Hamas Politburo chief Yahya Sinwar “dressed as a woman” while hiding among Gazans outside the terror group’s tunnel network in the Gaza Strip, Britain’s Daily Express reported Sunday, citing Israeli intelligence sources.
The New York Times also Sunday, citing US and Israeli officials, reported that Sinwar may have left the tunnels where he had been hiding on several occasions over the past year.
Sinwar has reportedly been moving from place to place in the Gaza Strip to keep up with Israeli efforts to hunt him down, the Jerusalem Post reported.
There has been no agreement in the Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, with neither Hamas nor Israel accepting the compromises presented by mediators. A senior US official, however, described the talks as “constructive,” saying they were conducted in a spirit of all sides to reach “a final and workable agreement.”
“The process will continue in the coming days through working groups to further address the remaining issues and details,” the official said, adding that the teams would remain in Cairo.
Speaking at a news conference in Halifax, Canada, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was working “feverishly” in Cairo to secure a ceasefire and a hostage deal.
According to Al Manar, the Islamic Resistance continued to attack Israeli forces on Monday.
UN humanitarian aid operations in Gaza halted on Monday after Israel issued new evacuation orders for Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, but UN operations have not been formally suspended.
The United Nations has moved its main command operations for the Gaza Strip and most of its UN personnel to Deir al-Balah after Israel ordered the evacuation of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Doha News reports that Iran’s foreign minister said his country’s response to the “Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is final and will be thoughtful and well-calculated.”
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani visited Iran on Monday. In a statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Gulf state’s foreign minister, met with newly appointed Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Both sides discussed regional tensions, developments in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories, and the latest mediation efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the enclave.
Sheikh Mohammed and Araghchi also stressed the importance of ending the war in the Strip and Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians.
For its part, Hamas reiterates its support for Biden’s previous proposal in Cairo
In a televised speech a few hours after the retaliatory attack, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah confirmed that the group had fired 340 rockets toward Israel, including the Galilot base, home to the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service.
Nasrallah noted that the retaliation was delayed for several reasons, including ceasefire talks in Gaza: “Our goal […] is to end the aggression in Gaza, so we have given him enough opportunities, but after all this time, it is clear that Netanyahu is putting new conditions and the Americans are working with him and all this is a waste of time, so there was no reason to delay it further,” Nasrallah said.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Iran’s foreign minister said his country’s response to “the Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is final and will be thoughtful and well-calculated (…) We do not fear escalation, but we do not seek it, unlike Israel,” Araghchi told X, following a phone call with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.
Araghchi also held phone calls with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey on Saturday and Sunday.
An Israeli general from the reserve denounced Netanyahu’s handling of the war with Hamas in an interview with ABC News. Noam Tibon, who defended a kibbutz during the October 7 Hamas attack, called Netanyahu’s approach to the war “more political and not in the best interest of achieving a ceasefire.”
And according to an August 26 Pew Research Center poll, most Israeli adults do not post or share online and political and social topics, including the war between Israel and Hamas. The survey was conducted from March 3 to April 4, 2024.
Also, at least half of Israeli adults say that certain types of social media posts related to the war should not be allowed, such as graphic content, inciting violence or expressing support for Hamas.
A Greek-flagged tanker attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea is burning in the Red Sea, but has not yet caused an oil spill, the European Union naval command said.
The attack on the Sounion marks the most serious assault in weeks by the Houthis, who continue to target ships crossing the Red Sea because of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Images released by the EU’s Operation Aspides showed smoke rising from multiple points along the deck of the Sounion. Fires could be seen burning in at least nine different spots on the deck of the ship, which had been loaded with 150,000 tons of Iraqi crude oil, approximately 1 million barrels. Some flames appeared near the ship’s oil tank hatches.
And now a look at the military operations in Gaza.
During the day, the IAF struck Hezbollah military facilities in the areas of Kfarkela and Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon. Additionally, IDF artillery struck in the areas of Chebaa and Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.
In Gaza, the IDF found a weapons cache in a house on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah. Additionally, the Israelis located and dismantled an approximately 700-meter-long Hamas underground route, locating stored ammunition, anti-tank missiles, military vests, and knives.
Sirens sounded in Malkia, in Ayelet Hashahar, northern Israel, in the afternoon.
In a statement, Hezbollah announced that Islamic Resistance fighters targeted espionage equipment at the Ramya site with a drone at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, August 26. The attack drones violated Palestinian airspace and reached Ayelet Hashahar in the Upper Galilee.
Israeli warplanes and military drones launched several airstrikes on cities and towns in southern Lebanon: One drone airstrike targeted a car in the city of Sidon when Hamas official Nidal Hlayhel Abu Omar was about to get into it. He was seriously injured and was taken to hospital.
Additionally, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on the outskirts of several cities in southern Lebanon, including Zawtar, Alman, Kfarkila, Mays Al-Jabal and others.
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Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
