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Hamas Says It Has Not Left Ceasefire Talks After Israeli Attacks
Palestinians gather near damage, following what Palestinians say was an Israeli strike at a tent camp in Al-Mawasi area, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/File Photo
A senior Hamas official said on Sunday that the Islamist terror group has not withdrawn from ceasefire talks with Israel after this weekend’s deadly attacks in Gaza that Israel said had targeted Hamas’ military leader Mohammed Deif.
But Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of the political office of Hamas, accused Israel of trying to derail efforts by Arab mediators and the United States to reach a ceasefire deal by stepping up its attacks in the enclave.
Saturday’s strike in the Khan Younis area of Gaza, in which at least 90 Palestinians were killed according to local, Hamas-controlled health authorities, has put the ceasefire talks in doubt. Experts have cast doubt on the reliability of casualty figures coming out of Hamas-ruled Gaza, arguing they over-count casualties and don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
There had been increasingly hopeful signs in recent days that a deal could be reached to halt fighting and return hostages held in Gaza.
Two Egyptian security sources at ceasefire talks in Doha and Cairo said on Saturday that negotiations had been halted after three days of intense talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to convene his close circle of ministers later on Sunday to discuss the talks.
The strike on Saturday which targeted Deif killed Rafa Salama, commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis brigade, the Israeli military said on Sunday, but there was no confirmation about the fate of Deif.
“The strike in Khan Younis was a result of surgical intelligence,” the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service said in a video released by the service from Rafah. He said 25 Hamas operatives who took part in the deadly Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that triggered the war had been killed in the past week.
On Saturday, a senior Hamas official denied that Deif had been killed and the group said Israeli claims were aimed at justifying the attack.
On Sunday, Israeli forces continued to press ahead with their air and ground offensive across the coastal enclave. Israel has said it seeks to free all hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7 and to dismantle the group’s military and governing capabilities.
A strike on a UN-run school in Nuseirat camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight longstanding refugee camps, killed 15 Palestinians and wounded dozens more, Hamas media and health officials said.
The Israeli military said the site was used as a base for Hamas fighters to attack Israeli forces and said numerous steps were taken to limit the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions and intelligence.
Hamas terrorists embed themselves within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeer civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks against Israel.
The post Hamas Says It Has Not Left Ceasefire Talks After Israeli Attacks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UAE Launches Water Pipeline Project to Supply Gaza
Illustrative. Palestinians gather next to donkey-drawn carts loaded with water tanks for sale, as drinking water and fuel become increasingly scarce, in Nuseirat in Gaza Strip, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. Photo by Naaman Omar apaimages Nuseirat Gaza Strip Palestinian Territory
i24 News – The United Arab Emirates has initiated the construction of a critical water pipeline linking an Egyptian desalination plant to the coastal area of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
The project, approved by Israel’s defense establishment and carried out with logistical coordination across borders, marks a significant humanitarian effort to alleviate the water crisis affecting nearly 600,000 Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.
The pipeline, which will operate independently of existing Israeli water infrastructure, is designed to deliver potable water directly from Egypt into Gaza.
It is being developed under the supervision of the Israeli military’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and was greenlit by the Israeli political echelon as a non-political, humanitarian measure.
On Sunday, the first batch of construction materials, delivered by Emirati representatives, crossed the Kerem Shalom border crossing following stringent security inspections by Israel’s Border Authority and Ministry of Defense.
Construction is expected to begin in the coming days and will span several weeks.
“This is a purely humanitarian measure, taken within the framework of cabinet decisions,” said Israeli officials, emphasizing that the project does not signal a move toward rebuilding Gaza or any shift in political posture. “The connection of the pipeline does not constitute a step towards the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip,” they added, aiming to quash speculation of normalization or broader reconciliation.
The move comes amid a temporary humanitarian truce announced by Israel over the weekend. In parallel, Israeli authorities authorized workers from the Israel Electric Corporation to reconnect a key power line from the Ashkelon power station to Deir al-Balah. This line supports the Egyptian desalination plant already contributing to Gaza’s water supply.
The UAE, intensifying its humanitarian engagement in Gaza, has also begun airdropping aid parcels into the territory.
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Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
President Donald Trump’s administration will release more than $5 billion in previously approved funding for K-12 school programs that it froze over three weeks ago under a review, which had led to bipartisan condemnation.
“(The White House Office of Management and Budget) has completed its review … and has directed the Department to release all formula funds,” Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the U.S. Education Department, said in a statement, adding funds will be dispersed to states next week.
Further details on the review and what it found were not shared.
A senior administration official said “guardrails” would be in place for the amount being released, without giving details.
Early in July, the Trump administration said it would not release funding previously appropriated by Congress for schools and that an initial review found signs the money was misused to subsidize what it alleged was “a radical leftwing agenda.”
States say $6.8 billion in total was affected by the freeze. Last week, $1.3 billion was released.
After the freeze, a coalition of mostly Democratic-led states sued to challenge the move, and 10 Republican US senators wrote to the Republican Trump administration to reverse its decision.
The frozen money covered funding for education of migrant farm workers and their children; recruitment and training of teachers; English proficiency learning; academic enrichment and after-school and summer programs.
The Trump administration has threatened schools and colleges with withholding federal funds over issues like climate initiatives, transgender policies, pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza and diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Republican US lawmakers welcomed the move on Friday, while Democratic lawmakers said there was no need to disrupt funding in the first place.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon separately said she was satisfied with what was found in the review and released the money, adding she did not think there would be future freezes.
The post Trump Administration to Release Over $5 Billion School Funding That It Withheld first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Israel will resume airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, a few days after more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.
“The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,” the military added in a statement.
The post Israel to Resume Airdrop Aid to Gaza on Saturday, Military Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.