'Israeli's are going to give this a chance', Board of Peace official says of US peace plan
Herzog says Israeli security interests 'central element' in peace plan
Israel President Isaac Herzog met with Trump envoy Jared Kushner along with Board of Peace representatives at the president's residence in Jerusalem on Monday.
He praised President Trump's peace plan and said he was impressed that Israel's security interests are "an important and central element" of the plan.
‘Kushner will be putting pressure on Netanyahu to come up with some compromise’, FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle says
The Trump administration is stepping up diplomatic efforts to secure a lasting peace for Gaza. US envoy Jared Kushner is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to persuade him to back a 15-point US-led peace proposal.
However, with Netanyahu facing major political and personal obstacles ahead of a possible re-election, these talks may fail to bring about a breakthrough.
Watch FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle to find out more.
Netanyahu asks for US general to supervise Hamas arms surrender, Israeli official says
Netanyahu tells Kushner no Israeli pullout in Gaza without Hamas disarmament, Israeli official says
‘Kushner will be putting pressure on Netanyahu to come up with some compromise’, FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle says
The Trump administration is stepping up diplomatic efforts to secure a lasting peace for Gaza. US envoy Jared Kushner is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to persuade him to back a 15-point US-led peace proposal.
However, with Netanyahu facing major political and personal obstacles ahead of a possible re-election, these talks may fail to bring about a breakthrough.
Watch FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle to find out more.
Kushner meets Netanyahu in US bid to shift stalemate in Gaza
US envoy Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after holding talks with Hamas leaders in Egypt aimed at reviving a US-backed Gaza peace plan that Israel has so far rejected.
Watch FRANCE 24's Middle East correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky to find out more on the high-stakes visit.
Iran to shift its policy from defensive to 'fully offensive', senior official says
Iran to escalate tensions in region if diplomacy with US fails, senior official says
Iran will escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region if diplomacy with the U.S. fails, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, pointing to an Iranian policy shift relying on offense rather than defence.
Iran sets a deadline of a few weeks to fully implement interim peace deal
- Trump threatens to bomb Oman if they get in way of Hormuz deal
- Iran sets a deadline of a few weeks to fully implement interim peace deal
- Iran to shift its policy from defensive to 'fully offensive', senior official says
Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Saudi military landing ship, four escort vessels off Mocha coast in Red Sea
Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday they had targeted a Saudi military vessel and four accompanying boats in the Red Sea as part of their maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.
Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for the Iran-backed group, said it had "succeeded in targeting a military landing ship belonging to the Saudi enemy, accompanied by four military patrol boats, in the Red Sea off the coast of Mokha, using several ballistic missiles".
He went on to claim that the ship and number of other boats were sunk or burned, though the claim could not be independently verified. Riyadh did not immediately respond to the announcement.
Trump threatens to bomb Oman if they get in way of Hormuz deal
Tanker salvage and oil spill clean-up hampered by weather and technical challenges, Oman says
Weather conditions and operational challenges were hampering salvage efforts for a grounded tanker that was leaking Russian crude oil in a protected marine area off Oman's coast, the sultanate's state news agency reported on Monday.
Oman has been coordinating the salvage operation with risk-management company Ambrey as part of efforts to contain environmental damage from a spill that some estimates put at 2,000 sq km. The government's environment agency gave an official estimate of 400 sq km on August 10 but has yet to issue an update.
The spill from the Caroline Bezengi tanker — apparently the result of an unexplained attack on the vessel in June — has spread around a nature reserve and hit Oman's coastline on Wednesday.
Yemen parties must halt actions risking return to 'full-scale conflict', UN says
The UN rights chief voiced alarm Monday at the rising civilian toll of escalating hostilities in Yemen, urging restraint and an immediate de-escalation to avoid plunging the country back into a full-scale war.
"I urge all parties to halt immediately any actions that risk returning Yemen to full-scale conflict," Volker Turk said in a statement, as renewed fighting between the Houthi rebels and the government undermined a 2022 truce.
Trump says Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon 'in any way, shape, or form'
US President Donald Trump reiterated on Monday that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon amid a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict.
"The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran says it is near finalising deal with Oman over plan for Strait of Hormuz shipping
Iran said Monday it is working to finalise a joint statement with Oman on a plan to manage the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Fully reopening the waterway to commercial shipping has been a key demand of the United States, but it remains unclear whether the deal will meet Washington's criteria.
The announcement came as the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the US and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were two months ago.
Drones launched from Iran attack PM's office in Iraqi Kurdistan, officials say
Two Iranian drones targeted the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office and the home of the autonomous region's intelligence chief overnight, authorities said Monday.
"Following an investigation by the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Unit, my personal office and the home of the head of the Security and Intelligence Agency were targeted by Iranian drone attacks earlier today," Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said, in a post on X.
"This is a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the security and stability of the Kurdistan region."
The regional Counter-Terrorism Directorate said there were no casualties in the attack.
Iran considers missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar
Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday it will consider three missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar, despite Doha's denials, until it clarifies their fate.
Tehran has said the Iranians went missing while carrying out an operation against the United States' Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on March 2, shortly after the outbreak of the Middle East war.
On Saturday, Iranian authorities alleged for the first time that the pilots had been captured in Qatar, after previously saying one pilot had been killed and three others were missing following their sortie.
"It is imperative to obtain clarification on their situation," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a weekly press briefing.
"Until the pilots' situation is clarified, we consider them prisoners and will spare no effort to shed light on their fate."
Drones attack the Kurdistan Regional Government prime minister's office in Iraq
Two drones attacked the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government's prime minister in Iraq on Monday, the KRG security agency said.
The attacks were launched from Iranian territory and no human casualties were reported, according to a KRG statement.
Yesterday's developments:
- US negotiator and President Donald Trump 's son-in-law Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with the Hamas chief on Sunday in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire ahead of Monday's meeting with Israel 's prime minister, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed roadmap.
- An extremist Israeli lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's coalition publicly advocated for killing "30 to 40 people" in Gaza each night, comments that surfaced Sunday and were quickly shared by Palestinian media.
- The top US military commander in the Middle East praised the leadership of the long-deployed USS Lincoln after visiting the sailors on the vessel during a regional tour that ended on Saturday, the US Central Command said.
- Iran's military announced it was offering a bounty equivalent to $30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers , with the reward doubled if carried out by a woman.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
