For today, links to seven reports: from the Anadolu Agency, the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Eye, Middle East Monitor, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Nader.org via ScheerPost; other articles are accessible by clicking on their  names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Israel, U.S. preparing for Iranian retaliation: WSJ report, by Diyar Güldoğan | Anadolu Agency  WASHINGTON — Israel and the U.S, are preparing for an “unpredictable Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel as soon as this weekend,” the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The newspaper quoted an Iranian diplomat . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel’s army says airstrikes in the northern West Bank kill 9 Palestinian militants, by Aref Tufaha and Jack Jeffery | AP  ZEITA, West Bank — Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants today, Israel’s army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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Iran says Haniyeh assassinated by ‘short-range projectile,’ accuses Israel and U.S., by Ikrame Imane Kouachi | Anadolu Agency  TEHRAN — The assassination of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh was “designed and executed” by Israel with support from the U.S., using a short-range projectile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM AUG. 2  Haniyeh killed by a projectile fired at his room, eyewitnesses say, by Faisal Edroos and Simon Hooper | Middle East Eye  Three individuals who were in the heavily guarded building in Tehran where Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated say the Hamas political chief was killed by a projectile fired at his room and not a planted bomb. READ MORE . . .

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Meshaal: ‘We will not recognise Israel.’ From Middle East Monitor. The head of the Hamas movement abroad, Khaled Meshaal, reiterated on Friday that the movement “will not recognise Israel” and that “killing one of our leaders only makes our people stronger.” This came in a speech during the funeral ceremony in Doha for the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM AUG. 2  Is Israel provoking a regional war in the Middle East? Reported by Jonaki Mehta, Katia Riddle and Ailsa Chang | NPR Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas talks about whether Israel might be provoking an escalation in the Middle East that could drag the U.S. into conflict. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Israeli soldiers will soon find ways to tell their media about the terror inside Gaza, by Ralph Nader | Nader.org / ScheerPost  Israeli soldiers, like soldiers in other countries, bask in the self-serving effusive praise showered upon them by politicians, but privately they know BS when they hear it. Right from the start . . . READ MORE . . .