In Washington, Netanyahu maintains uncertainty over a possible truce in Gaza
After indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas resumed on July 6 in Doha, Qatar, the ceasefire strongly desired by the US president has been slow to materialize. No serious progress had been made yet, noted Azmi Keshawi, an expert on Israeli-Palestinian affairs at the International Crisis Group (ICG), based in the Qatari capital. The previous week, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the approval of US special envoy Steve Witkoff, had finalized a new ceasefire proposal. According to the White House, Witkoff was expected to travel to Doha within the week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Worker dies after US immigration raid on California farm
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, condemned attacks by the demonstrators on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other members of law enforcement and said "these slimeballs" should be arrested. Trump's remarks on X came a day after a chaotic raid on a cannabis plantation in Ventura County some 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles that left one farm worker critically injured. The United Farm Workers said in a post on X on Friday that the worker had "died of injuries they sustained as a result of yesterday's immigration enforcement action." The union did not identify the worker, who reportedly suffered a 30-foot (10-meter) fall during Thursday's raid. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana grow sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued "from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking." Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has "never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors." The company said it was providing legal representation to detained workers. DHS said more than 500 "rioters" had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers. Tear gas was used against the protestors, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles. The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers. Showdown In his post on X, Trump said he had watched footage of "thugs" throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing "tremendous damage." Trump said law enforcement officers who are "on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, (are authorized) to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so." "I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public," he said. Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to deport millions of migrants, has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks. The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against roundups of undocumented migrants by federal agents. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far. The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks. "We've been here since six this morning asking questions but they're not giving us any information," said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday. "I just want to know how he's doing," Munoz said. "Bring him back to me and if it's time for us to leave, we'll leave.
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
UN says hundreds killed in recent weeks while seeking aid in Gaza
Friday's reported violence came as negotiators from Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were locked in indirect talks in Qatar to try to agree on a temporary ceasefire in the more than 21-month conflict. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he hoped a deal for a 60-day pause in the war could be struck in the coming days, and that he would then be ready to negotiate a more permanent end to hostilities. Hamas has said the free flow of aid is a main sticking point in the talks, with Gaza's more than two million residents facing a dire humanitarian crisis of hunger and disease amid the grinding conflict. Israel began easing a more than two-month total blockade of aid in late May. Since then, a new US- and Israel-backed organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has effectively sidelined the territory's vast UN-led aid delivery network. There are frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people seeking aid, with Gaza's civil defence agency saying 10 Palestinians were killed Friday while waiting at a distribution point near the southern city of Rafah. 'Unacceptable' The UN, which refuses to cooperate with GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives, said Friday that 798 people have been killed seeking aid between late May and July 7, including 615 "in the vicinity of the GHF sites". "Where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food and medicine, and where... they have a choice between being shot or being fed, this is unacceptable," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's deaths, but has previously accused militants of firing at civilians in the vicinity of aid centres. Asked about the UN figures, the military said it had worked to minimise "possible friction" between aid seekers and soldiers, and that it conducted "thorough examinations" of incidents in which "harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported". "Instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned," it added in a statement. GHF called the UN report "false and misleading", claiming that "most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys". Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, told AFP that Israeli forces killed 45 people overall in the territory on Friday. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. Truce talks In Gaza's south, a witness said Israeli tanks were seen near Khan Yunis, reporting "intense gunfire, intermittent air strikes, artillery shelling, and ongoing bulldozing and destruction of displacement camps and agricultural land". Israel's military said troops were operating in the area against "terrorist infrastructure sites, both above and below ground". Hamas has said that as part of a potential truce deal it was willing to release 10 of the hostages taken during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the Gaza war. Netanyahu, who is under pressure to end the war after mounting military losses, said that would leave 10 living hostages still in captivity. "I hope we can complete it in a few days," he said of the initial ceasefire agreement and hostage release in an interview with US outlet Newsmax. "We'll probably have a 60-day ceasefire, get the first batch out, then use the 60-day ceasefire to negotiate an end to this." Netanyahu has said that a key condition of any deal is that Hamas first gives up its weapons and its hold on Gaza, warning that failure to do so on Israel's terms would lead to further conflict. Another issue holding up a deal is disagreement on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said. The group's 2023 attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Out of 251 hostages seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. At least 57,823 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- LeMonde
Iran's attack on Qatar air base hit geodesic dome used for US communications, satellite photos show
An Iranian attack on an air base in Qatar that's key to the US military hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analyzed on Friday, July 11 show. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell acknowledged that an Iranian ballistic missile had hit the dome. Qatar did not respond to requests for comment about the damage. The Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar's capital, on June 23 came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran − and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war. The Iranian attack otherwise did little damage − likely because the US evacuated its aircraft from the base, which is home to the forward headquarters of the US military's Central Command, before the attack. Trump also has said that Iran signaled when and how it would retaliate, allowing American and Qatari air defense to be ready for the attack, which briefly disrupted air travel in the Middle East, but otherwise didn't tip over into the regional war long feared by analysts. Images show burn marks, dome gone after attack Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack. The US Air Force's 379 th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, announced in 2016 the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome. Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images. In a statement, Parnell said the missile strike "did minimal damage to equipment and structures on the base. Al Udeid Air Base remains fully operational and capable of conducting its mission, alongside our Qatari partners, to provide security and stability in the region." The London-based satellite news channel Iran International first reported on the damage, citing satellite photos taken by a different provider. Trump downplayed attack while Iran boasted about it In the US, Trump described the Iranian attack as a "very weak response." He had said that Tehran fired 14 missiles, with 13 intercepted and one being "set free" as it was going in a "nonthreatening" direction. "I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured," he wrote on Truth Social. The White House had no immediate comment after Parnell's acknowledgment Friday. Trump visited Al Udeid Air Base on May 15 as part of his Mideast tour . After the attack, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted that the air base had been the "target of a destructive and powerful missile attack." Iran's Supreme National Security Council also said that the base had been "smashed," without offering any specific damage assessments. Potentially signaling that he knew the dome had been hit, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei separately said that the base's communications had been disconnected by the attack. "All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the US command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut," said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.
