Middle Eastern Headlines at 7:46 p.m. GMT
Israel widens evacuation orders in southern Gaza. Hamas wants plans for a deal instead of more talks
Latest Stories
BBCIsraeli special forces 'raid missile site in Syria'
US media say the operation included special forces who rappelled down from helicopters.
- Reuters
World must pressure Hamas on Gaza deal, Netanyahu says after group's statement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that more pressure should be put on Hamas to accept a new Gaza deal proposal, after the Palestinian militant group said it was only willing to implement a ceasefire free of new conditions. The chief U.S. negotiator, CIA head William Burns, said on Saturday that a more detailed ceasefire proposal would be made within several days. On Wednesday, Hamas' negotiation team met the Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha and reiterated their readiness to implement an "immediate" ceasefire with Israel in Gaza based on a previous U.S. proposal without new conditions from any party, the group said in a statement.
- Reuters
European, Muslim countries meet in Spain eyeing schedule for Palestinian statehood
Spain, hosting a high-level meeting on Friday of several Muslim and European countries on ways to end the Gaza war, called for a clear schedule for the international community to implement a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In attendance were his counterparts including from Norway and Slovenia, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza that includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.
- CNN
Hamas leader sends letters from hiding after almost a year of silence
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has written a rare letter to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reaffirming his commitment to fighting Israel and supporting the Iran-backed alliance of regional militants known as the “Axis of Resistance.”
- CBC
3 charged after officers allegedly assaulted at Toronto protests
Three people were arrested and charged on Wednesday at protests in downtown Toronto, where police allege they assaulted two officers.The alleged assaults happened outside Meridian Hall in the area of Yonge Street and Front Street E. at about 6 p.m. and later outside the headquarters of police's 51 Division at Parliament Street and Front Street E., according to police.A 45-year-old woman was arrested at the first demonstration, while a 27-year-old woman and 25-year-old man were arrested outside a
- Canadian Press Videos
AP explains as Israeli military take media on supervised tour of southern Gaza Strip
AP explains as Israeli military take media on supervised tour of southern Gaza Strip
- The Canadian Press
Iraqi and US forces kill a top IS commander and other militants in joint operation
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces and American troops have killed a senior commander with the Islamic State group who was wanted by the United States, as well as several other prominent militants, Iraq's military said on Friday.
- Reuters
US shifts one of two aircraft carriers away from Middle East
One of two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups deployed to the Middle East in part to deter Iran from carrying out a threatened attack against Israel has departed the region, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The decision to end the dual-carrier presence came nearly three weeks after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group to remain in the Middle East, even after the arrival of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to replace it.
- Reuters
Spain to host meeting of European and Muslim countries on Palestinian statehood
The foreign ministers of several Muslim and European countries will meet in Madrid on Friday to discuss how to implement a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Spanish and Norwegian governments said. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares will host the meeting, which will be attended by his European counterparts, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza.
- CNN
Israeli intelligence commander to resign after being accused of failing to prevent October 7
He was the commander of Israel’s elite 8200 intelligence unit, which critics say played a pivotal role in failing to prevent the October 7 attacks.
- Associated Press
Maryland woman is charged with vandalizing property during protests over Netanyahu's visit to DC
A Maryland woman was arrested Friday on a charge that she vandalized federal property in Washington, D.C., during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress in July. A video posted on social media showed Isabella Giordano, 20, of Towson, using red spray paint to write “Gaza” on a fountain in front of Union Station and spray-painting the base of two of the flagpoles in Columbus Circle, according to a U.S. Park Police sergeant's affidavit. A group of protesters had a permit to demonstrate in front of Union Station, but the Park Police revoked the permit after it couldn't reach protest organizers that afternoon, the affidavit says.
- Time
I'm an American Activist. Israeli Forces Shot Me
The Sept. 6 killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi haunts me because a bullet tore through my leg at the same weekly demonstration a month earlier.
- The Canadian Press
As war rages in Gaza, Israel’s crackdown on West Bank insurgency is killing Palestinian youths
JENIN, West Bank (AP) — In the web of battered, sunbaked streets winding up the hillside, bloodshed is as unrelenting as the heat. So it is not hard to see why, when raid sirens and gunfire erupted yet again on a morning in late May, 15-year-old Mahmoud Hamadneh turned his bike down an alley that held the promise of refuge.
- CNN
Israeli airstrike on Gaza school sheltering displaced people kills at least 18, including UN staff, Palestinian officials say
At least 18 people, including United Nations staff, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school-turned-shelter in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Gaza Civil Defense and hospital officials. At least 44 others were injured, they said.
- The Canadian Press
Gunmen kill 3 border guards in an attack in restive southeastern Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Gunmen killed three border guards and wounded one other person Thursday in restive southeastern Iran, state-run media reported.
- Associated Press
How a strip of land in Gaza that borders Egypt has become an obstacle to a cease-fire
A narrow strip of scrubland and sand dunes on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt has emerged as a major obstacle in talks aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and freeing scores of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel must maintain control over the so-called Philadelphi corridor to prevent Hamas from replenishing its arsenal through smuggling tunnels under the border.
- The Canadian Press
IS militants kill 14 in a Shiite area of Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks this year
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Islamic State militants killed 14 people in a Shiite-majority area in central Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks in the country this year.
- Miami Herald
Two Colombians get 35 and 30 years after pleading guilty to plot to murder U.S. soldiers
A car-bombing attack at a military base near the Colombia-Venezuela border led to murder plot charges in Miami.
- CNN
Climate protesters are taking action against Big Oil. UK courts are handing them prison terms akin to rapists and thieves
The sentences are believed to be the longest in the UK’s history for non-violent protest and were delivered under two new laws that supercharged policing powers.
- The Hill
Opinion - Protesters, media must stop normalizing terrorism
There’s plenty to criticize in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies and conduct of the war, but Americans should reject the spurious logic of moral equivalence.