The director of the Mossad, David Barnea, visited Qatar today to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.
The meeting was reportedly focused on advancing new efforts for a comprehensive hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza.
These are the most high-level talks since Hamas rejected an offer several weeks ago, derailing negotiations, and come as the IDF is preparing for expanded military operations in Gaza to take control of Gaza City.
Over the weekend, a Hamas delegation met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul, before traveling to Egypt to meet with Egypt's intelligence chief.
As Israel continues to work with the United States to achieve a deal to free the hostages and remove Hamas from power, our ally is also continuing to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Yesterday, Israel brought 380 aid trucks into Gaza and airdropped 119 pallets of aid into the enclave.
Israel also brought in additional fuel tankers, and evacuated 140 patients and their caregivers from Gaza for treatment in a third country.
Israel is also supplying millions of liters of water to Gaza through pipelines from Israel, providing electricity for a Gazan desalination plant, and is working on a pipeline from an Egyptian desalination plant to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area in Gaza.
While Israel works to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Hamas is prolonging the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians alike.
The United States must stand with Israel and increase the pressure on Hamas and its sponsors in Qatar, Turkey and Iran to release all 50 hostages still held in captivity.
750 tons of weapons to Houthis intercepted
U.S.-aligned Yemeni forces have intercepted 750 tons of weapons, including chemical weapons, being smuggled to the Houthis by Iran in recent months.
Both Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah were involved in the weapons smuggling.
Just recently, Yemeni security forces seized a shipment of drones, jet propulsion systems, wireless devices, and other items bound for the Houthi terrorists.
CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper praised the Yemenis for preventing "the flow of Iranian munitions and equipment bound for the Houthis," which "highlights Iran’s ongoing role as a deliberate malicious actor in the region."
The United States must continue to increase the pressure on Iran and its terrorist proxies and interdict the flow of Iranian weapons to the Houthis.
U.S. moving to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview Tuesday that designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization "is in the works."
Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood, which receives significant support from Qatar.
Rubio added that the Muslim Brotherhood is a group of "grave concern."
The comments follow bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate last month, supported by AIPAC, to formally designate the group a terror organization.
"American allies in the Middle East and Europe have already labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and the United States should do the same," Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said.
"The Muslim Brotherhood has a documented history of promoting terrorism against the United States, our allies, and our society," Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
