Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock that Tehran will be responding to Israel’s strike on its embassy in Damascus in a limited manner, Axios reported on Thursday citing a source. According to the source, the Iranian official told Baerbock that a “legitimate self-defense with the aim of punishing the aggressor is a necessity,” although the country’s actions will be executed in an “appropriate” way that would not lead to an escalation of the conflict in the region. The source, however, cautioned that it is unclear what would be a definition of a limited response for Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant  on Thursday held a phone call with the United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and warned that his country will respond appropriately to a potential direct Iranian attack. “Gallant told Secretary Austin that he is committed to the security of the citizens of Israel, and therefore a direct Iranian attack on Israeli territory will require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran,” Israeli minister’s office reported. Previously, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that his country is “on alert” and that a strike from Iran’s territory would mean that Tehran aims to “escalate the situation in the Middle East and to stop hiding behind the proxies.”

Iran was planning to conduct a strike against Israel but postponed such action “at the last minute,” Israeli news website Ynet reported on Thursday. According to the report, Tehran decided to either delay the strike or change the nature of its response to Israel’s attack on its consulate in Damascus, likely due to warnings from the administration of United States President Joe Biden. The outlet cited Iranian semi-official news agency Mehr as claiming the attack could happen “maybe tonight,” but soon after deleting the video with the assertion. Iran has warned on multiple occasions that it will “punish” Israel over the Damascus strike in which seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy Mohammad-Hadi Haji-Rahim, were killed. Israel, on the other hand, stressed it would retaliate against any strike, while Biden insisted Washington will do everything it can to protect Israel’s security. NN: Once Iran the US has Israel’s  back they called off the strike.

President Joe Biden said he delivered a “blunt and straightforward” message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on improving civilian conditions in Gaza. “We’ll see what he does in terms of meeting the commitments he made to me,” Biden said Wednesday during a White House news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Biden also urged the adoption of a proposal that would see a six-week cease-fire in exchange for the return of hostages being held by Hamas, saying the US remained committed to seeing their release. “We’re not going to stop until we do,” he said.The Israel-Hamas war, now in its seventh month, has weighed heavily on Biden’s reelection bid. The president signaled a breaking point last week, telling Netanyahu that US support for his war effort would depend on better protecting civilian lives in Gaza. Biden on Wednesday also called for Israel to open an additional crossing and allow more aid trucks to enter the war-torn region. An Israeli strike that killed seven aid workers delivering food to Palestinians prompted the call between Biden and Netanyahu. The incident caused a global backlash and ramped up pressure on Biden to persuade Israel to allow more aid to flow into the devastated territory. The Israeli military has said the attack inadvertently targeted the aid convoy. Young voters, progressives and people of color — all crucial groups for Democrats — have increasingly voiced opposition to Biden’s handling of the conflict and urged him to place conditions on support for Israel or entirely cut off military assistance. The president can ill-afford defections in his November rematch with Republican Donald Trump. Israeli officials this week said progress had been made in negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza that would see the release of hostages held by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, and Palestinian prisoners. It’s a shift in tone from the nation’s leaders, who had previously said large gaps remained between the two sides. Netanyahu said Monday that he had a date in mind to invade the city of Rafah — seen as the last bastion of Hamas and its leaders, but also where more than 1 million Palestinians fled during the war. Such a move would further strain US-Israeli relations. The White House has said it couldn’t support a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah, given the likelihood of widespread civilian deaths.Biden urged Netanyahu during their call last week to reach an immediate cease-fire deal to allow for hostages to be freed and more aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza. The White House has praised initial steps to boost the flow of shipments of food and medicine into the territory, but officials have said they want to see those efforts continue for a sustained period to satisfy their concerns. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that the country is greatly intensifying its humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, partly at the urging of the US, bringing the number of trucks entering the strip to 500 a day. Through most of the conflict, the number was about 200.“My recent visit to the United States was essential in determining next steps and reflecting the link between our operational goals and the humanitarian effort,” he told a group of foreign correspondents in his Tel Aviv office. Gallant announced that Israel is opening its port at Ashdod to receive goods to enter Gaza through a new northern entry it was creating. In addition, new aid routes from Jordan have been approved, as well as a deconfliction mechanism to reduce the risk of another mistaken killing as occurred last week with the seven aid workers. Israel is also working to fix bombed-out infrastructure, including installing new water lines he said.

Three sons and three grandchildren of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader and former Palestinian Authority prime minister, were killed in an airstrike, Haniyeh confirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday. According to Haniyeh, the victims were visiting relatives on the occasion of Eid in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza when they were attacked. In addition, he also confirmed the loss of three grandchildren in the same attack. Moreover, the news comes after the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that 33,500 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war and 76,049 have been wounded.

Hamas can’t  find 40 Israeli hostages needed for cease fire deal

CNN — 

Hamas has indicated it is currently unable to identify and track down 40 Israeli hostages needed for the first phase of a ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the discussions, raising fears that more hostages may be dead than are publicly known. The framework that has been laid out by negotiators says that during a first six-week pause in the fighting, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women as well as sick and elderly men. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons. Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt – it does not have 40 living hostages who match those criteria for release, both sources said. CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria. The inability – or unwillingness – of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle, the second source added. With Hamas appearing to be unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pushed for Hamas to fill out the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, the Israeli official said. Throughout the months of negotiations since the last ceasefire Israel has repeatedly asked for a list of the hostages and their conditions. Hamas has argued that it needs a break in the fighting to be able to track and gather down the hostages, the same argument it made in November before a week-long pause that broke down after Hamas failed to deliver more hostages. The majority of the almost 100 hostages who remain alive are believed to be male IDF soldiers or men of military reserve age. Hamas is expected to try to use to them in later phases to try to negotiate more significant concessions, including more high-level prisoners and a permanent end to the war. The more than 250 hostages captured or killed on October 7 are believed to have been spread out among different members and factions of Hamas, as well as other militant groups, gangs and even held by families.

Three sons and three grandchildren of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader and former Palestinian Authority prime minister, were killed in an airstrike, Haniyeh confirmed in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday. According to Haniyeh, the victims were visiting relatives on the occasion of Eid in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza when they were attacked. In addition, he also confirmed the loss of three grandchildren in the same attack. Moreover, the news comes after the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that 33,500 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war and 76,049 have been wounded.

Crude oil stockpiles in the United States jumped by 5.8 million barrels to stand at 457.3 million barrels in the week ending April 5, the US Energy Information Administration shared in its report on Wednesday. The crude oil refinery inputs in the country averaged 15.8 million barrels per day, decreasing 115,000 barrels per day from the average recorded in the week prior. Refineries operated at 88.3% of their capacity, while gasoline production fell to an average of 9.4 million barrels per day. Imports of crude oil into the US averaged 6.4 million barrels per day, 183,000 barrels per day less in comparison to the previous week. Total commercial petroleum inventories surged by 12.4 million barrels. NN: I do not believe Iran will got to war at this time.

Hamas has dismissed a temporary ceasefire proposal made by the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official said that Israel is open to the proposal but that “the plan is seen as favoring Hamas.” The proposal envisions a six-week pause during which Hamas would release 40 Israeli hostages, while Israel would liberate 900 Palestinian prisoners. However, according to the report, Hamas disagreed with the temporary nature of the ceasefire, preferring a permanent cessation of hostilities and the complete withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas allegedly refusing to free 40 hostages

Hamas is said to be rejecting Israel’s demand to free 40 hostages as part of a potential ceasefire agreement, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported. According to the report, Hamas is refusing to release any male soldiers and claims it does not have 40 living elderly or female hostages remaining. On the other hand, Israeli officials insist the Palestinian group does have 40 hostages who meet the required criteria. Meanwhile, a report by Haaretz said that some Israeli cabinet ministers would likely oppose any ceasefire deal that does not include the release of all hostages held by Hamas as they believe such an agreement would give a signal to Hamas that Israel is willing to make big concessions in talks.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must allow more aid into Gaza to “alleviate” the widescale destruction, mass displacement and the imminent threat of famine resulting from the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “I’ve also said repeatedly the situation in Gaza is increasingly intolerable, you know, the humanitarian suffering that people are experiencing isn’t right and Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to do more to alleviate that,” Sunak added during an interview with LBC radio station.The prime minister has previously pleaded for the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire following the deaths of British citizens in an airstrike by the Israeli Defense Forces on the World Central Kitchen.