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Israel Recalls Negotiators From Qatar After Hamas Rejects Truce Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Feb. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday issued a statement after Hamas’ rejection of a truce proposal, marking Israel’s withdrawal from the negotiations in Qatar.
“Hamas’ position clearly proves that it is not interested in continuing negotiations for a deal, and is an unfortunate testimony to the damage of the [United Nations] Security Council’s decision,” the statement read. “Hamas once again rejected any American compromise proposal and repeated its extreme demands: an immediate end to the war, a complete withdrawal of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] from the Gaza Strip, and the remaining in power so that it could repeat the massacre of Oct. 7 again and again, as it had promised to do.”
The statement added: “Israel will not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas, and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: to release all the abductees, to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
Meanwhile, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters that negotiations are moving ahead and officials from Israel’s Mossad spy agency remain in Doha for discussions.
Earlier on Monday night, Hamas said that it informed the negotiation’s mediators that it “sticks to its original position” in its demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Gaza, and return of displaced Palestinians and a “real” exchange of “prisoners.”
The terrorist group said that Israel “did not respond to any of the basic demands of our people and our resistance [Hamas]: a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and a real exchange of prisoners.” Hamas appeared to have rejected the latest deal proposal on offer in Doha, where the sides have held indirect talks via Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.
Hamas added in the statement that the “Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far.”
The statement came hours after the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for “lasting ceasefire in Gaza” passed the voting. As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza, Hamas’ hostages have remained in captivity for over five months.
Earlier, Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ demands for full military withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire as “delusional.”
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh travel edto Tehran on Tuesday to meet Iranian officials, according to Iran’s official Press TV.
Raphaël Jerusalmy, a former Israeli intelligence officer, told i24 News: “Hamas knows it is supported for the moment and has no interest in freeing hostages, which is why it is asking for the maximum price, namely the total withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.”
According to him, “the terrorist organization knows that it is supported for the moment, firstly by the UN resolutions in its favor, and also because it knows that there is water in the gas between Israel and the United States.”
“The only hope”, he added, “is that Hamas will release the sick hostages who are a burden to it, but even for that, Israel will have to pay a disproportionate price.”
The post Israel Recalls Negotiators From Qatar After Hamas Rejects Truce Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.