement, the three mediators invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15, saying a framework agreement was "now on the table, with only the details of implementation missing."

"There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay," said the statement, which was signed by US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

"It is the time to conclude a cease-fire agreement and release hostages and prisoners," the statement added.

Israel estimates that around 130 hostages are still in Hamas captivity.

Israel, Germany, the European Union, the US and others classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

United Airlines on Thursday said it suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future and would resume them when it is safe for customers and crew to fly there, Reuters news agency reported.

Airlines around the world are evaluating their flight schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East after the killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

 

At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on two schools in Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said. Dozens more were injured in the bombings.

The Israeli military said the attacks on the schools in Gaza City were aimed at Hamas terrorists.

The military said it had taken "numerous steps" to "mitigate the risk of harming civilians," including using precise weapons, surveillance and other intelligence.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell strongly condemned recent remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which Smotrich floated the idea of starving 2 million Gaza residents until hostages are returned to Israel.

"Deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime," Borrell said in a statement.

"Minister Smotrich saying that 'it might be justified and moral' to let Israel 'cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger' until the 'hostages are returned' is beyond ignominious," Borrell continued.

"It demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity," Borrell added.

The EU top diplomat went on to call on the Israeli government to "unequivocally distance itself from the words" of Smotrich, who is one of the more extreme members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. 

Germany, France and the UK have all issued statements denouncing Smotrich's remarks as well.

rm/sms (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa) 

The leader of the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has vowed to retaliate for an Israeli strike on a Red Sea port last month.

Israeli forces struck fuel storage tanks in the Yemeni port of Hodeida on July 20, reportedly killing at least nine people.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that "a genuinely impactful response" was "inevitable and will come."

He said that such a response would be coordinated with other members of the so-called "Axis of Resistance" of militias that has Iran has rallied against Israel in recent days.

"The decision to respond is a decision made by everyone; at the level of the entire axis," he said.

The Biden administration said it was "appalled" by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's suggestion of halting aid deliveries to Gaza until its hostages were returned.

"We are appalled by these comments and reiterate that this rhetoric is harmful and disturbing," The Times of Israel quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying in a statement to the paper.

US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have repeatedly stressed "the need to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, remove any obstacles to the flow of aid and restore basic services for those in need," the statement added.

The conflict in Gaza began after Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by many governments including Germany, the US and Israel.

The World Central Kitchen said a Palestinian staff member was killed in Gaza on Wednesday, four months after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli air strike in April.

The US-based aid organization identified the person as Nadi Sallout, saying in a post on social media platform X that he was "an integral member of our warehouse team from the early days of our response in Rafah and a humanitarian at his very core."

The organization said it is still learning the details of the incident but believes he was off duty at the time. Sallout was killed near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said it was in contact with the WCT and did not know of any such incident.

"Thus far the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is unaware of any incident in which an employee of the organization was harmed during his work in recent days," it said.

Israel on Thursday revoked the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats who served as representatives to the Palestinian Authority.

The move was a response to Norway's recognition of a Palestinian state, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

"Norway conducts a one-sided policy on the Palestinian issue, and will therefore be removed from the Palestinian issue," he added.

The Norwegian government said there would be "consequences" for the decision.

"This is an extreme act that primarily affects our ability to help the Palestinian population... Today's decision will have consequences for our relationship with the Netanyahu government," Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.

Norway recognized the State of Palestine in May alongside Ireland and Spain. In the 1990s, it also helped negotiate the Oslo Accords designed to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and it chairs the international donor group to the Palestinians.

"Norway is and will always be a friend of Israel and the Israeli people," Eide said on Thursday.

"At the same time, Norway has been clear in our criticism of the occupation (of Palestinian territories), the way in which the war in Gaza has been conducted and the suffering this has inflicted on the Palestinian civilian population."