Trump expects final decision on Hamas peace proposal in 24 hours
The president also said he had spoken to Saudi Arabia about expanding the Abraham Accords, the deal on normalization of ties that his administration negotiated between Israel and some Gulf countries during his first term.
Trump said on Tuesday Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.
He was asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, and said: 'We'll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours.'
A source close to Hamas said on Thursday the Islamist group sought guarantees that the new U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal would lead to the end of Israel's war in Gaza.
94 Palestinians killed in air strikes and shootings in Gaza, including 45 people waiting for aid, authorities say
Hamas seeks ceasefire guarantees as Israeli strikes kill dozens more people
Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza authorities.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.
Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.
A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the U.N. and Palestinians as a proposal of 'ethnic cleansing.'
Trump made the comments on the Abraham Accords when asked about U.S. media reporting late on Thursday that he had met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House.
'It's one of the things we talked about,' Trump said. 'I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham accords,' he added, citing the predicted expansion to the damage faced by Iran from recent U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Axios reported that after the meeting with Trump, the Saudi official spoke on the phone with Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Trump's meeting with the Saudi official came ahead of a visit to Washington next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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CBC
25 minutes ago
- CBC
Hamas says it's given 'positive' response to latest ceasefire proposal
Hamas says it has given a "positive" response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza but said further talks were needed on implementation. It was not clear if Hamas's statement meant it had accepted the proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump for a 60-day ceasefire. The militant group has been seeking guarantees that the initial truce with Israel would lead to a total end to the war, now nearly 21 months old. In a statement issued late Friday, Hamas said it has "delivered the response to the mediators, which was positive." "The movement is ready in all seriousness to enter immediately into a round of negotiations on the mechanism to implement this framework," it said, without elaborating. Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office says it has recorded 613 Palestinians killed within the span of a month in Gaza while trying to obtain aid. Most were killed while trying to reach food distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization, while others were massed waiting for aid trucks connected to the UN or other humanitarian organizations, it said. WATCH | Aid organizations call for immediate change in Gaza: Palestinians caught between starvation and danger at aid sites 3 days ago Duration 2:07 Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said "it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points" operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). In a message to The Associated Press, Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were "GHF-related," meaning at or near its distribution sites. "Information keeps coming in," she said. "This is ongoing and it is unacceptable." The GHF has denied any serious injuries or deaths on its sites and says shootings outside their immediate vicinity are under the purview of Israel's military. In a statement on Friday, GHF cast doubt on the casualty figures and accused the UN of trying "to falsely smear our effort." The army says it fires warnings shots as a crowd-control measure or opens fire if its troops are threatened. The Israeli military also issued new evacuation orders on Friday in northeast Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and urged Palestinians to move west ahead of planned military operations against Hamas in the area. The new evacuation zones pushed Palestinians into increasingly smaller spaces by the coast. 20 people killed Friday while seeking aid Since the GHF began distributions in late May, witnesses have said almost daily that Israeli troops open fire toward crowds of Palestinians on the roads leading to the food centres. To reach the sites, people must walk several kilometres through an Israeli military zone where troops control the road. Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least three Palestinians were killed on Friday on the way to GHF sites in the area of Rafah, in southern Gaza. On Friday, in reaction to the UN report, the Israeli military said it was investigating reports of people killed and wounded while seeking aid and that it had given instructions to troops in the field based on "lessons learned" from reviewing the incidents. It said it was working at "minimizing possible friction between the population" and Israeli forces, including by installing fences and placing signs on the routes. Separately, witnesses have said Israeli troops open fire on crowds of Palestinians who gather in military-controlled zones to wait for aid trucks entering Gaza for the UN or other aid organizations not associated with the GHF. The crowds are usually made up of people desperate for food who grab supplies off the passing trucks, and armed gangs have also looted trucks. On Friday, 17 people were killed waiting for trucks in eastern Khan Younis, in the Tahliya area, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Three survivors told the AP they had gone to wait for the trucks in a military "red zone" in Khan Younis and that troops opened fire from a tank and drones. It was a "crowd of people, may God help them, who want to eat and live," said Seddiq Abu Farhana, who was shot in the leg, forcing him to drop a bag of flour he had grabbed. "There was direct firing." Airstrikes also hit the Muwasi area on the southern end of Gaza's Mediterranean coast, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes are sheltering in tent camps. Of the 15 people killed in the strikes, eight were women and one was a child, according to the hospital. Israel's military said it was looking into Friday's reported airstrikes. It had no immediate comment on the reported shootings surrounding the aid trucks. UN investigates shootings near aid sites In its statement reacting to the United Nations rights office report, the GHF accused the UN of taking its casualty figures "directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry" and of "promoting Hamas' false propaganda." Shamdasani, the UN rights office spokesperson, told the AP that the data "is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian organizations." Rik Peeperkorn, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the Palestinian territories, said Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital operating in southern Gaza, receives dozens or hundreds of casualties every day, most coming from the vicinity of the food distribution sites. The overwhelmed hospital has become "one massive trauma ward," he said. WHO supports Nasser Hospital and other health facilities. The International Committee of the Red Cross also said in late June that its field hospital near one of the GHF sites has been overwhelmed more than 20 times in the previous months by mass casualties. It said people had been on their way to the food distribution sites, and "the vast majority of patients suffered gunshot injuries." Also on Friday, Israel's military said it was investigating after two soldiers were killed in combat in the north of Gaza. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory has passed 57,000. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is run by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government, and its numbers are widely cited by the UN and international organizations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
Calgary Herald
28 minutes ago
- Calgary Herald
Braid: Stampede parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Article content Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content That means more than ever in this first Stampede of the Donald Trump era. Article content All Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content I loved the Peruvians in their Inca rigs. The Japanese-Canadian kids and their graceful dances were delightful. I was especially tickled by the Heritage Park guy wearing the famous train around his waist, with his hat as the smokestack. Article content Article content Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can co-exist and thrive in one nation. Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content Article content Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's very admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace. Article content I don't believe Donald Trump will ever pose a serious threat to our democracy, however much he talks about the 51st state.
Montreal Gazette
an hour ago
- Montreal Gazette
Montreal-based ‘Alligator Alcatraz' security contractor posts jobs for armed guards
News By The U.S. arm of Montreal-based security giant GardaWorld — which holds a federal contract to secure the controversial migrant detention site dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' — is hiring armed guards for a facility in the same Florida community. GardaWorld is offering full-time roles through its U.S. subsidiary, GardaWorld Federal Services, which handles U.S. federal contracts and provides armed security, logistics and emergency services across the country. While the job posting does not name the site, there appears to be no other detention facility in Ochopee. The job listing, posted 10 days ago and still appears to be active, advertises US$25 an hour for up to 60 hours per week, with flights, meals and accommodation included. Applicants must agree to live on-site for the duration of the contract. 'We are seeking highly vigilant and professional Security Guards (Armed) to maintain safety and order within the custodial facility,' the posting reads. 'In this crucial role, you will provide comprehensive external security, working in close collaboration with our custodial officers to ensure the secure supervision and movement of the facility population, and compliance with all facility regulations and protocols.' Ochopee is a tiny community about 40 kilometres from the planned detention site, which is expected to hold up to 3,000 people. The facility has drawn growing criticism from migrant advocates. GardaWorld has reportedly been awarded CAN$10.9-million contract to provide security there, according to Miami Herald, a local newspaper. It will provide correctional staffing to the site, the newspaper said, citing two unnamed sources. The site gained notoriety after U.S. President Donald Trump visited earlier this month, joking there were 'a lot of police officers in the form of alligators.' The posting outlines strict requirements for applicants. Candidates must hold Florida gun and security licences, have at least one year of armed experience, and legally own a registered semi-automatic handgun. It also demands physical resilience: guards must work in extreme heat, potentially around toxic chemicals or loud noise, and may be required to crawl, squat or lift up to 49 pounds during their shifts. GardaWorld has been contacted for comment.
