Live Updates: Israel orders army to intensify Gaza onslaught

Monday, August 19, 2024

5:10 GMT — Israel orders army to intensify Gaza onslaught

Israel has decided to escalate its carnage in besieged Gaza to improve its position in Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap talks, an Israeli news website said.

"The Israeli security cabinet recently instructed the military to intensify its operations in Gaza to strengthen Israel's position in the negotiations," Walla reported, citing unnamed political sources.

04:14 GMT — Biden says Gaza ceasefire deal 'still possible'

US President Joe Biden said he believes that a ceasefire in besieged Gaza is "still possible."

The talks are "still underway. We're not giving up. (It's) still possible," Biden told reporters.

03:47 GMT — Israeli army wounds Palestinian journalist covering Gaza carnage

The Israeli army wounded a Palestinian journalist while she was covering the invasion of northwestern Khan Younis in the southern besieged Gaza.

Israeli occupation forces fired directly at a group of journalists, striking Salma al-Qadoumi in the back, witnesses told Anadolu Agency.

03:14 GMT — Saudi foreign minister, Blinken discuss Gaza ceasefire efforts

Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in besieged Gaza in a phone call with his US counterpart Antony Blinken.

The top diplomats discussed "developments in the region, including efforts to end the war on the Gaza Strip and developments in Sudan and Yemen," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

02:30 GMT — Hamas informs Türkiye of stalled negotiations with Israel despite US optimism

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas informed Türkiye that despite the US painting a rosy picture of negotiations on reaching a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, the actual situation is not like that, and Israel did not even respond to the proposals from mediators in the last week's talks.

According to Turkish diplomatic sources, Hamas officials contacted Türkiye over the weekend and provided information about the negotiation process with Israel.

The officials pointed out that although the Americans portrayed the progress of the negotiations in an optimistic manner, this was not actually the case.

According to Hamas, the conditions put forward by Israel have even fallen short of the scenario supported by the UN Security Council on June 10 and the conditions approved by Hamas on July 2.

It stressed that Israel wants Hamas to accept Israel's presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, to control the checkpoints in the Netzarim Corridor and to monitor Palestinians passing from south to north and to veto 100 names from a list of about 300 prisoners that Hamas wants to be released.

Another demand involves the number of Palestinians that Israel wants to be exiled from Gaza and Ramallah. In this context, Israel wants 200 people to leave Palestine.

For our live updates from Sunday, August 18, 2024, click here.