We’re closing this page now and moving our live coverage to a new blog here, including a rundown on the latest key developments.
Twenty-five commodities vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday, while traffic through the strait of Hormuz remained low with only two tankers transiting, according to Kpler shipping data.
Of the 25 vessels that transited the Bab el-Mandeb strait, 18 entered the waterway and seven exited.
The figures come after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis last week said they were starting a blockade against Saudi ships – a threat that pushed oil prices back above $100 a barrel.
Patrick Wintour reported earlier today that Saudi Arabia is preparing for a major military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources believe, in a move to break the chokehold on its oil exports through the southern Red Sea.
Reuters said the latest traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait included several oil tankers, among them two very large crude carriers, one Suezmax tanker and five Aframax tanker.
Only two vessels transited the Hormuz strait – which Iran has effectively closed – with both in ballast and entering the vital energy route.
Some ships could still be sailing with their transponders turned off, which are not considered in the counts.
Donald Trump has hailed the deal he says involves Hamas disarming and Israel withdrawing its forces from Gaza – but briefings from both sides have exposed disputes over its implementation that could prove difficult to overcome.
Senior Hamas officials have reportedly agreed to the plan, but the question of whether the group disarms before or after Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza has already emerged as a point of contention.
“We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told Al Jazeera.
Earlier an Israeli official said the proposed terms were not satisfactory, telling Reuters:
Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarisation of the Strip, as a precondition for any process.
A US official appeared to acknowledge that differences between the two sides remained, telling reporters late on Thursday that Israel was “very sceptical that Hamas will disarm”.
There’s more in our latest full report here:
Iran’s army says it has targeted US military facilities at the Ahmad Al Jaber air base in Kuwait with drones, Iranian media is reporting.
The strike was carried out in response to recent US attacks on Iran including a strike on a home in Qeshm, the army said.
On Thursday Iranian state media said a couple and their child had been killed in a US attack on a residential building on the Iranian island of Qeshm, which is on the western approach to the strait of Hormuz.
Two other children were also injured in the attack and taken to hospital, the official Irna news agency said.
The US military did not immediately comment on the report but said earlier that it had carried out a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iran.
Qeshm island is a storage site for Iranian attack craft, drones, sea mines and other materials used to disrupt shipping through the Hormuz strait and has been subject to frequent American attacks.
Donald Trump has claimed the Hamas disarmament deal reached by his Board of Peace is a “monumental step toward lasting peace and security”.
What exactly is that board, who’s on it – and which key democratic allies are notably absent?
It’s here in this quick explainer, including how the board has been viewed as Trump’s attempt to create an alternative to the United Nations.
The new agreement on Hamas disarming comes after the Palestinian militant group earlier this month announced the dissolution of its body that governed Gaza for two decades, clearing the way for a US-backed interim administration to implement civilian rule in the territory.
The move marked a significant political shift by Hamas, which has run Gaza since its forces seized control from rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 after winning legislative elections the previous year.
While announcing that it was ready to hand over security as part of a transition, Hamas made no promise to disarm unilaterally, as Israel and the US had demanded.
Julian Borger and Seham Tantesh reported then that the interim administration to which Hamas has offered to transfer governance, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), had been blocked from entering Gaza by Israel since its creation in January as part of a US-brokered ceasefire, adding further doubt to the timing of any future handover.
Analysts said the Hamas announcement was largely a symbolic gambit aimed at reviving a stalled peace process that has blocked reconstruction and humanitarian relief for Gaza’s surviving 2.1 million population.
They also said the move was designed to counter Israeli-led proposals to limit relief, reconstruction and NCAG governance to a tiny proportion of Gaza’s population in purpose-built villages in the roughly 60% of Gaza under direct Israeli army control.
Australia’s foreign minister has welcomed the White House’s announcement that a peace plan for Gaza has been agreed, saying the Albanese government wants to see the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory.
But Penny Wong also said Australia wanted to know more detail about the US announcement.
Australia “wants to see the implementation of the Gaza peace plan, which has been endorsed by the United Nations security council”, she said in a statement.
We have been clear that Hamas must disarm and play no role in the state of Palestine and we welcome any progress towards this outcome.
Wong went on to say there was still “a long road to recovery in Gaza, securing long-term peace for Israelis and Palestinians, and building a successful Palestinian state that delivers for the Palestinian people”.
Australia continues to work with partners to respond to the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza and to push for the free flow of aid. Together with our partners, Australia will continue to do what we can to contribute to a just and enduring two-state solution.
A member of Hamas’s negotiating team has said the issue of the group’s weapons is tied to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza as well as the deployment of a national committee and reconstruction work in the territory.
Ghazi Hamad, a senior official, said:
The agreement contains a clear provision stating that Israel must commit to and implement its obligations. If Israel does not implement the agreement, neither will we.
Agence France-Presse also quoted Hamad as saying:
Israel will not intervene in the issue of disarmament … The National Committee for Administration of Gaza shall manage and execute the cataloguing and storage of weapons in accordance with the agreed timetable.
Hamad said the Gaza agreement was reached after “lengthy and difficult” negotiations that began about six months ago and that Hamas was making “concessions for the sake of our people in the Gaza Strip, to save them from killing and displacement”.
“The agreement addresses ending the war, the entry of the national committee into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction and the deployment of international forces,” he told AFP.
“This is an integrated framework whose components must remain interconnected,” Hamad said, adding that other armed militias must also be dismantled.
He said Hamas would now discuss the implementation details with mediators and agree on a timetable for carrying out the deal.
This process will take about 14 days, or perhaps longer. We must agree on every detail: how the agreement will be implemented, when it will be implemented and the mechanisms for carrying it out.
The Donald Trump-led Board of Peace has issued a statement hailing the Gaza agreement as an “historic breakthrough” and saying the board’s “focus now turns to implementation”.
It said in a post on social media:
For the first time, Hamas officially has committed to an actionable plan for relinquishing all its weapons, which will be followed by Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. It holds the promise of delivering significant benefits to the people of Gaza, who have waited for too long for a better future, and security to the people of Israel.
The post asserted Hamas had agreed to a “detailed roadmap” for implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire in line with Trump’s “vision” for Gaza’s recovery.
Our focus now turns to implementation. The Board of Peace has worked closely with the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). It will soon begin a phased transition toward full authority, backed by the International Stabilization Force (ISF), and will accelerate implementation of the rule of law, security, and humanitarian improvement in Gaza.
Turning back to the war on Iran, mediator Pakistan has insisted that negotiations between Tehran and Washington are continuing, even as the US carried out “heavy” strikes on Iran in retaliation for fresh attacks targeting American forces in Jordan.
“Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters.
Pakistan had helped to broker a deal between the warring sides laying the groundwork for negotiations on a permanent resolution, and Andrabi – cited by AFP – said it was doing its “utmost to bring all parties back” to technical talks under the agreement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that two oil tankers attempting to transit the Hormuz strait with US support turned back after one of them caught fire.
An Israeli official has said the Trump-chaired Board of Peace’s 15-point disarmament proposal does not meet Israel’s demands for Gaza’s complete demilitarisation, the Times of Israel is reporting.
So it is “unclear how the agreement would be able to proceed”, it says
Reports of a breakthrough started emerging before Donald Trump’s announcement but an Israeli official appeared to temper the optimism, saying the proposal “does not adequately address” Israeli demands for the “complete demilitarisation, [which is] a precondition for any process”, the report said.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government raised these objections recently to Board of Peace envoy Tony Blair, the Israeli official said in a statement, without specifying its issues with the disarmament proposal, according to the report.
The official added:
There will be no IDF [Israel Defence Forces] withdrawal from the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip before Hamas is disarmed and the Strip is fully demilitarised.
The proposal would see Hamas gradually hand over its weapons over an eight-month period to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the Board of Peace-overseen panel of Palestinian technocrats that is tasked with replacing the militant group in governing Gaza, the Times report quoted an Arab diplomat familiar with the negotiations as saying.
Hamas recognised that accepting the disarmament proposal would “put the ball in Israel’s court”, the diplomat said.
Senior Hamas officials are saying the agreement reached with Israel includes provisions addressing the group’s weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
The news agency quoted a Hamas official as saying that “an agreement has been reached regarding the issue of weapons … Furthermore, an agreement has been reached on a gradual withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The official also said the Islamist movement now expected the mediators and the Board of Peace to ensure that Israel complied with the terms of the deal.
We are yet to get official word from Israel in response to Donald Trump’s disarmament deal announcement.
A US official is reportedly saying that if Israel does not agree to the plan, Donald Trump will be disappointed.
But the official was very confident Israel would adhere to the plan’s terms, Reuters is reporting.
The deal was not asking Israel to agree to anything not included in an earlier plan, the unnamed official said.
A US official was also quoted as claiming Iran tried to convince Hamas not to agree to the disarmament deal but that the US was able to overcome that.
Senior Hamas officials have reportedly confirmed they have reached an agreement to end the conflict with Israel, following Donald Trump’s announcement the group was prepared to disarm.
AFP quoted two officials from the Palestinian Islamist movement, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying it had come to the agreement.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
