DUBAI: Several officials in the Middle East and the US believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure — including Israel’s ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.”
Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel’s destruction, is highly secretive and little is known about its inner workings.
But in recent internal communications seen by The Associated Press, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in Gaza urged the group’s exiled political leadership to accept the ceasefire proposal pitched by US President Joe Biden.
The messages, shared by a Middle East official familiar with the ongoing negotiations, described the heavy losses Hamas has suffered on the battlefield and the dire conditions in the war-ravaged territory. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to share the contents of internal Hamas communications.
It was not known if this internal pressure was a factor in Hamas’ flexibility. But the messages indicate divisions within the group and a readiness among top militants to reach a deal quickly, even if Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, may not be in a rush. Sinwar has been in hiding since the war erupted last October and is believed to be holed up in a tunnel deep underground.
US officials declined to comment on the communications.
But a person familiar with Western intelligence who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter said the group’s leadership understands its forces have suffered heavy losses and that has helped Hamas move closer to a ceasefire deal.
Two US officials say the Americans are aware of internal divisions within Hamas and that those divisions, the destruction in Gaza or pressure from mediators Egypt and Qatar could have been factors in the militant group softening its demands for a deal. The US officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s view of the current situation.
The Middle Eastern official shared details from two internal Hamas communications, both written by senior officials inside Gaza to the group’s exiled leadership in Qatar, where Hamas’ supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is based.
The communication suggested that the war had taken a toll on Hamas fighters, with the senior figures urging the militant’s political wing abroad to accept the deal despite Sinwar’s reluctance.
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha dismissed any suggestions of divisions within the group.
“The movement’s position is unified and is crystallized through the organizational framework of the leadership,” he said.
The intelligence official showed The Associated Press a transcript of the communications in Arabic, but declined to share specific details about how the information was obtained, or the raw form of the communications.
The official said the communications took place in May and June and came from multiple senior officials inside the group’s military wing in Gaza.
The messages acknowledged Hamas fighters had been killed and the level of devastation to the Gaza Strip wrought by the Israeli campaign in the enclave. They also suggest that Sinwar either isn’t fully aware of the toll of the fighting or isn’t fully communicating it to those negotiating outside of the territory.
It was not known whether Haniyeh or any other top officials in Qatar had responded.
Israeli officials declined to comment on the communications. Egypt and Qatar also had no immediate comment.
Egypt and Qatar have been working with the United States to broker a ceasefire and end the devastating nine-month war. After months of fits and starts, talks resumed last week and are scheduled to continue in the coming days.
A deal is still not guaranteed. Netanyahu’s office announced over the weekend that “gaps still remain.” The US officials said they are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for a ceasefire based on the latest developments, but stressed that numerous efforts had looked promising only to fall through.
Still, the sides appear closer to a deal than they have been in months.
Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ October attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages — about a third of them thought to be dead.
Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials.
Both Hamas and Egyptian officials confirmed Saturday that Hamas has dropped a key demand that Israel commit up front to end the war. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected this demand, leaving the talks stalled for months.
Instead, the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said the phased deal would start with a six-week ceasefire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Talks on a broader deal, including an end to the war, would only begin during this phase, they said.
Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Israel destroys Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, even if hostages are freed.
Gaza destruction likely helped push Hamas to soften ceasefire demands, several officials say
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Gaza destruction likely helped push Hamas to soften ceasefire demands, several officials say
- Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal
- Egypt and Qatar have been working with the US to broker a ceasefire and end the devastating nine-month war
US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East
- The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group will be joined by the Carl Vinson “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement
WASHINGTON: The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Houthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.
The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.
“The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.
The Houthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Houthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
He has also ramped up rhetoric toward Tehran, with the president threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.
The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.
The officials, including Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.
Algeria says it downed a drone near its border with Mali as tensions simmer between the 2 countries
- Algeria has denounced the direction that Mali’s new government has taken and its expanded efforts to quash rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali
- Algeria once served as a key mediator during more than a decade of conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels
BAMAKO, Mali: Algeria said Tuesday it shot down a military drone near the country’s border with Mali in the first incident of its kind during growing tensions between the two countries governing a vast portion of the Sahara.
The country’s army said in a statement that the armed reconnaissance drone had entered Algerian airspace Monday near Tin Zaouatine, a border town and stronghold for Tuareg separatists opposed to Mali’s government. Mali’s army acknowledged that one of its drones had crashed in the area, but did not confirm whether it was shot down by Algeria.
Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the shooting down of the drone — rather than issuing a warning — reflected simmering frustrations.
It “confirms the serious tensions between the countries and unwillingness and zero tolerance by Algeria to allow the use of its airspace and territory by Malian forces,” he said.
The incident comes as tensions rise between Algeria and its southern neighbors, including Mali.
Algeria once served as a key mediator during more than a decade of conflict between Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels. But the two countries have grown apart since a military junta staged coups in 2020 and 2021, putting military personnel in charge of the country’s key institutions.
Algeria has denounced the direction that Mali’s new government has taken and its expanded efforts to quash rebellion in historically volatile parts of northern Mali. Afraid of conflict spilling over the border, Algerian officials have denounced Mali’s use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near Tin Zaouatine, which is divided by the border separating the two countries.
But failures to curb instability in northern Mali have led to the downfall of previous governments and Mali’s Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga addressed the issue in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last year, promising to respond swiftly to violence in the north.
Algeria has one of Africa’s largest militaries and has long considered itself a regional power but military leaders in neighboring Mali and Niger have distanced themselves as they’ve championed autonomy and sought new alliances, including with Russia.
Algeria did not specify who the drone it intercepted belonged to. A spokesperson for Mali’s army declined to comment when asked about Algeria’s alleging that an armed drone had crossed its border, but said the crash didn’t hurt anyone or cause property damage.
Unverified video circulating on social media showed images of an Akinci drone manufactured by Baykar downed in Tin Zaouatine. Mali purchased at least two from the Turkish company last year and has used them against armed separatists as well as fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.
Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade
- Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans
- He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces
IRBIL: The annual parade by Assyrian Christians in the Iraqi city of Dohuk to mark their new year was marred Tuesday when an axe-wielding man attacked the procession and wounded three people, witnesses and local officials said.
The parade, held every year on April 1, drew thousands of Assyrians from Iraq and across the diaspora, who marched through Dohuk in northern Iraq waving Assyrian flags and wearing colorful traditional clothes.
Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans.
He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces. Videos circulated online showed him pinned to the ground, repeatedly shouting, “Daesh, the Daesh remains.”
The victims included a 17-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman, both of whom suffered skull fractures. A member of the local security forces, who was operating a surveillance drone, was also injured. All three were hospitalized, local security officials said.
At the hospital where her 17-year-old son Fardi was being treated after suffering a skull injury in the attack, Athraa Abdullah told The Associated Press that her son had come with his friends in buses. He was sending photos from the celebrations shortly before his friends called to say he had been attacked, she said.
Abdullah, whose family was displaced when Daesh militants swept into their area in 2014, said, “We were already attacked and displaced by Daesh, and today we faced a terrorist attack at a place we came to for shelter.”
Janet Aprem Odisho, whose 75-year-old mother Yoniyah Khoshaba was among the wounded, said she and her mother were shopping near the parade when the attack happened.
“He was running at us with an axe,” she said. “All I remember is that he hit my mother, and I ran away when she fell. He had already attacked a young man who was bleeding in the street, then he tried to attack more people.”
Her family, originally from Baghdad, was also displaced by past violence and now lives in Ain Baqre village near the town of Alqosh.
Assyrians faced a wave of hate speech and offensive comments on social media following the incident.
Ninab Yousif Toma, a political bureau member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), condemned the regional government in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Iraqi federal authorities to address extremist indoctrination.
“We request both governments to review the religious and education curriculums that plant hate in people’s heads and encourage ethnic and religious extremism,” he said. “This was obviously an inhumane terrorist attack.”
However, he said that the Assyrian community had celebrated their new year, known as Akitu, in Duhok since the 1990s without incidents of violence and acknowledged the support of local Kurdish Muslim residents.
“The Kurds in Duhok serve us water and candy even when they are fasting for Ramadan. This was likely an individual, unplanned attack, and it will not scare our people,” he said, adding that the community was waiting for the results of the official investigation and planned to file an official lawsuit.
“The Middle East is governed by religion, and as minorities, we suffer double because we are both ethnically and religiously different from the majority,” he said. “But we have a cause, and we marched today to show that we have existed here for thousands of years. This attack will not stop our people.”
Despite the attack, Assyrians continued the celebrations of the holiday, which symbolizes renewal and rebirth in Assyrian culture as well as resilience and continuous existence as an indigenous group.
At one point, as the injured teenager was rushed to the hospital, some participants wrapped his head in an Assyrian flag, which was later lifted again in the parade— stained with blood but held high as a symbol of resilience.
Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says
- Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas
DAMASCUS: Syria suffered a nationwide power outage on Tuesday night due to malfunctions at several points in the national grid, a spokesperson from the energy ministry told Reuters.
The spokesperson said technical teams were addressing the issues.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas. Damage to the grid means that generating or supplying more power is only part of the problem.
Damascus used to receive the bulk of its oil for power generation from Iran, but supplies have been cut off since Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham led
the ouster of Tehran-allied former president Bashar Assad in December.
The former interim government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has pledged to quickly ramp up power supply, partly by importing electricity from Jordan and using floating power barges.
Damascus also said it will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkiye and Qatar to boost energy supplies.
Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students
- Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott
ISTANBUL: The leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party has called for a boycott on Wednesday to protest the detention of students rallying in support of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor.
“Stop all purchases! Supermarkets, online shopping, restaurants, petrol, coffees, bills, buy nothing,” said Ozgur Ozel, head of the CHP party to which mayor Ekrem Imamoglu belongs, on Tuesday.
“I invite everyone to use their consumer power by participating in this boycott,” added Ozel, echoing an appeal launched by student groups.
Ozel said 301 students have been arrested and detained for taking part in the protests against the detention on March 19 of Imamoglu, widely considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s greatest political rival.
In the wake of his message, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
That investigation would notably probe “incitement to hatred,” the agency added.
Lawyers and politicians supportive of Imamoglu have denounced rough treatment of students by police.
The CHP leader had already launched a call to boycott dozens of Turkish companies and groups reputed to be close to the government, in a bid to put pressure on the authorities.
Imamoglu’s arrest on corruption charges, which he denies, have set off a wave of popular protests unseen in Turkiye for more than a decade.
Turkiye’s authorities had banned demonstrations in Istanbul, the large western city of Izmir and the capital Ankara in response.
