Israel to send negotiating team to Qatar after electricity cut to Gaza threat
An Israeli mediating team is expected to travel to Qatar on Monday to continue fragile negotiations over the release of remaining hostages held in Gaza and the ceasefire with Hamas.
Israeli media reports that the delegation will include government coordinator for the hostages Gal Hirsch, and senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu Ophir Falk. US president Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is also expected to arrive in Doha later in the week, potentially on Wednesday.
Israel said over the weekend it plans to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza. In a video announcing the directive, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, said that Israel would use “all means available … to ensure the return of all Israeli hostages” and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza after the war. Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail.”
Key events
Hamas has said that it has dealt with ceasefire and hostage release negotiations with flexibility, and that it is awaiting to hear the outcome of discussions between mediators and Israel, Reuters reports.
In Australia, federal police say a caravan with explosives found in Sydney that appeared to be part of a plot to launch an attack on a synagogue was a “fake terrorism plot” and “never going to cause a mass casualty event.”
The Australian federal police deputy commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said on Monday investigators now believed the caravan incident was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.
The motivation was understood to be both to distract police and divert their resources away from organised crime, as well as to create plots that incarcerated criminals could use to tip off law enforcement as a gesture to reduce their sentences.
“The findings of this investigation should not in any way diminish the summer of fear and anxiety which the Jewish community experienced or the vicious nature of the attacks which included the attempted arson of Synagogues and the firebombing of a childcare centre,” president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossip said.
Elias Visontay and Daisy Dumas have a full report here: Sydney caravan a ‘fake terrorism plot’ by criminals hoping to cause fear for personal benefit, police allege
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said he has spoken to Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani. Reuters reports Barrot said he had discussed the latest violence in Syria and told al-Shaibani that France wanted that those responsible for the violence to be punished.
Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting multiple arrests overnight by Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
It reports that 11 people were arrested in Hebron, and that further detentions of Palestinians took place in Qalqilya, Jalazone and Bethlehem.
IDF to replace Daniel Hagari with new official spokesperson Effie Defrin
Israel has announced that the position of official IDF spokesperson will be taken up by BG Effie Defrin, who will replace Rr Adm Daniel Hagari “following an orderly and professional transition.”
In a statement the IDF said that Defrin had been appointed by the new chief of the general staff, Eyal Zamir, and the appointment had been approved by Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz.
Israel to send negotiating team to Qatar after electricity cut to Gaza threat
An Israeli mediating team is expected to travel to Qatar on Monday to continue fragile negotiations over the release of remaining hostages held in Gaza and the ceasefire with Hamas.
Israeli media reports that the delegation will include government coordinator for the hostages Gal Hirsch, and senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu Ophir Falk. US president Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is also expected to arrive in Doha later in the week, potentially on Wednesday.
Israel said over the weekend it plans to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza. In a video announcing the directive, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, said that Israel would use “all means available … to ensure the return of all Israeli hostages” and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza after the war. Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail.”
Welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing coverage of conflict in the Middle East. Here are the latest headlines …
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Israel has said it will cut off remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in what appears to be an attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory. Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail”. International humanitarian law prohibits collective punishment
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An Israeli negotiating team is expected to leave for Qatar on Monday for the renewal of talks. US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive in Doha later this week
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The UN has condemned what it called “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being killed in north-west Syria as clashes between security forces and Assad regime loyalists resulted in the country’s highest death toll since the start of its revolution in 2011
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US immigration agents have arrested Palestinian graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who has played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at New York’s Columbia University. Secretary of state Marco Rubio said “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported”
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Iran has said it would consider negotiations with the United States if talks were confined to concerns about the militarisation of the country’s nuclear programme
