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☆ Withholding US weapons from Israel could force changes in how it fights but may not stop its devastating assault
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week amid rising concerns over a Rafah assault. Israeli soldiers work on armored military vehicles at a staging ground near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel on May 8, 2024. That would be a more difficult fight for the Israeli military, Byman said. A view shows Israeli F-16 fighter jets on a runway in an airbase in southern Israel on March 4, 2024. It is not necessarily an unprecedented move, as past US administrations have also threatened to withhold military support from Israel.

Persons: Joe Biden, —, Israel, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Daniel Byman, Byman, Israel's, CNN's Erin Burnett, We're, Raphael Cohen, Cohen, Hatem Khaled, John Kirby, Mohammed Salem, Netanyahu Organizations: US, Service, AP, State Department, Attack Munitions, Transnational, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Hezbollah, REUTERS, RAND Corporation, AIR FORCE, US Army Reserve, White House National Security Council Locations: Israel, Washington, Gaza, Rafah, I'm, Egypt

☆ Satellite imagery shows Palestinians fleeing Rafah’s tent cities as threat of major attack looms
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Paul P. Murphy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A satellite image shows tent camps in Rafah, Gaza, on May 5. Planet Labs, PBC A satellite image shows tent camps in Rafah, Gaza, on May 8. Planet Labs, PBC Satellite images show tent camps in Rafah, Gaza, on May 5 and May 8. Planet Labs, PBC A satellite image shows tent camps in Rafah, Gaza, on May 8. Planet Labs, PBC Satellite images show tent camps in Rafah, Gaza, on May 5 and May 8.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, shockwaves, Netanyahu, Gazans, Al Mawasi Organizations: CNN, Planet Labs, PBC, United Nations, Israel Defense Forces Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israel, Al, Rafah –

☆ As Gaza Talks Falter, Negotiators Look for a Deal or a Scapegoat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To understand what is happening now in the Middle East, it may be helpful to remember the dead cat. That was a favorite metaphor for Secretary of State James A. Baker III as he shuttled around the region in 1991 trying to negotiate a complicated deal. The question three decades later is whether today’s players are at that stage of the U.S.-brokered effort to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu in recent days mounted airstrikes and sent tanks into Rafah in a saber-rattling move to make clear he is serious about invading the southern Gaza city. “Part of the motivation is less to reach a deal and more to blame the other guy if it fails.

Persons: State James A, Baker III, Baker, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Netanyahu, Biden, ”, Aaron David Miller, Baker’s Organizations: State Locations: U.S, Gaza, Rafah, Israel

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Rafah crossing, bombings, Gaza ceasefire deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Displaced Palestinians are arriving in Khan Yunis with their belongings after leaving Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip due to an evacuation order by the Israeli army, in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on May 7. Majdi Fathi/NURPHO/APThe United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, according to a US official. The shipment, which was held back last week, includes 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds. CNN reported over the weekend that one shipment of ammunition to Israel had been paused, but the reason was unclear. Israeli leaders have warned for weeks that an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah will occur at some point in the future, even as the US and others have publicly stated that such a ground operation should not occur.

Persons: Majdi, Biden Organizations: United, CNN Locations: Khan Yunis, Rafah, Gaza, Israel

☆ Israeli and Hamas Negotiators Are in Cairo Under Pressure for Cease-Fire
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The Israeli ground-and-air operation in the eastern part of Rafah on Tuesday further hampered the area’s struggling medical system. Fearing a raid by Israeli forces, like those that have been carried out at hospitals across Gaza, the medical staff at al-Najjar rushed to relocate more than 200 patients. But even during the scramble to evacuate the hospital, Israeli airstrikes on Rafah continued. The Israeli military’s actions also immediately limited access to more basic health services across Rafah. That delegation was also supposed to deliver the salaries of the aid group’s medical workers in Rafah — cash they desperately needed to secure housing and transportation during the chaotic evacuation.

Persons: Abu Yousef al, ” Dr, Marwan al, Najjar, Khan Younis, Hams, ”, Israel, —, Chessa Latifi, Hatem Khaled, Kamal Adwan, “ We’ve, ” Ms, Latifi, Dr, John Kahler, MedGlobal, Kahler Organizations: Najjar, Hams, European Hospital, International Medical Corps, HOPE, ., Project HOPE, Kamal Adwan Hospital, Health, Awda Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israeli, Israel, Khan, al, U.S, Gaza City, Cairo

CNN —Israel’s attack in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, new satellite images obtained by CNN from Planet Labs show. Satellite images suggest these strikes are continuing, with one picture showing smoke still rising from one location. Palestinians arrive at Al Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, Gaza, after Israeli air strikes on May 8. Planet Labs, PBC Satellite images from May 6 and May 7 show damage in Rafah, Gaza. Planet Labs, PBC Satellite images show Rafah, Gaza, before and during an airstrike.

Persons: CNN —, Israel, Tal, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gazans, “, Jens Laerke Organizations: CNN, Planet Labs, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Al Kuwaiti, Al, PBC, ”, 401st Brigade Combat, Hamas, Food Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Egypt, Al Kuwaiti, Tal Al Sultan, ”, Geneva . Northern Gaza

☆ Turning Point or Breaking Point? Biden’s Pause on Weapons Tests Ties to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Not through the phone calls or the emissaries or the public statements or the joint committee meetings. And so, frustrated that he was being ignored, President Biden chose a more dramatic way of making himself clear to Israeli leaders. Mr. Biden’s decision to pause the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel was meant to convey a powerful signal that his patience has limits. The hold on the bombs represents a significant turning point in the 76-year-old relationship between the United States and Israel, historically one of the closest security partnerships in the world. The president has objected to such an operation out of fear that widespread civilian casualties could be caused by American bombs.

Persons: Biden, ” Mr, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Rafah

GAZA STRIP Israel Area of satellite image EGYPT Rafah crossing Israeli incursionA Satellite View of Israel’s New Front in GazaNew satellite imagery taken after Israeli forces pushed into Rafah shows widespread damage to the southern Gaza city — including large areas of flattened structures — and clusters of Israeli armored vehicles. North Israeli tanks Razed structures Damage between Monday and Tuesday Rafah crossing Rafah crossing Israeli tanks EGYPT EGYPT New debris GAZA GAZA Damage from Monday Smoke rising Smoke rising Israeli tanks Damage before Monday Israeli tanks North Damage between Monday and Tuesday Razed structures Rafah crossing EGYPT Israeli tanks New debris GAZA Damage from Monday Smoke rising Israeli tanks Damage before Monday North Israeli tanks EGYPT Damage between Monday and Tuesday Razed structures Rafah crossing New debris Israeli tanks GAZA Smoke rising Israeli tanks Damage from before Monday Source: Satellite imagery from Planet LabsWhile Israel has described the operation that began earlier this week as limited, imagery captured on Tuesday morning by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite company, shows significant destruction in parts of the city. A network of damaged buildings reaches more than two miles into the territory near Rafah’s border crossing with Egypt. Monday Tuesday GAZA STRIP Area of image Source: Satellite imagery from Planet LabsIsrael says Rafah is Hamas’s last stronghold, and a critical gateway for arms shipments smuggled into Gaza from Egypt. Local health authorities warned of a “significant increase” in the death toll because of intense Israeli bombardment across Gaza, particularly in Rafah.

Persons: Israel, Scott Anderson, al Balah, Khan, Rafah’s Abu Yousef al, Marwan al Organizations: North, Labs, Israel, Planet Labs, Tuesday GAZA, Residents, al Balah Residents, ISRAEL Residents, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Najjar, Hams Locations: GAZA, Israel, EGYPT Rafah, Gaza, Rafah, EGYPT EGYPT, EGYPT, Rafah’s, Egypt, Planet Labs Israel, Hamas’s, al, ISRAEL, Kerem, Deir, Kerem Shalom, Palestine, Local

☆ U.S. paused shipment of weapons to Israel to head off Rafah invasion, says official
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. Biden has been trying to head off a full-scale assault by the Israelis against Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian have sought refuge from combat elsewhere in Gaza. "As a result of that review, we have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs," the official said. We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment," the official said.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Biden, Israel, Karine Jean, Pierre Organizations: Palestinian Hamas, Boeing, Attack Munitions, Pentagon, Tuesday, White Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Rafah, Washington, Egypt

☆ US paused shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over potential use in Rafah incursion, US official says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, according to a US official. The shipment, which was held back last week, includes 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds. CNN reported over the weekend that one shipment of ammunition to Israel had been paused, but the reason was unclear. On Monday, Israel carried out what the US described as a “limited” operation in Rafah, taking over the border crossing with Egypt that is a vital lifeline for humanitarian aid. “We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment,” the official said.

Persons: Biden, Israel, ”, Matt Miller, “, Pat Ryder, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s, Ali Jadallah, Marc Garlasco, Sabrina Singh, “ You’ve, You’ve, I’m Organizations: CNN, Pentagon, US, Getty, UN Locations: United, Israel, Rafah, Gaza, Egypt, Anadolu, Israel’s, Vietnam

Israeli warplanes pounded targets in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Monday as the military told about 110,000 people sheltering there to evacuate. Many people began to leave, fearing that Israel was moving ahead with its long-planned invasion of Rafah, despite stiff international pressure. A military spokesman would not say when troops might enter the crowded city, but described the evacuation as part of Israel’s plans to dismantle Hamas and to free hostages taken on Oct. 7. Hours after the evacuation order, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, issued a statement that the group had accepted a new cease-fire proposal from Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as intermediaries in peace talks. The group and Israeli officials said it was not referring to the proposal that Israel recently agreed to, leaving the conflict unresolved.

Persons: Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, “, Ismail Haniyeh Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Qatar, Egypt, Israel

☆ Hamas just agreed to a cease-fire deal, but Israel is still a question mark
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Hamas said in a statement Monday that it's accepted a cease-fire proposal from Qatar and Egypt in the war with Israel, according to multiple reports. AdvertisementIt's unclear if Israel has accepted the terms of the Qatari and Egyptian cease-fire plan. The militant group's leadership announced it had agreed to the deal, Reuters reports. Hours earlier, Israel had dropped leaflets on the Gaza city of Rafah, warning citizens to evacuate ahead of military operations. Please check back for updates.

Persons: it's, Israel Organizations: Qatari Locations: Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Egyptian, Gaza, Rafah

CNN —Hamas says it has accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar which seeks to halt the seven-month war with Israel in Gaza. It’s unclear whether Hamas has agreed to the most recent ceasefire proposal, as outlined last week, or a revised version of it. Palestinians in Rafah celebrate news that Hamas has accepted a ceasefire proposal, May 6, 2024. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled to Rafah, where Hamas is believed to have regrouped after Israel’s destruction of much of the north of Gaza. IDF operations ongoingAsked whether Hamas’ acceptance of a deal could change Israel’s plans for Rafah, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the military would continue to operate in Gaza.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, William Burns, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Matthew Miller, “, ”, Daniel Hagari, ” Netanyahu, ” Itamar Ben Gvir, Netanyahu, ” Benny Gantz Organizations: CNN, Hamas, CIA, Qatari, Getty, Israel Defense Forces, Families Forum Locations: Egypt, Qatar, Israel, Gaza, Doha, Qatar’s, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, United States, Deir al, Gaza City, Rafah, AFP, Orit, Tel Aviv

☆ With Schools in Ruins, Education in Gaza Will Be Hobbled for Years
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Liam Stack | Bilal Shbair | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Amjad Abu Daqqa was among the top students at his school in Khan Younis, excelling in math and English, and he was applying for a scholarship to study in the United States when war erupted in the Gaza Strip last October. Teachers used to reward his good grades with trips to local historical sites or to the pier, where they would watch boats and take pictures of the sunset. He dreamed of going into medicine like his big sister, Nagham, who studied dentistry in Gaza City. But his old life and old dreams now feel far away. “I feel like I am a body without a soul, and I want to feel hopeful again.”

Persons: Amjad Abu Daqqa, Khan Younis, Nagham, ”, Amjad Locations: United States, Gaza, Gaza City, Rafah

☆ U.S. oil rises as Israel tells Palestinians to evacuate Rafah, Saudi Aramco increases prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this article @LCO.1@CL.1 Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTPalestinians, including children, collect usable belongings in the heavily damaged buildings after Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on February 12, 2024. Building targeted in the Israeli attacks and surrounding structures were damaged as Israel's air, land and sea attacks continue on the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Jehad Alshrafi/Anadolu via Getty Images) Jehad Alshrafi | Anadolu | Getty ImagesU.S. oil rose Monday, trying to recover from last week's steep declines, after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and Saudi Aramco raised its official crude prices. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon WTI vs. BrentBut tensions in the Middle East are rising again after the Israel Defense Forces told some 100,000 Palestinians to leave the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have stalled again, with the two sides accusing each other of sabotaging a deal.

Persons: Jehad Alshrafi, Brent Organizations: Getty, Anadolu, Saudi Aramco, West Texas Intermediate Brent, Natural Gas, Israel Defense Forces, Hamas Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Anadolu, Israel, Saudi, Iran, U.S

☆ Israel Said Hamas’s Cease-Fire Proposal Fell Short
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senior Hamas officials announced today that they had agreed to a cease-fire deal drawn up by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. But the proposal — which officials said included Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza during three 42-day phases of cease-fire — failed to meet Israeli demands. Many people began to leave, fearing that Israel was moving ahead with its long-planned invasion of Rafah despite stiff international pressure. By night, Israel carried out another round of what it called “targeted strikes” in Rafah. Hamas has called for a permanent cease-fire, effectively ending the seven-month war; Israel wants a temporary halt in fighting to allow for the exchange of hostages.

Persons: Israel’s, —, “, Israel Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Israel

☆ Hamas says latest cease-fire talks have ended. Israel vows military operation in 'very near future'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after "in-depth and serious discussions," the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected. The defense minister claimed Hamas wasn't serious about a deal and warned of "a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza." The Israeli military reported 10 projectiles were launched at the crossing in southern Israel and said its fighter jets later struck the source. Hamas would start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israel blames Hamas for civilian deaths, accusing it of embedding in residential and public areas.

Persons: Israel, Israel didn't, Yoav Gallant, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Ismail Haniyeh, Kerem Shalom, Cindy McCain, Attar, Abu Youssef al Organizations: Hamas, Food, NBC, Najjar Locations: Deir Balah, Gaza, Israel, Cairo, Rafah, Egypt, Qatar, Qatar's Al Jazeera, U.S, Israeli, Lebanese

☆ Israel and Hamas Face Growing Pressure for a Cease-Fire Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in a text message that the group’s representatives were arriving in Cairo “with great positivity” toward the proposed deal. “If there is no agreement, it will be because of Netanyahu alone,” he said, referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Mr. Sinwar is one of the presumed architects of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which left 1,200 dead and roughly 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. In Israel, Mr. Netanyahu faces substantial opposition within his own governing coalition to the proposed framework. Agreeing to the deal would be “humiliating surrender,” Bezalel Smotrich, the country’s finance minister, wrote on Facebook late last month.

Persons: Haitham Imad, United States —, Antony J, Blinken, ”, ” Mr, William J, Burns, Husam, Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Sinwar, ” Bezalel Smotrich, Biden, “ Organizations: United, McCain Institute, Central Intelligence Agency, Qatari, Hamas, Hamas’s, Facebook, Biden Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Shutterstock, Cairo, Palestinian, Israel, Qatar, Egypt, United States, Arizona, Cairo “, Washington

Turkey said on Friday that it would suspend all trade with Israel until there was a “permanent cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip, the latest international sanction against Israel and one that underscores the mounting global pressure to end the war in the territory. Turkey’s announcement built on statements the previous day that it had halted all trade with Israel until “uninterrupted and adequate humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza.” But even as Turkey announced the measures, Israel continued its repeated warnings that it was preparing for an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that the United Nations said on Friday could result in a “slaughter” in Gaza. In announcing the trade suspension, the Turkish trade minister, Omer Bolat, spoke of Israel’s “uncompromising attitude.” Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told a business association on Friday that he anticipated backlash from Western countries but that Turkey had decided to “stand side by side with the persecuted.”

Persons: Israel, Omer Bolat, Israel’s, ”, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Organizations: Israel, United Nations Locations: Turkey, Israel, Gaza, Rafah

Al-Bursh was arrested along with 10 other medical workers in December during the Israeli military ground invasion of the Jabalya refugee camp, CNN previously reported. He was taken away while treating patients in Al-Awda Hospital, according to the statement. Earlier on Thursday, Israel released dozens of Gaza detainees via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel. The seven-month bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 34,600 people, according to the Gaza health ministry. Concerns are also heightened over an anticipated Israeli military operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah, prompting renewed calls for a ceasefire.

Persons: Adnan Al, Bursh, Israel, Marwan Abu Saada, ”, “ Dr, Adnan, ” Saada, “, –, Ismail Khadr Organizations: CNN, Shifa, Palestinian Prisoners ’ Society, ’ Affairs, Al, Awda, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Al, Gaza City, ”, Israel, Gaza’s Rafah

Gazan journalists told CNN they are haunted by their colleagues’ deaths, as they balance the emotional labor of covering the war with trying to protect their families. Israel launched a military assault on Gaza on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 others. After nearly seven months of war, Abu Dagga told CNN that she, too, wants to leave. The photojournalist for Turkish state broadcaster TRT told CNN he had been traveling through the neighborhood, after being displaced from the local refugee camp. We hope that God will bring him back to us safely.”Whether they report from within the enclave, or elsewhere, Palestinian journalists told CNN they could not turn away from the horrors unfolding in Gaza.

Persons: CNN —, ” Dr, Mahmoud Abu Nujaila, Médecins, Israel, Wael Al, ”, Mariam Abu Dagga, ” Al, Hamza Al, “, Abu Dagga, ’, Heath, ” Mariam Abu Dagga, Khan Younis, Mohammad Ahmed, Shrapnel, Ahmed, Nobody, ” Ahmed, Adnan, what’s, ” Mohammad Ahmed, Ibrahim Dahman, Rasha, – Zeid, Khalil, ” Dahman, Dahman, Sheikh Radwan, ” Ibrahim Dahman, Saeed Al, Taweel, Alaa Abu Mohsen, Al, Saeed, ” Mohsen, Mahmud Hams, Saba, ‘ Saeed, ’ ”, Jaafrawi, Nidal, Haitham Abdelwahed, Wahidi, Erez, Beit, Mohammed Soboh, Arafat Barbakh, Fadi Wael Abdel Karim Al, ’ ” Fadi, Fadi Organizations: CNN, Awda, Protect Journalists, Independent, AFP, Getty, ”, Press, Borders, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Hamas, Ministry of Health, United, United Arab Emirates, TRT, Al, Wafa, Saba Al, Amnesty International, Amnesty, Reuters, Cross Locations: Jabalya, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, ” Al Jazeera's Gaza, Palestine, United Arab, Khan, Egypt, Turkish, Gaza City, Sheikh Radwan, Wadi Gaza, Giza, Cairo, Sheikh, Phoenix, AFP, Israeli

☆ Oil prices pick up on prospect of U.S. replenishing strategic reserve
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An oil pumpjack is pictured in the Permian basin, Loco Hills regions, New Mexico, U.S., April 6, 2023. Oil prices rose on Thursday on the prospect the U.S. may start buying crude for its petroleum reserve, after prices sank to a seven-week low on hopes for an Israel-Gaza ceasefire, doubts about U.S. interest rate cuts and swelling oil inventories. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June climbed 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.22 a barrel. The U.S. aims to replenish its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, after a historic sale from the emergency stockpile in 2022 and wants to buy back oil at $79 a barrel or less. Any delay in rate cuts could slow economic growth and dampen demand for oil.

Persons: WTI, Hiroyuki Kikukawa, Kikukawa, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Brent, . West Texas, NS, Nissan Securities, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, U.S, U.S . Energy Information Administration, U.S . Federal Reserve Locations: Loco Hills, New Mexico, U.S, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Israeli, Rafah

☆ Colombia to Sever Ties With Israel Over Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its prosecution of the war in Gaza, President Gustavo Petro announced in Bogotá on Wednesday, describing the Israeli government as “genocidal.”His announcement came in a speech in Colombia’s capital city in front of cheering crowds that had gathered for International Workers’ Day. “The times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people cannot come before our eyes, before our passivity,” Mr. Petro said. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies.”Colombia is the second South American nation to break off relations with Israel after Bolivia, which cut ties in November over its strikes in Gaza. Belize also cut diplomatic ties with Israel that month. “Israel and Colombia always enjoyed warm ties.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, “, ” Mr, Petro, Petro’s, ”, Israel Katz, ’, Mr, Colombia’s, Katz, Netanyahu Organizations: International Workers, Israel, Security Locations: Colombia, Israel, Gaza, Bogotá, Colombia’s, American, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Belize, “ Israel, Gaza City

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered twin messages to Hamas and Israel on Wednesday, pressing Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal while at the same time urging Israeli leaders to put off a major ground invasion into the thickly populated southern Gaza city of Rafah. On the last day of a Middle East trip, his seventh visit to the region since the war began in October, Mr. Blinken tried to turn up the pressure on Hamas. “We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Mr. Blinken said at the start of a meeting in Tel Aviv with Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. “There is a proposal on the table, and as we’ve said: No delays, no excuses. The time is now.”The proposed agreement calls for the release of 33 hostages in the initial stage of a cease-fire, and would lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, “, wouldn’t, ” Mr, Isaac Herzog, Israel, we’ve Organizations: Israel, Mr Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Tel Aviv, Israel

☆ Oil prices edge higher as Netanyahu says Israel will attack Rafah with or without hostage deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, February 18, 2024. Ronen Zvulun | ReutersCrude oil futures moved slightly higher Tuesday after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed hopes that a proposed hostage deal would prevent an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Here are today's energy prices: West Texas IntermediateBrentRBOB GasolineNatural Gas The U.S. is pushing for a cease-fire to head off an Israeli offensive against Rafah. But Netanyahu threatened to move against Rafah regardless of whether a hostage deal is reached. "We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve the total victory."

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Ronen Zvulun, Netanyahu, Brent Organizations: Major, Jewish, Hamas, Reuters, Israel, West Texas Intermediate Brent, Gas, Rafah Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Jerusalem, Gaza, Rafah, Washington

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