Israeli prime minister says he will not support 15-point plan hailed by Donald Trump <\/p>\n
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> has rejected a Gaza<\/strong> plan hailed by US president Donald Trump<\/strong>, vowing no military pullout of Gaza until Hamas<\/strong> is \u201cgenuinely\u201d disarmed.
\u201cIsrael rejects the 15-point document,\u201d Netanyahu said, referring to a plan endorsed in late July by Hamas.
The Israeli military \u201cwill not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens,\u201d Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, Reuters reports.
The document, the latest stage in a US-led ceasefire announced in October that has reduced but not ended Israeli operations in Gaza, said Hamas would surrender weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing body.
The plan said Israel would begin pulling out forces in tandem with the disarmament, an idea adamantly rejected by Israel which also wants Hamas to destroy its weapons.
Netanyahu said that Israel was speaking with the US about its objections. \u201cThey have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,\u201d he said.
Netanyahu said that Hamas must give up all of its weapons, a goal that Board of Peace members say is not realistically achievable. \u201cWe are talking about real disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,\u201d Netanyahu said.
Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, has selected a former commander of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to represent him on the nation\u2019s supreme security council, CNN reported<\/a>.
Mohsen Rezaei, whom CNN described as a \u201csenior Iranian military adviser\u201d, will replace Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr in this position, per CNN.
Khamenei described Rezaei as a leader of the \u201cSacred Defense\u201d which, CNN notes, is Iran\u2019s way of referring to the 1988 Iran-Iraq war.
In the official decree about Rezaei\u2019s appointment, Khamenei expressed thanks to Zolghadr for his work.
As CNN points out, it\u2019s not known whether Rezaei\u2019s appointment will affect Iran\u2019s demands of the US to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
An Israeli tank has invaded the town of Hadatha, southern Lebanon, with troops accused of setting buildings on fire, according to the Lebanese state-owned National News Agency.
Iran\u2019s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, recently met with supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since assuming the post early in the Middle East war, Khamenei\u2019s office said on Sunday.
\u201cDr Masoud Pezeshkian met Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and spoke with him at the start of his third year in the presidency,\u201d the supreme leader\u2019s office said in a statement, without indicating the date of the meeting.
Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024, said in early May that he met with Khamenei, also without specifying the date, but the supreme leader\u2019s office did not issue any statements at the time.
The president had said on Wednesday that communication with Khamenei was \u201cvery difficult at the moment\u201d, and speculation has swirled about the supreme leader\u2019s health after he was reportedly wounded in strikes that killed his father.
Khamenei\u2019s office said the two \u201cdiscussed in detail the country\u2019s issues and problems\u201d, including the \u201ccurrent military situation and future prospects\u201d.
Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that he\u2019s going to let economic pressures prompt Iran<\/a> to reopen the strait of Hormuz rather than launch another military action.
\u201cWe are low keying it,\u201d Trump told Axios<\/a>. Trump\u2019s comments came hours after Iran said that it wouldn\u2019t reopen the crucial waterway unless the US met its demands \u2013 which included never insulting or threatening the country, per Axios.
\u201cWe are only semi-negotiating with them,\u201d Trump also told the news website. \u201cWe are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.\u201d
Trump, who said Iran \u201cis in very bad shape\u201d, claimed that Americans are feeling less financial pressures from the war because oil prices are down.
\u201cIt will work out. It always works out. It\u2019s like a chess game,\u201d Trump also reportedly said.
Donald Trump has rejected<\/a> claims that the US is running low on munitions in its war with Iran \u2013 but a new report indicates that his military leadership is pushing defense companies to ramp up weapons production.
According to the Washington Post<\/a>, the deputy US defense secretary Steve Feinberg on Wednesday told defense industry heads that they must \u201cdrive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and\/or increased production for critical capabilities.\u201d
Feinberg\u2019s written directive to defense industry leaders said they had to present a plan within 21 days on how to increase production. Feinberg\u2019s instruction was in a memo obtained by the Washington Post.
\u201cYears-long development cycles are not acceptable,\u201d Feinberg reportedly wrote. \u201cWe must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.\u201d
The Pentagon\u2019s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, confirmed that this memo is \u201creal\u201d and \u201cwill inform the fiscal year 2028 budget submitted to Congress for funding, and it is entirely consistent with our ongoing push to rebuild the defense industrial base\u201d, per the newspaper.
Syria and Russia have made a deal about the Kremlin\u2019s military presence in the Middle Eastern nation, according to reports.
Russia has had a military presence in Syria since the Soviet era, but its standing there came into question after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad some two years ago, according to the New York Times<\/a>.
Russia\u2019s military presence featured two air bases as well as one naval port on the Mediterranean Sea. These bases and port were Russia\u2019s \u201conly supply and stopover hub in the eastern Mediterranean for planes and ships traveling to and from Africa,\u201d the Times notes.
Syria\u2019s foreign ministry said Sunday they forged an agreement that \u201coutlines a reorganized Russia\u2019s presence on the Syrian coast, at the Hmeimim Air Base outside the city of Latakia and at the Tartus naval port\u201d.
The Syrian government has asked Russia to send back al-Assad. After al-Assad fled Syria, Russia gave him asylum.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York progressive representative, discussed the Iran<\/a> war\u2019s impact on affordability during an interview airing Sunday, saying Trump\u2019s complaints about rising costs don\u2019t match his policies that make consumer goods more expensive.
Ocasio-Cortez was asked on ABC\u2019s This Week<\/a> about her reaction to Trump\u2019s comments<\/a> that oil companies are \u201cmaking too much money \u2026 based on a shortage\u201d due to his war on Iran.
\u201cI think that every day people, every day Americans, we can see the very large gap between what Trump, Donald Trump says and what Donald Trump does,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cDonald Trump may be saying that oil companies are making too much money, but what Donald Trump is doing is starting a reckless war in Iran, having closed door meetings with oil companies before his election, saying, you know, you give me money, you give me campaign contributions, and I will do whatever you want.\u201d
\u201cWhat he is doing is jacking up the price, not just at the pump, but at everything that you buy that requires the transportation of goods,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said.
Donald Trump\u2019s former defense secretary Mark Esper slammed Iran\u2019s list of demands for reopening the strait of Hormuz, calling them \u201cridiculous\u201d and saying they \u201cshould be rejected out of hand\u201d.
These include \u201cdemands such as the withdrawal of all US forces from the region, reimbursement for the costs of the war, the fact that we would end our blockade, we would end sanctions\u201d, Espter said<\/a> on ABC News\u2019 This Week. \u201cSo it\u2019s gone beyond the pale.\u201d
Esper\u2019s comments on ABC come as Iran maintains a stranglehold on the important waterway. For Esper, Iran\u2019s demands show \u201cthat they believe that they have the upper hand, they believe they are winning, and they are already.
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re up against right now.\u201d
Iran has effectively instituted a blockage in the strait since the US-Israel war started in February and wants to charge tolls to ships that want to travel through. Iran has attacked vessels that it claims tried to get around this blockade.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Gaza plan hailed by US president Donald Trump, vowing no military pullout of Gaza until Hamas is \u201cgenuinely\u201d disarmed. <\/strong>The Israeli military \u201cwill not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens,\u201d Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.
Here are the other key updates from today:
The US must pressure Israel to accept the next phase of the Gaza plan, a Hamas official said, after Netanyahu rejected the US-backed agreement.<\/strong> \u201cWe expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons,\u201d Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said.
A Houthi drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast.<\/strong> The Iran-backed group\u2019s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the Houthis had \u201csucceeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea coast with a drone\u201d.
Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen killed at least four troops from the internationally-recognised government forces and injured 20 more personnel, two military sources said. <\/strong>The initial toll came from strikes on the Yemeni city of Mokha and surrounding areas, as well as Khokha, south of the port city of Hodeida, the sources said on condition of anonymity, after the Houthis announced they had targeted military forces and equipment on the Red Sea coast.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian met the country\u2019s supreme \u2060leader Mojtaba Khamenei around the start of the president\u2019s third year in office in late July, state \u2060media said, \u2060and \u200ba paramilitary leader promised footage of Khamenei in the future. <\/strong>Khamenei was reportedly seriously injured in the \u200bFebruary strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran<\/a>. The promise to release footage of the leader by paramilitary Basij \u2060Organisation deputy Qasem Qoraishi appeared to be aimed \u200bat quashing speculation about his health.
Along with his rejection of the US Gaza plan earlier, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> vowed once again to prevent Iran<\/strong> from obtaining nuclear weapons, regardless of the course of diplomacy with Washington and Arab states.
\u201cI want to emphasise once again: with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran<\/a> will not have nuclear weapons,\u201d Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting.
Both the US and Israel have said a goal of their war on Iran is to stop it obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran has always maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.
Strikes by Iran-backed Houthi<\/strong> rebels on Sunday killed at least 11 people, a medical source in the Yemeni port city of Mokha<\/strong> told AFP, after an earlier drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast.
Residents in Mokha confirmed to AFP they heard blasts in the area, with one saying they \u201cheard explosions from drones and air defences over the port and city\u201d.
Another resident said they heard \u201csix consecutive explosions\u201d at the port.
The Houthis control vast swathes of Yemen<\/strong>, including the capital Sanaa and areas on the border with Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea provinces.
The group\u2019s military spokesman Yahya Saree<\/strong> said the Houthis had \u201csucceeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea coast with a drone\u201d.
He added the attack on the facility operated by Saudi Arabia\u2019s state-owned oil firm was launched in response to incursions by drones from the Gulf monarchy into northwest Yemen.
One major sticking point between the two sides over the Gaza plan is disagreement over timing commitments.
Israel has said that Israeli troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms, while Hamas \u200chas insisted that Israel<\/a> halt attacks before it begins implementing the part of the agreement dealing with its arms.
Hamas said it agreed to the plan in order \u200bto spare the people in Gaza a possible resumption of war, \u200bbut it added that the implementation of the deal would depend on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal.
Hamas avoids the use of the term \u201cdisarmament\u201d and said the group agreed to hand \u2060over weapons to be stored by the US-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza under the supervision of Trump\u2019s \u200bBoard of Peace.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s rejection of the plan and vow not to withdraw until Hamas disarms was met with praise by far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.
\u201cWe went to war with a central goal: the destruction of Hamas,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThe (military) cannot withdraw even a milimetre from the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip cannot begin any process of reconstruction before the complete dismantling and demobilization of Hamas and the Gaza Strip.\u201c
The US plan that would see Hamas disarmed and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was announced at the end of July. Here\u2019s a recap of the details of that plan from when it was announced: