The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
Mossad chief said to propose Hamas leaders leave Gaza as part of ceasefire deal
Mossad chief David Barnea proposed that Hamas leaders be exiled from the Gaza Strip as part of a broader ceasefire deal, according to a CNN report.
Citing officials familiar with the discussions, the US cable news network says Barnea raised the idea during a meeting in Warsaw last month with CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken again floated the proposal while in Doha earlier this month.
One of the officials says the Qatari premier told Blinken that the idea “would never work,” as Hamas does not trust Israel would halt military operations in Gaza after the terror group’s leaders leave the enclave.
Blinken and Greek PM discuss shipping in Red Sea amid Houthi attacks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on Monday about the importance of protecting navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea, the State Department says.
US and British forces have launched strikes across Yemen against Houthi forces in recent weeks in response to months of Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed fighters cast as a response to the war in Gaza.
US, Britain say underground storage site targeted in latest strikes on Yemen’s Houthis
WASHINGTON — The United States and Britain carried out an additional round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthis over their targeting of Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon says, targeting an underground storage site, missiles and other Houthi military capabilities.
The Pentagon details the eight new strikes in a joint statement with Britain, as well as from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, which supported the latest military action, the statement says.
“These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,” the statement says.
A separate statement from the UK Ministry of Defence says British aircraft used precision-guided bombs to strike multiple targets near the Sanaa airfield.
Egypt warns Israel that attempt to take over ‘Philadelphi Route’ will damage ties
CAIRO — Egypt warns Israel that any attempt to seize security control of the strip of land that separates Gaza and Egypt will result in a “serious threat” to relations between the neighboring countries.
The Philadelphi corridor is a 14 kilometer (nine-mile) long slice of land on Egypt-Gaza border. Israeli leaders have talked about taking control of the corridor to prevent possible weapons smuggling into Gaza. Egypt fears that a military operation on the border could push large numbers of Palestinians onto its territory.
“It must be strictly emphasized that any Israeli move in this direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations,” Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, says in an online statement.
Rashwan says Gaza’s western border is secure and that Israeli claims that weapons were being smuggled from Egypt into Gaza are false.