negotiations

Trump threatens to destroy Iran energy sites, desalination plants if talks fail

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

United States President Donald Trump walks toward the White House upon his arrival in Washington, DC, from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, on March 23, 2026. [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]

US President Donald Trump on Monday said negotiations with Iran to end joint US-Israeli strikes were progressing, but warned that the country’s crucial energy infrastructure would be destroyed if talks do not soon bear fruit, Anadolu reports.

“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.

Despite the warning, he said “serious discussions” were ongoing with a “new and more reasonable” Iranian regime.

Trump later told Bloomberg that Iran wants “to settle,” suggesting the war is going “unbelievably well.”

READ: Israeli nuclear city emerges as focal point in escalating Iran–Israel confrontation

Iran said Monday it has held no direct negotiations with the US, saying recent contacts were limited to messages conveyed through intermediaries. Regional countries have sought to broker an agreement between the sides, with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar signaling Islamabad would be willing to host talks.

On Sunday, Trump had encouraged diplomatic efforts, with intermediaries including Pakistan, Turkiye, and Egypt involved in indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran. He said indirect talks via Pakistani “emissaries” were progressing, adding: “A deal could be made fairly quickly.”

Many senior Iranian officials are among the 1,340 people killed in the air offensive the US and Israel launched against Iran on Feb. 28, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage while disrupting global markets and aviation.

READ: US could meet Iran war objectives in weeks, says Rubio

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up".
Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.

Continue ReadingTrump threatens to destroy Iran energy sites, desalination plants if talks fail

Hamas says it will free all Israeli hostages if an end to the war in Gaza is guaranteed

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/hamas-says-it-will-free-all-israeli-hostages-if-end-war-gaza-guaranteed

Alaa Manoun, who is seven months pregnant, is rescued from her family’s home after it was struck by an Israeli army attack that killed at least seven people, including her mother, daughter, and husband, in Jabalia al-Balad, Gaza City, April 13, 2025

HAMAS will free its Israeli hostages if an end to the Gaza war is guaranteed, a senior official from the resistance group said today.

Taher al-Nunu said: “We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid.”

Hamas is taking part in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – directed by the United States – to broker a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

But Mr Nunu accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire.

He said: “The issue is not the number of captives but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war.

“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation [Israel] to uphold the agreement.”

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/hamas-says-it-will-free-all-israeli-hostages-if-end-war-gaza-guaranteed

Continue ReadingHamas says it will free all Israeli hostages if an end to the war in Gaza is guaranteed

Gaza ‘humanitarian zone’ struck almost 100 times since May, BBC Verify finds

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jld7j50eo

The area in Gaza which Israel’s military has told people to go to “for their safety” has been hit by 97 strikes since May, BBC Verify analysis has revealed.

The findings come as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appear to be nearing a breakthrough. Mediators in Qatar say talks are in their final stages, raising hopes that an agreement could be reached soon.

The “humanitarian zone” was first established by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in October 2023 to protect civilians and keep them out of harms way.

On 6 May 2024, the IDF significantly expanded the zone to include the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

The area – much of which is a strip of land along the Mediterranean sea – is densely populated and is estimated to have over a million people living there according to international humanitarian organisations. Many people are living in tents, with limited infrastructure and limited access to aid.

Local media reports indicate more than 550 people have been killed in the 97 strikes mapped by BBC Verify.

In a statement to BBC Verify, the IDF said it was targeting Hamas fighters operating in the “humanitarian zone” and accused the group of violating international law while “exploiting” civilians as human shields and launching rockets from the area.

…

Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jld7j50eo

Continue ReadingGaza ‘humanitarian zone’ struck almost 100 times since May, BBC Verify finds

Israeli Assault on Gaza, West Bank Continues in ‘Final Stage’ of Cease-Fire Talks

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Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A father cries while carrying the body of his child wrapped in a blood-stained shroud west of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on January 14, 2025. (Photo: Youssef Alzanoun/Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images)

“As a cease-fire in Gaza is near, Israel is expanding its assault on the West Bank,” said one expert. “It was always a war on Palestinian existence.”

As negotiators in Qatar navigated the “final stage” of a cease-fire agreement to end the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, Israel’s forces on Tuesday continued to kill Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave and the illegally occupied West Bank.

Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed at least 46,645 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 110,012, with over 10,000 others missing, health officials said Tuesday. The true death toll could be much higher. A peer-reviewed analysis published last week in The Lancetfound that the official tally through last June was likely a 41% undercount.

The Palestinian National Authority’s news agency WAFA reported Tuesday that IDF shelling killed at least two civilians at the Nuseirat refugee camp and a correspondent in Gaza City “said that Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, and another house in the Manara neighborhood, south of Khan Younis City, killing several civilians and injuring others.”

According to multiple media outlets, Israeli forces also killed at least 13 people in an attack on a home in Deir al-Balah.

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Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its assault on Gaza and in November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.

In addition to waging war on Gaza over the past 15 months, Israel has stepped up its military activity in the West Bank—where a Tuesday strike on the Jenin refugee camp killed at least six Palestinians and wounded several others. The Times of Israel reported that “the IDF said it carried out the strike in a joint operation with the Shin Bet, without immediately providing further information.”

The Israeli newspaper also noted that “on Tuesday evening, as on many previous Tuesday nights, thousands gather for a unity rally of prayer and song held in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square,” while hundreds of right-wing demonstrators blocked “an intersection in central Jerusalem, in protest of the ongoing hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas.”

According to a draft obtained by The Associated Press, the first part of the three-stage deal would involve a halt to the fighting, both sides releasing captives, displaced Palestinians in Gaza returning home, and more humanitarian aid entering the strip.

Phase two would feature a declaration of “sustainable calm” and Hamas freeing more hostages in exchange for additional Palestinian prisoners and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, AP reported. The third part would include an exchange of bodies, a reconstruction plan for the strip—where civilian infrastructure is in ruins—and the reopening of border crossings.

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“The terms of the deal being negotiated are largely consistent with what was on the table last May when outgoing President Joe Biden first announced it. Biden allowed Netanyahu to steamroll him for months—rewarding Israel with billions of dollars in arms transfers and political support after rejecting that cease-fire deal,” Jeremy Scahill detailed at Drop Site News.

The latest cease-fire talks come as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his inauguration next Monday. The Republican has been pushing for a resolution to Israel’s assault on Gaza—or at least an appearance of one—before he returns to office.

“The fact that Trump emerged as the decisive player in pushing a potential cease-fire forward is evidence that Biden never used the full powers available to a sitting U.S. president to seal the deal in the summer,” wrote Scahill. “While Trump has publicly repeated his threat that he will ‘unleash hell’ on Hamas if the Israeli hostages are not freed, his pressure has not been solely focused on Hamas; Trump and his aides have made clear to Netanyahu that the president-elect expects Israel to comply with his demands, too.”

Netanyahu on Tuesday told hostages’ families that “he is willing to agree to a prolonged cease-fire Gaza in exchange for their return,” according toHaaretz. Later Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported that the prime minister was meeting with “Israel’s hostage negotiation team and with members of Israel’s security establishment,” and expected negotiations to go through the night.

Even if a deal is reached regarding Gaza, some experts fear the bloodshed will continue there and in the West Bank

“There will possibly be an end to the Gaza war, but there will be now another war in the West Bank,” Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian analyst and director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, told Scahill. “It may not be on the same scale, but it would be as vicious from the settlers, from the Netanyahu government.”

Gazan writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada wrote for the U.S.-based Center for International Policy last week that a senior Arab official told him the U.S. president-elect asked the Qataris and Egyptians to finalize a deal before he takes office but the Israeli prime minister “is not budging while at the same time issuing false positive statements of a breakthrough and progress to buy time and pretend to seek a deal until Trump is in office, where Netanyahu can trade the Gaza war for something big in the West Bank.”

Sharing on social media a video of the Tuesday strike on Jenin, Middle East expert Assal Rad said that “as a cease-fire in Gaza is near, Israel is expanding its assault on the West Bank. The Gaza genocide is only the most recent atrocity Israel—with the help of the U.S.—has carried out against Palestinians. The same story for 77+ years. It was always a war on Palestinian existence.”

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingIsraeli Assault on Gaza, West Bank Continues in ‘Final Stage’ of Cease-Fire Talks

Trump urges Israel to avoid unnecessary escalation

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https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250114-trump-urges-israel-to-avoid-unnecessary-escalation

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC on 8 January, 2025 [Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency]

An Israeli television channel has revealed that US President-elect Donald Trump sent a message to officials in Tel Aviv, urging Israel to avoid any “unnecessary” escalation and refrain from statements that could lead to regional conflicts, particularly during the transition period before his administration begins.

Channel 12 reported that Trump’s aides informed Israeli officials that the incoming US administration aims to achieve stability in the Middle East, focusing on fostering “peace” between Israel and Lebanon and maintaining the ongoing ceasefire.

In his discussions with Israeli officials, Trump emphasised that he had no intention of engaging in new wars during the early days of his presidency, as he intends to prioritise addressing domestic issues in the United States.

According to the channel, Trump has personally begun intervening in efforts to secure the release of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip. He has expressed significant interest in resolving this issue before officially taking office.

The report also mentioned that Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the next steps. Following this meeting, it was decided that the heads of Mossad and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) would be sent to Qatar to engage in direct negotiations.

READ: ‘Distinct possibility that we can get’ Gaza deal done this week, says US’ Sullivan

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Continue ReadingTrump urges Israel to avoid unnecessary escalation