Palestine weekly: After Kushner departs, Israel escalates Gaza attacks

Within hours of United States envoy Jared Kushner leaving talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at salvaging the Gaza “ceasefire”, Israeli strikes were again hitting residential areas in the enclave, and by week’s end, senior officers were describing a return to pre-ceasefire rules of engagement.Kushner’s August 17 talks produced two working groups – on disarmament and humanitarian issues – but exposed rather than resolved the core issues: Israel’s unwillingness to withdraw from Gaza as it believes Hamas will not disarm alongside its refusal to allow the aid, supplies and construction materials required to rebuild the territory. Hamas says Israel’s ongoing attacks and refusal to withdraw its forces from Gaza are a violation of Trump’s 15-point plan announced on July 30.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel threatens attacks in Gaza over children’s kiteslist 2 of 3Norway plans further development of Arctic drilling amid EU energy concernslist 3 of 3US launches ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ to cut Iran’s economic lifelineend of listKushner said he would not object to attacks against “imminent threats” but warned against interpreting that broadly. Th...