US ‘asked Qatar to expel Hamas’ after hostage deal snub

The US told Qatar the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian terrorist group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official says. Read more

Israel finds Gaza-Egypt tunnel large enough drive through

Israel discovered a three-metre tall smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border, large enough to drive vehicles through, the Israel Defence Forces said on Sunday. Read more

US plan not a good deal but Israel accepts it: Netanyahu aide

An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel has accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war being advanced by US President Joe Biden. Read more

Israeli military takes full control of Gaza-Egypt border

The Israel Defence Forces said on Wednesday it was in full “operational control” of the entire Gaza-Egypt border and has so far located 20 tunnels leading into the Egyptian Sinai. Read more

Israel begins evacuating Palestinians from Rafah

The Israel Defence Forces began evacuating Palestinians in parts of Rafah today, ahead of an expected military advance on the city. Read more

Hamas presses on with Gaza truce talks without Israel

Hamas and Egyptian mediators are pressing on with talks in Cairo on securing a ceasefire in Gaza, despite Israel’s decision not to send a delegation, as Washington pressed again for a truce, the release of hostages and a plan to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe. Read more

Israel agrees ceasefire framework, now up to Hamas: US

Israel has essentially endorsed a framework of a proposed Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, and it is now up to Hamas to agree to it, a day before talks to reach an agreement were to resume in Egypt. Read more

Plan for one-month Gaza truce makes progress

Israel and Hamas have moved closer to an agreement on a 30-day ceasefire in Gaza when Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners would be released, sources tell Reuters, as Israel presses ahead with its assault on southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Younis. Read more

Hamas rejects offer of two-month ceasefire for release of all hostages

Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal for a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the staged release of the 136 remaining hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, a senior Egyptian official told the Associated Press on Tuesday. Read more

Egypt floats ambitious plan to end Israel-Hamas war

Egypt has put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a ceasefire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts. Read more

Egypt offers to set up tent city inside Gaza

Fearing a mass migration into the Sinai, Egypt offered on Monday morning to set up a tent city inside Gaza for Palestinians displaced by the war. Read more

US reports deal with Egypt to restart aid to Gaza

Egypt has agreed to reopen its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow aid to reach Palestinians, the US says, as the humanitarian crisis worsened in the narrow enclave and anti-Israel protests flared across the Middle East. Read more

Egypt border to reopen, work on aid delivery, says US

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza will reopen and the US is working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to get assistance through it. Read more

Conditional Friendships

One can always discern when a potential friendship is really a conditional one. Read more

Three Israeli soldiers, Egypt officer die in gunbattle

Three Israeli soldiers and an Egyptian security officer have been killed near the countries’ border, Israel and Egypt say, in an incident whose details remain unclear. Read more

Israelis, Palestinians meet amid West Bank violence

Palestinian and Israeli officials have agreed during face-to-face talks to take steps to build mutual confidence following a rash of deadly violence. Read more

Egypt wants West Bank violence quelled ahead of Ramadan

Egypt has stepped up mediation between Israel and the Palestinians in a bid to tamp down violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and prevent its spread to the Gaza Strip ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Read more

On the other hand

When the Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah, predicted that one day Israel would be a “light unto the nations” his prophecy must have seemed rather far-fetched. Read more

Gaza terror organisations to respond to IDF’s operation in Jenin

The Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported Sunday that sources in the Gaza Strip say that Egypt and Qatar are acting as mediators and have stepped up efforts to obtain calm, especially in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem, following the operation in Jenin in which three Islamic Jihad operatives were eliminated by Israeli Special Forces as they were on their way to carry out a terror attack. Read more

UN, Jordan, Egypt, PLO & Hamas need to return to 5 June 1967

The United Nations (UN), Jordan, Egypt, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas need to focus on the current reality that the two-state solution called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2334 is impossible to achieve: Creating a second Arab State in 5% of former Palestine – in addition to Jordan – which presently exercises sovereignty in 78% of former Palestine. Read more

Egyptian mediation efforts continue as fears of another conflict loom

“Egypt continues to mediate between Israel and Hamas in light of the understanding that the situation in the Gaza Strip is close to exploding and that Israel and Hamas are closer to another round of violence since Operation Guardian of the Walls ended” in May, a source told TPS yesterday. Read more

‘Important interest for Israel’: FM Lapid meets with Egypt’s president El-Sisi in Cairo

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi hosted Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid on Thursday at the Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo for what was described by the Lapid’s office as “a long and warm meeting.” Read more

Egypt’s proposal infuriates Hamas: economic rehabilitation in exchange for long term truce

A Palestinian source has told TPS that Egyptian intelligence had recently offered the Hamas leadership to open economic horizons for it in Egypt and pursue a very generous passage policy at the border crossings, in exchange for a long term ceasefire with Israel, but Hamas sees this as interfering in its internal affairs and as an Egyptian bargaining chip. Read more

Bennett meets with Egyptian President El-Sisi in Sinai

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday. Read more

Visit of senior US official to PA – preparing for resumption of negotiations with Israel?

Palestinian and Arab sources have reported in recent days on accelerated diplomatic activity in preparation for the resumption of the diplomatic process between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli government, mediated by Egypt and Jordan. Read more

Hamas agrees to new mechanism for receiving Qatari money

A new agreement between Israel and Qatar will enable the entry of Qatari funds into the Gaza Strip as early as this weekend, Arab sources confirmed yesterday. Read more

Egypt cleans and removes slums near 1,200-year-old Jewish cemetery

In response to requests from the international Jewish community, Egypt has started eliminating slums near Bassatine Cemetery, in the eastern part of the second-oldest Jewish cemetery on earth, according to those in Cairo and others familiar with the situation. Read more

Trump administration reportedly ramping up Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

The Trump administration is reportedly ramping up preparations for the unveiling of an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, although a timetable for its release remains unclear. Read more

A peace of paper is not enough

In 2018, we will mark 40 years since the 1978 Camp David accords that paved the way for peace between Egypt and Israel…writes Rabbi Dr Danny Schiff. Read more

The enemy of my enemy

The dramatic swing to the right in the recent Austrian elections is likely to have widespread repercussions throughout Europe. It will also oblige Israel to reconsider its current approach to far right-wing groups….writes Isi Leibler. Read more

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