Iran may dump revenge plan for Gaza ceasefire

In a lastditch effort to quell Iranrsquos seething rage against Israel over the assassination of Hamasrsquos political leader in Tehran leaders from West Asian countries gathered at an emergency summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation OIC in Jeddah to explore peace options CNN reportedBut could Tehran instead be prepared to pull back in exchange for progress on Gaza peace talks That was the hope among regional leaders gathered at an emergency summit in Jeddah CNN opinedLocals check damage to a school in Gaza City PicsAFPSince Hamasrsquos political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran last week the Iran leaders have vowed vengeance against Israel whom they claim was responsible Israel hasnrsquot confirmed or denied responsibility According to CNN flights across Iran and its neighbours were cancelled amid fears that missiles could fly any moment triggering a muchfeared escalation of Israelrsquos war in GazaWith his country on the brink of triggering a regional war Iranrsquos Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri attended the OIC Summit on WednesdayCNN quoted Jordanrsquos foreign minister Ayman Safadi as saying ldquoThe first step toward stopping the escalation is ending its root cause which is the continued Israeli aggression on GazardquoUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US has told both Israel and Iran that ldquono one should escalate this conflictrdquo He added that the ceasefire negotiations have reached ldquoa final stagerdquo CNN reportedNo excuses US frustrated mediators tell Israel HamasLeaders of the United States Egypt and Qatar jointly demanded Israel and Hamas return to stalled talks on the war in Gaza next week saying Thursday that ldquoonly the detailsrdquo of carrying out a ceasefire and hostage release remain to be negotiated ldquoThere is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delayrdquo they said in a joint statement Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahursquos office said on Thursday that it had accepted the invitation President Joe Biden Egyptian President Abdel Fattah elSisi and Qatari Emir Tamim alThani mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of war in Gaza set the talks for August 15 to take place in either Doha Qatar or Cairo There was no immediate response to the offer by Hamas Israeli troops launch assault in Khan YounisIsraeli troops launched a new assault on Friday into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis targeting Hamas fighters who the military claims still operate there despite repeated offensives as American Qatari and Egyptian mediators renewed their push for a ceasefire deal Israeli evacuation orders triggered yet another exodus of Palestinians from the heavily destroyed eastern districts of Khan YounisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever