For today, links to six reports from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, National Public Radio, the Anadolu Agency, Reuters, and Middle East Monitor, and to commentary from PassBlue via ScheerPost; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Blinken says some of Hamas’ proposed changes to a cease-fire plan in Gaza are workable and some not, by Bassem Mroue and Jack Jeffrey | AP BEIRUT — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that the war in Gaza would go on after Hamas proposed “numerous” changes to a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan, some that he said were “workable” and some not. READ MORE . . .
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Hamas seeking U.S. guarantees over Gaza ceasefire plan: report. From Middle East Eye. Hamas wants written guarantees from the United States for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in order to sign off on a US-backed truce proposal, two Egyptian security sources said. Mediators Qatar and Egypt said . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM JUNE 11 Blinken at Gaza aid conference in Jordan. Reported by Jane Arraf and Mary Louise Kelly | NPR Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pushing a U.S. truce “roadmap” at a regional aid conference in Jordan. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Israeli attacks kill 38 more Gazans, death toll surpasses 37,200, From AA. ANKARA — At least 38 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, pushing up the overall death toll to 37,202 since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said today. “Many people are still trapped under . . . READ MORE . . .
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Gaza families desperate for water with no relief in sight, by Mahmoud Issa | Reuters GAZA — It is not only the ever-present danger from Israeli bombardment or ground fighting that makes life a trial for Gaza’s Palestinian civilians. READ MORE . . .
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MEMO launches Ilan Pappe’s book Lobbying for Zionism, by Nasim Ahmed | MEMO Middle East Monitor, in collaboration with the Cordoba Foundation and One World Publications, today hosted the launch of renowned Israeli historian Prof. Ilan Pappe’s latest book Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic at an event in London. READ MORE . . .
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The U.S. presidential candidates’ UN and foreign policy stances, by Laura E. Kirkpatrick | PassBlue / ScheerPost On Nov. 5, American voters will choose their 47th president. Combined, the likely candidates, Joe Biden, a Democrat and the incumbent, and Donald Trump, a Republican former president and a recently convicted felon, have run seven times for the country’s highest political office. Though attracting little poll support, Robert Kennedy Jr., an independent . . . READ MORE . . .