"Israel has yet to sign or formally approve the roadmap for implementing the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, amid growing opposition inside the security cabinet and warnings that Hamas intends to use the process to restrict Israel’s military freedom of action, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Shin Bet Director David Zini warned ministers that Hamas views the proposed demilitarization process as a strategic opportunity to buy time and constrain Israel rather than as a path toward genuinely giving up its military capabilities.
Zini told ministers that, from Hamas’s perspective, the roadmap amounted to a “diplomatic October 7,” allowing the terrorist organization to achieve politically what it had failed to achieve militarily. Zini argued that Hamas was seeking to drag the process out while waiting for Israel’s October elections and hoping Israel would be prevented from resuming military operations during that period.
The Post separately reported Friday that Zini told the security cabinet Hamas viewed the agreement as a way to “trap Israel” and limit its ability to operate militarily in Gaza in the coming months. “They are dragging their feet,” Zini told ministers, according to sources cited by the Post. “They are waiting for the elections, and then they will see what happens.” The immediate dispute centers on a proposed 14-day preparatory period before implementation of the next phase.
According to Israeli officials cited by the Post, cabinet ministers broadly opposed Israel taking steps that could be interpreted as entering that period because it would require restrictions on Israeli military operations, including targeted strikes against Hamas operatives.
Walla similarly reported that Israel had neither signed nor formally approved the Board of Peace’s demilitarization roadmap and had raised significant objections to the proposed arrangements.
The dispute highlights a continuing gap between Jerusalem and Washington over how the next phase should begin.
Israel has demanded genuine and verifiable demilitarization of Gaza and has insisted that Hamas cannot retain military capabilities while the IDF withdraws further. The Trump administration and its Board of Peace have promoted a phased process combining Hamas disarmament, the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic administration, deployment of an International Stabilization Force and further Israeli withdrawals.
The 15-point roadmap published by the Board of Peace last week calls for both sides to complete outstanding commitments under the previous agreement before mechanisms for implementing Phase 2 are finalized during a 14-day period. The status of the proposed multinational force remains less clear.
The Post has learned that a separate document regulating deployment of the force remained unsigned following Israeli objections and that Israel had yet to formally authorize its entry under the new arrangements.
However, the Post further learned that the government had approved the entry of approximately 200 members of a multinational force under American pressure. Bohbot also reported that targeted killings in Gaza had recently been halted.
Reuters reported on July 26 that the security cabinet had approved a legal framework allowing a roughly 200-member International Stabilization Force to enter Gaza, while noting that each national contingent would still require individual Israeli approval.
The reports may reflect a distinction between Israel’s earlier approval in principle of a legal framework and final approval of the force’s actual deployment and operating arrangements.
Preparations outside Israel are nevertheless moving ahead. Uganda’s parliament voted Thursday to authorize the deployment of Ugandan troops to Gaza if required as part of the international force. Reuters reported that the broader Trump plan remained stalled and that it was unclear when the force would deploy."
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-904919
"US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, has been privately looking for an off-ramp in the Iran war, according to a Saturday CNN report citing three sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, over the past few weeks, Caine has been making it clear to other Trump administration advisors that available military options may not be enough to achieve US President Donald Trump’s stated war objectives.
“Caine is looking for an off-ramp,” one of the sources told CNN. Caine is reportedly not the only official who shares concerns regarding the potential escalation of military operations.
He raised the idea of finding an off-ramp from the conflict with other officials, such as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Vice President JD Vance, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, according to two of CNN’s sources. Like-minded administration officials have allegedly been engaged in discussions with Caine regarding interagency coordination regarding the matter, aiming to make clear to Trump in future meetings the limitations of available military options.
One source told CNN that they believe Caine’s attempts to get on the same page with other officials are his “way of protecting the military.”
The US has refrained from deploying ground troops in Iran, with Trump signaling that airstrikes alone would be enough to force Tehran into an agreement on Washington’s terms.
For Caine and other officials, according to CNN sources, dwindling US stockpiles of key munitions are a key concern because the shortage could impact the military’s ability to combat Iranian retaliation if renewed airstrikes led to escalation in the conflict.
Trump has repeatedly denied reports regarding the alleged shortage of US munitions..."
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-904885
"The United Arab Emirates on Saturday condemned what it said was an Iranian attack on a carrier linked to its state oil company as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Tehran of "acts of piracy."
State news agency WAM initially reported ADNOC as saying one of its vessels had been targeted by a missile early on Saturday and that the situation was under control.
The UAE Foreign Ministry later condemned what it called "the hostile Iranian attack" on an ADNOC vessel. Neither statement gave details on the tanker, its cargo or possible damage. No injuries were reported.
About a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the narrow waterway between Oman and Iran prior to the conflict. Since the US-Israeli war on Iran broke out on February 28, shipping has been repeatedly disrupted, raising freight rates and creating security concerns. The ministry said the attack violated a UN Security Council resolution on freedom of navigation and accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) of "acts of piracy" by targeting commercial shipping and using the waterway as a tool of economic pressure.
It called on Iran to halt the attacks and reopen the strait fully and unconditionally.
Iran's Guards have previously threatened action against any vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran's adversaries, or if they fail to comply with Iranian directives.
ADNOC said on Friday that it had been significantly affected by what it described as unprovoked attacks on its personnel and assets, while continuing to meet customer requirements in an "exceptionally challenging environment."
The company said 15 of its vessels had been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the strait since the start of the conflict, including three this week, killing one crew member and injuring 20 others.
ADNOC did not identify those responsible for the attacks in its statement on Friday.
ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi state oil company, is one of the world's largest energy producers and exports crude oil, natural gas and refined products to customers worldwide."
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-904900
"An IDF soldier was filmed hitting a Palestinian in the West Bank village of Idna in the Hebron Hills on Saturday, according to Army Radio.
Israeli forces were called to the area as Israeli residents of the West Bank allegedly attacked Palestinians, smashed a car window, and surrounded people who were praying in a mosque in Idna, according to Ynet citing Palestinian sources. The IDF told Israeli media outlets that soldiers were in the area after Israeli residents reported Palestinians throwing rocks at an Israeli shepherd who had left one of his farms with his flock. Footage showed the IDF soldier putting his knee on the Palestinian's midsection to pin him to the ground. An IDF spokesperson said that the incident is under investigation.Two civilians were also seen in the video attacking the Palestinian.
Earlier on Saturday, four Palestinians were wounded near Susya, Ynet reported, adding that the Palestinian news agency Wafa claimed that Israeli settlers had beaten Palestinians and fired shots into the air. Israeli sources did not verify this, although Ynet reported that the IDF opened an investigation into the incident. These events come two weeks after The Jerusalem Post learned that the IDF increased its deployment across the West Bank to 26 battalions, adding two battalions amid a sharp escalation marked by Palestinian terrorist attacks and attacks from settlers.
The reinforcement followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order to increase troop deployments, additional checkpoints, and expanded counterterrorism operations following Friday’s deadly shooting near Gilad Farm. Security forces arrested more than 70 terror suspects across the West Bank the following day."
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-904918
The Fourth Reich underwater project revealed :P
"Extreme heat and severe drought continue to grip Europe, with temperature records broken this week across parts of the continent and the Danube River falling to historic lows. In Slovakia, authorities reported a new national temperature record of 42 degrees Celsius in the village of Dolné Plachtince. The falling water levels along the Danube, which passes through 10 countries, have also exposed remnants of Europe’s Nazi past. Dozens of German warships from World War II have emerged from the riverbed, some of them still believed to contain weapons and explosives. In the middle of the river near the border between Serbia and Romania, the remains of one vessel can now be seen resting on a sandbank normally covered by water. Other ships remain partially submerged. The vessels belonged to Adolf Hitler’s Black Sea fleet and were deliberately sunk by German forces near the end of World War II in an effort to slow the Soviet advance, The Guardian reported Saturday...."
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bjrgi11humg#autoplay
"Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with Iranian media Saturday that the time was ripe for negotiations with the United States and that Iran should enter them while it was "perceived as the winner." His comments came shortly after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported an attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, in a shipping lane not authorized by Iran.
"Now is the best time for an agreement because Iran is 'strong and united and perceived as having won the war,'" Pezeshkian said. "To survive, we have to know what we're doing: when to fight, when to make peace, and when simply to mind our own business while they mind theirs." Pezeshkian defended the memorandum of understanding with the United States, saying, "We strongly defend the memorandum of understanding we signed. Find me one clause in which we surrendered. Some of our critics continue to insist on war, and that is exactly what Israel wants. If they try to force us to surrender, we will fight. We will not surrender, and we will not bow our heads. But when we can guarantee our rights, why should we continue the conflict? That is what Israel wants."
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance addressed the negotiations with Iran, saying, "What we're really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely." He said that would include a commitment by Iran not to fire on commercial vessels.
"We're in the middle of the game. This thing isn't over," Vance said. "Our expectation is that the same oil and gas will come out of the Gulf that you saw before the conflict began. The Iranians have told us that. But we don't trust, we verify." The US naval blockade of Iran has brought Iranian oil exports from the Persian Gulf to a near standstill, the Financial Times reported, citing satellite imagery and shipping data.
No tanker had loaded oil at Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal, for at least a week, according to the report. Maritime intelligence company Windward said all three loading berths on the island had been empty for "a sustained period." Roughly nine out of every 10 barrels of crude exported by Iran are loaded at Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf because much of the country's coastline is too shallow to accommodate large tankers.
Despite that pressure, Tehran appears to believe it has the upper hand and is closer than ever to an agreement that would enshrine Iran's claim to a role in managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important shipping routes. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed through the strait. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Iran and Oman were "very close" to an agreement on a new shipping route through the strait, but stressed that any arrangement would be subject to conditions, including compensation for what Tehran describes as US violations of the memorandum of understanding.
Washington has also projected optimism, although US support for an agreement granting Iran such an achievement would have been almost inconceivable before the war. A senior US official told Reuters that "there is progress between Oman and Iran regarding the strait, and we expect an agreement soon," adding that "once an agreement is announced restoring uninterrupted commercial shipping, the US will lift the blockade on Iranian ports." The official cautioned, however, that "as always, US actions will remain performance-based and tied to Iran's implementation of its commitments."
On the ground, meanwhile, Iran continues to demonstrate the leverage it has gained during the war. The United Arab Emirates said a vessel operated by its state-owned oil company was struck by a missile early Saturday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The official Emirates News Agency, WAM, said on behalf of the company that the situation was under control and that no casualties had been reported..."
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/08/08/iran-strikes-vessel-in-strait-of-hormuz-as-pezeshkian-calls-for-deal/
