CONFLICTSMIDDLE EAST
Middle East updates: Hamas to skip Qatar cease-fire talks
Published 3 hours agoPublished 3 hours agolast updated 2 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago
Israel is expected to attend cease-fire talks in Qatar on Thursday, but militant group Hamas declined to send a delegation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all sides not to undermine the process. DW has more.
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An Israeli tank near Gaza
Israel will take part in cease-fire talks in QatarImage: Amir Cohen/REUTERS
Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
A new round of cease-fire talks is scheduled to kick off in Qatar on Thursday
Militant group Hamas said it would not send a delegation to the talks
Google said that Iranian hackers targeted targets related to the US election and Israel
The president of Columbia University stepped down months after major pro-Palestinian protests
Below is a summary of events concerning Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East from Thursday, August 15:
Skip next section Iranian hackers targeted US elections, Israel: Google
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Iranian hackers targeted US elections, Israel: Google
An Iranian hacker group linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard tried to hack the email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns, Google said on Wednesday.
Google’s threat intelligence arm said a group known as “APT42” used phishing tactics to dupe victims into revealing their login credentials for Gmail and other services.
Aside from the US, the hackers also went after high-profile targets in Israel.
“APT42 is a sophisticated, persistent threat actor and they show no signs of stopping their attempts to target users and deploy novel tactics,” Google said.
“This spring and summer, they have shown the ability to run numerous simultaneous phishing campaigns, particularly focused on Israel and the United States.”
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Skip next section Columbia University president steps down
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Columbia University president steps down
Nemat ShafikNemat Shafik
Nemat Shafik faced heavy scrutiny for her handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campusImage: Michael Brochstein/Zuma/picture alliance
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday after she faced scrutiny over her handling of major pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
In April, the Manhattan campus of the Ivy League school was shut down by protesters who occupied Hamilton Hall. Police were called in carrying riot shields and zip ties.
Shafik said in an email to staff and students that her time as Columbia president “has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”
“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” she added.
Shafik made the announcement so that new leadership could be in place in time for the coming academic term.
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Skip next section Blinken, Qatar PM urge all sides not to ‘undermine’ truce talks
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Blinken, Qatar PM urge all sides not to ‘undermine’ truce talks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani have called on all sides not to “undermine” cease-fire talks in Doha on Thursday.
During a phone call on Wednesday, the two stated that “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal,” the US State Department said.
They further discussed “efforts to calm tensions in the region and the importance of finalizing a cease-fire in Gaza,” the State Department added.
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Skip next section Hamas expected to sit out Qatar cease-fire talks
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Hamas expected to sit out Qatar cease-fire talks
Fresh talks to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza will kick off in Qatar on Thursday, but militant group Hamas has said it has no plans to participate.
“Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told the Reuters news agency.
One reason Hamas is skipping the talks is because the mediators had not presented a plan to implement the cease-fire framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in May, Germany’s DPA news agency reported, citing an unnamed Hamas official.
Mediators from the talks, which are set to include delegations from the US, Israel, Egypt and hosts Qatar, are nevertheless expected to consult with Hamas afterward.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Hamas could meet with mediators if they secure a “serious response” from Israel.
Hamas is classified as a terror group by the US, the EU, Germany and others.
An Israeli defense official said Israel’s delegation would include the head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad David Barnea, domestic security chief Ronen Bar and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon. The White House said CIA Director Bill Burns and Washington’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will represent the US at the talks.
