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Trump’s Middle East envoy meets Netanyahu amid ceasefire push

Middle East: Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity.”

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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday amid a push to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, Netanyahu’s office said.

After the meeting, Netanyahu dispatched a high-level delegation which included the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar in order to “advance” talks to return hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made in the indirect talks between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.

The mediators are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity.”

Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Witkoff that the U.S. would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though he did not give any details.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.

On Saturday, the Palestinian civil emergency service said eight people were killed, including two women and two children, in an Israeli airstrike on a former school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said the strike had targeted Hamas militants who were operating at the school and that it had taken measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.

Later on Saturday, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said five people were killed and several others were wounded in two Israeli strikes. One of the two strikes killed three people in a house near the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant “in that area” at that approximate time.

World

White House AI czar says US should ‘declare victory and get out’ of Iran war

“This is a good time to ​declare victory and get out,” Sacks, Trump’s ⁠crypto and AI czar, said in an appearance ​on the “All-In Podcast.”

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White House AI czar David Sacks said on Friday the U.S. should “declare ​victory and get out” of its war on Iran, ‌a rare instance of a prominent figure in Donald Trump’s administration calling for an exit from the Iran conflict, Reuters reported.

Here are ​some details:

“This is a good time to ​declare victory and get out,” Sacks, Trump’s ⁠crypto and AI czar, said in an appearance ​on the “All-In Podcast.”

Sacks said the U.S. had degraded Iran’s ​military capabilities.

“I agree that we should try to find the off-ramp,” he added.

“If escalation doesn’t lead anywhere good, then you ​have to think about, well, how do you ​de-escalate? De-escalation, I think, involves reaching some sort of ceasefire ‌agreement ⁠or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran,” he said.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, ​have responded with ​strikes on ⁠Israel and other countries in the Middle East.

The war has shaken global markets ​and raised oil prices.

Iran’s U.N. ambassador ​says ⁠over 1,300 people have been killed in Iran in U.S. and Israeli attacks. Israel says 12 people have been ⁠killed ​in Israel by Iranian attacks. ​The U.S. military says seven of its members have been killed.

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US eases sanctions on Russian oil to ease energy prices inflated by Iran war

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The U.S. has issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian petroleum products currently at sea, hoping to ease oil and gas prices driven up by the war the U.S. and Israel are waging on Iran.

However, the waiver appeared to have little effect, with ​benchmark Brent crude back up to $101 by 1000 GMT on Friday, with Asian shares also under pressure.

The Israeli military said it had launched strikes across Tehran and continued to carry out strikes on the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut, as Iranian media reported rallies for Quds (Jerusalem) Day beginning across Iran in support of the Palestinians.

The sounds of explosions and fighter jets were heard in the Iranian capital and in Karaj to the west of Tehran, Iranian media said.

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Iran claims it targeted a US-linked oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that it carried out an attack on an oil tanker linked to a U.S. company in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel allegedly ignored repeated warnings from Iranian authorities.

In a statement, the IRGC said the tanker Safesea Vishnu, which it described as owned by a U.S. company and sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, was struck north of the strategic waterway early in the morning.

Iranian officials claimed the ship failed to comply with maritime instructions issued by Iranian forces operating in the area.

The IRGC warned that shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz faces increasing risks, placing responsibility for the heightened tensions on the United States. The IRGC urged commercial vessels transiting the region to follow Iranian maritime regulations in order to avoid potential attacks.

The incident comes amid a broader escalation of hostilities between Iran, the United States, and Israel.

On March 2, Tehran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. The strait is one of the world’s most critical energy corridors, carrying a significant share of global oil shipments.

Since the announcement, shipping and insurance costs in the region have surged, while global oil prices have risen amid fears of supply disruptions. Analysts warn that prolonged instability in the waterway could have major economic consequences worldwide.

The reported attack also follows continued U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets that began on February 28. Iranian authorities say the strikes have killed around 1,300 people and wounded more than 10,000 others.

In response, Tehran has launched drone and missile attacks targeting Israeli territory as well as locations in Iraq and several Gulf states that host U.S. military facilities, raising concerns about a widening regional conflict and threats to international shipping routes.

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