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Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid
Palestinian women react at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip December 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.
The Hamas visit to Cairo was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, that would include a hostage deal.
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza were now more likely.
“(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts,” he told CNN on Sunday.
“So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I’m not going to predict exactly when it will happen … we’ve come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line.”
Residents said the military blew up clusters of houses in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, where Israeli forces have operated since October.
The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas terrorists in that part of Gaza as it fights to stop the faction regrouping. It has also lost around 30 soldiers there in combat with Hamas fighters over the past two months, a relatively high death toll.
Hamas does not provide details on its own fatalities.
The halting of aid deliveries through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing came almost two weeks after a large shipment was hijacked on the same route.
UNRWA’s Lazzarini said it was Israel’s responsibility “as occupying power” to protect aid workers and supplies, and that the humanitarian operation had become “unnecessarily impossible” due to what he said were Israeli restrictions.
COGAT, the Israeli military department responsible for aid transfers, denies it is hindering humanitarian relief into Gaza, saying there is no limit on supplies for civilians and blaming delays on the United Nations, which it says is inefficient.
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Iran ‘Has No Proxies,’ Khamenei Says as His Allies Languish
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2, 2022. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org – The official X account of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, rejected the term “proxy” for Iranian-backed militias on Sunday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t have proxy forces. If we decide to take action [against the enemy], we don’t need proxy forces,” read the text on Khamenei’s English-language account.
This statement follows setbacks for Iran’s terrorist proxies in the Middle East: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and the Assad regime in Syria. The text seems to distance Tehran from these events, amid economic struggles and speculation about the Iranian regime’s vulnerabilities.
“They say that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxies in the region,” a related post by Khamenei said. But “Yemen fights due to their faith. Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so.”
US forces attacked the Houthis in Yemen on Saturday, while Israel targeted power stations and Hodeidah port after recent rocket and drone launches on Israel. Hezbollah suffered significant losses and agreed to withdraw south of Lebanon’s Litani River. Hamas lost control of most of Gaza, and its leaders have been killed along with many of its fighters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel had “split [Iran’s] Axis right down the middle.”
Khamenei’s X account on Sunday appeared to counter. “The Zionists try to show they’re the victors. You wretched people! Where have you won? Have you won in Gaza? Have you destroyed Hamas? Have you freed your own prisoners? Is this victory to kill over 40,000 people without being able to achieve even one of your goals?”
Another post added, “You Zionists haven’t won; you’ve been defeated,” vowing that “the courageous, devout, young people of Syria will definitely expel you from there.”
The Iranian rial hit a record low last week, trading at 777,000 to the dollar. Internal protests over economic issues and religious coercion, including women’s dress codes, continue to challenge the regime. Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency may exacerbate tensions, especially after his campaign linked Iran to attempts to assassinate him.
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Reports: 90% of 3-Stage Ceasefire, Hostage Release Deal Completed
Israelis protest against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – A ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is 90% complete, according to a report in the BBC on Sunday.
Egyptian media said that 34 Israeli hostages are set to be released in the first stage of a deal, although the terrorist organization is demanding additional compensation for male soldiers held.
A senior Israeli official said Jerusalem has received “signs of life” from the hostages, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
Outstanding issues includes lists of hostages slated to be released as well as which are living and dead, although Hamas has stated it does not know where every one of the captives taken in the terrorist onslaught of October 7, 2023, is being held.
Another issue is the question of Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas reportedly backing down on its demand that all IDF soldiers leave. Instead, the Israeli army will reportedly remain in the Netzarim and Philadelphi Corridors for the duration of the ceasefire, with a withdrawal planned for later stages, when a civilian authority takes over administration of the Palestinian enclave.
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Germany Confirms Saudi Warning about Perpetrator of Christmas Market Attack
A Saudi flag flutters atop Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 20, 2018. Photo: REUTERS File Photo
i24 News – German authorities confirmed on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had warned them last year about the suspect in the car-ramming attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg over the weekend.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany’s equivalent to the FBI), Holger Münch, told German media that his office received a tip from Saudi Arabia in November 2023, which led the authorities to carry out “appropriate investigative steps.” However, Germany decided that the warnings were not serious, as the perpetrator had no criminal background.
“The suspect, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, also published a large number of extremist posts online,” Münch said. “He was also in contact with various authorities, voicing insults and even threats. However, it is unknown if he committed any acts of violence.” He added that the warnings turned out to be non-specific. The Federal Office for Immigration and Refugees also reported on X that it had received a tip about the suspect at the end of last summer.
The incident began Friday evening, when the Saudi-German slammed into people with his BMW in a crowded Christmas market area in the city of Magdeburg, running over a large group of people. Five people were killed in the event, which German authorities have not yet defined as a terrorist attack. Today the name of one of the victims was published, a 9-year-old boy named Andre Gleissner. Abdulmohsen is reportedly a 50-year-old doctor with no criminal record who hailed from Saudi Arabia, but in later years became an atheist and spoke out against Islam. He had a permanent refugee status in Germany, for fear of persecution in Saudi Arabia.
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