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Israel Denies Ceasefire Plans After Iran Said Hamas Willing To Release Hostages If Airstrikes Stop; Putin Gets Involved

Israel Denies Ceasefire Plans After Iran Said Hamas Willing To Release Hostages If Airstrikes Stop; Putin Gets Involved

Update(1255ET): An…

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5 months ago

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Israel Denies Ceasefire Plans After Iran Said Hamas Willing To Release Hostages If Airstrikes Stop; Putin Gets Involved

Update(1255ET): An active session of Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem has been interrupted by a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, which sent members of parliament into bomb shelters. Sirens blared across Jerusalem, as the Hamas rocket attacks continue. Israel's all-out offensive was expected Friday or Saturday, but has still been delayed, with rain and bad weather also being among the list of reasons cited as of Monday.

But this gave time for a flurry of international diplomacy as the death toll soars on both sides. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistic has said the death toll among Palestinians and the West bank is now at its highest in two decades for 2023, as deaths from this round of fighting has surpassed 3,000. Deaths in Israel have surpassed 1,400 - with over 4,100 Israelis wounded.

US officials have reportedly been racing to contain the conflict and to find some kind of off-ramp, which would lead to freeing of hostages held in Gaza. All of this has reportedly included back-channel talks with Iran. On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that Hamas is prepared to release the hostages if Israel halts its ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip:

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Hamas officials “stated that they are ready to take necessary measures to release the citizens and civilians held by resistant groups, but their point was that such measures require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza,” The Associated Press reported.

But still the Iranian statement warned that Hamas still has "no problem to continue resisting." Israel has meanwhile denied that it has plans for any ceasefire.

A new purported 'targeted strike' in Gaza by Israel, though the target or circumstances are as yet unknown. 

While Biden is still said to be mulling a visit to Israel, Russia's President Vladimir Putin is now ratcheting up his own diplomatic efforts. "Russian President Vladimir Putin entered the fevered diplomatic fray of the Middle East on Monday, speaking to five of the major players including Iran and leading Arab powers in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas," Reuters reports.

"Russia, which has relationships with Iran, Hamas, major Arab powers as well as with the Palestinians and with Israel, has repeatedly said the United States and the West have ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders."

Putin has condemned the soaring death toll in Gaza, warning against the "catastrophic death toll" in Gaza which he says is looking likely given Israel's reported invasion plans.

* * *

Summary:

Israeli military spokesperson continued to confirm that forces are preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans which include combined coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land, while their goal is to completely destroy the governing and military capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist organisations. Furthermore, the spokesman said the operation will take a long time and that residents of Gaza should leave and not return until told to for their own safety but Hamas has been preventing people from leaving, according to Reuters.

At least 199 people are being held hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli officials who said on Monday that they had intelligence about the whereabouts of hostages taken on Oct. 7. Hamas has said that 22 hostages have died in Israeli retaliatory bombing of Gaza, a claim that couldn't be verified.

Israeli military spokesperson said Hezbollah is escalating the situation on the Lebanon border to hinder the Gaza counter-offensive and Israel is prepared to fight on two fronts and even more if required, while an Israeli military spokesman said more than 600,000 Gazans have relocated southwards and that more than 200 Hamas members in the West Bank were detained since October 7th.

Israeli PM Netanyahu’s national security adviser said Israel is not trying to be drawn into a two-front war and that Hezbollah's actions are under the escalation threshold so far, while the adviser added they hope Hezbollah won’t de facto bring about the destruction of Lebanon, according to Reuters.

Additionally, Iran is becoming even more vocal as President Raisi said in a phone call with French President Macron that "the Zionist regime's actions are a reminder of Nazi actions", while he also stated that Palestinian resistance groups make their own decisions and urged France to prevent oppression and injustice, according to Reuters.

US President Biden said deploying US troops in the Middle East war is not necessary and Israel has one of the finest fighting forces, while he is confident Israel is going to act under the rules of war and said it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza. Biden stated he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely but said there must be a path to a Palestinian state and his message to Iran is don't come across the border and don't escalate the war, while it was also reported that President Biden is considering visiting Israel in the coming days.

US National Security Adviser Sullivan said the US does not have new intelligence that the threat on the ground is different today and there is a risk of conflict escalation. Sullivan added that they cannot rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged in some way and that the US is concerned about proxy forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran, according to a CBS interview.

US Secretary of State Blinken will head back to Israel on Monday for further consultations with Israeli leaders.

Latest Developments

Iran Says Hamas Is Ready to Release Hostages but Can't Do So Under Israeli Bombing

And in perhaps the most positive news of the day, The Wall Street Journal reports that Hamas is ready to release hostages held in Gaza but isn't able to do so under Israeli bombing, an official from Iran, a major Hamas backer, said Monday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that any move to free the civilians would "require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza."

Not exactly a promise, but perhaps some diplomatic progress.

* * *

Hamas Officials Killed, Israel Military Says

Several Hamas officials, including those in the military and financial sectors, have been killed, Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said in a session with journalists on the X social media platform.

Conricus said Hamas is trying to hide behind civilians as Israel hunts its commanders. “We are not trying to kill civilians. We are at war with Hamas,” he said.

One Israeli civilian was killed by anti-tank missiles fired across the border from Lebanon, he said.

* * *

Iranian Threats Escalate

Iranian Foreign Minister said "If the Zionist aggressions do not stop, the hands of all parties in the region are on the trigger" and warned heavy losses will be inflicted on the US if the scope of the Gaza war widens. Iran’s Foreign Minister also said that Iran will not remain an observer in this situation and informed Israel via its allies that ‘tomorrow will be too late’ if its crimes in Gaza continue.

Iran has reportedly made no decision about whether to open a new front against Israel, according to an Iranian source close to the government, but added that a meeting was to be held on Sunday night in a Hezbollah command center in Lebanon, NYT reported.

Iran’s mission to the UN said if Israel’s "war crimes, genocide" is not halted immediately, the situation could ricochet far-reaching consequences.

* * *

Biden Is Considering Visit to Israel

Biden is considering a trip to Israel after being invited in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to two people familiar with the internal discussions.

No decision about whether to travel to Israel has yet been made, the people said. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement the White House did not have travel to announce.

Biden stressed his belief that Israel would act by the rules of war and that innocent civilians would have access to medicine, food and water in an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” He said he didn’t believe Israel should control the territory long-term, saying instead the territory should be governed by “a Palestinian authority.”

“I think it’d be a big mistake,” Biden said. “Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people.”

* * *

Thirty US Citizens Confirmed Dead

The State Department confirmed the deaths of 30 US citizens since the violence started and another 13 American nationals remain unaccounted for, according to a spokesperson.

The government is working to determine the whereabouts of the missing Americans and is advising the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts.

* * *

Egyptian Border Tensions Grow

Egypt is facing intense pressure to allow refugees in neighboring Gaza to cross the border and escape an expected Israeli ground invasion in the strip. Central to such a move is Rafah, the only civilian land crossing in Gaza that Israel doesn’t control.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Egypt has appeared willing to let foreign citizens through the crossing but has been reluctant to allow a flood of Palestinian refugees enter, citing security threats.

A deal to open the border crossing has been held up, however, by Egyptian concerns that Israel hadn’t given assurances it would pause airstrikes and by Israeli insistence that trucks entering via Egypt be thoroughly searched, Egyptian officials said.

“Unfortunately, Israel has not yet allowed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters in Cairo. The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment.

“We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing,” the U.S. Embassy in Egypt said. “There may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time.

* * *

Developing...

Tyler Durden Mon, 10/16/2023 - 12:55

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Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

People with inadequate…

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2 hours ago

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March 9, 2024

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Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

People with inadequate iron levels in their blood due to a COVID-19 infection could be at greater risk of long COVID.

(Shutterstock)

A new study indicates that problems with iron levels in the bloodstream likely trigger chronic inflammation and other conditions associated with the post-COVID phenomenon. The findings, published on March 1 in Nature Immunology, could offer new ways to treat or prevent the condition.

Long COVID Patients Have Low Iron Levels

Researchers at the University of Cambridge pinpointed low iron as a potential link to long-COVID symptoms thanks to a study they initiated shortly after the start of the pandemic. They recruited people who tested positive for the virus to provide blood samples for analysis over a year, which allowed the researchers to look for post-infection changes in the blood. The researchers looked at 214 samples and found that 45 percent of patients reported symptoms of long COVID that lasted between three and 10 months.

In analyzing the blood samples, the research team noticed that people experiencing long COVID had low iron levels, contributing to anemia and low red blood cell production, just two weeks after they were diagnosed with COVID-19. This was true for patients regardless of age, sex, or the initial severity of their infection.

According to one of the study co-authors, the removal of iron from the bloodstream is a natural process and defense mechanism of the body.

But it can jeopardize a person’s recovery.

“When the body has an infection, it responds by removing iron from the bloodstream. This protects us from potentially lethal bacteria that capture the iron in the bloodstream and grow rapidly. It’s an evolutionary response that redistributes iron in the body, and the blood plasma becomes an iron desert,” University of Oxford professor Hal Drakesmith said in a press release. “However, if this goes on for a long time, there is less iron for red blood cells, so oxygen is transported less efficiently affecting metabolism and energy production, and for white blood cells, which need iron to work properly. The protective mechanism ends up becoming a problem.”

The research team believes that consistently low iron levels could explain why individuals with long COVID continue to experience fatigue and difficulty exercising. As such, the researchers suggested iron supplementation to help regulate and prevent the often debilitating symptoms associated with long COVID.

“It isn’t necessarily the case that individuals don’t have enough iron in their body, it’s just that it’s trapped in the wrong place,” Aimee Hanson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge who worked on the study, said in the press release. “What we need is a way to remobilize the iron and pull it back into the bloodstream, where it becomes more useful to the red blood cells.”

The research team pointed out that iron supplementation isn’t always straightforward. Achieving the right level of iron varies from person to person. Too much iron can cause stomach issues, ranging from constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain to gastritis and gastric lesions.

1 in 5 Still Affected by Long COVID

COVID-19 has affected nearly 40 percent of Americans, with one in five of those still suffering from symptoms of long COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Long COVID is marked by health issues that continue at least four weeks after an individual was initially diagnosed with COVID-19. Symptoms can last for days, weeks, months, or years and may include fatigue, cough or chest pain, headache, brain fog, depression or anxiety, digestive issues, and joint or muscle pain.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 12:50

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Walmart joins Costco in sharing key pricing news

The massive retailers have both shared information that some retailers keep very close to the vest.

Published

4 hours ago

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March 9, 2024

By

As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters. 

The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.

The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.

Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing

It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.

You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.

Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.

However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

Walmart has seen inflation drop in many key areas.

Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Walmart sees lower prices

McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.

During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.

"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.

He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.

"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."

McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.

"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.

Costco sees almost no inflation impact

McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco  (COST)  Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.

The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.

"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.

Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.

"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.

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Walmart has really good news for shoppers (and Joe Biden)

The giant retailer joins Costco in making a statement that has political overtones, even if that’s not the intent.

Published

5 hours ago

on

March 9, 2024

By

As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters. 

The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.

The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.

Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing

It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.

You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.

Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.

However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

Walmart has seen inflation drop in many key areas.

Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Walmart sees lower prices

McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.

During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.

"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.

He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.

"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."

McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.

"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.

Costco sees almost no inflation impact

McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco  (COST)  Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.

The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.

"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.

Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.

"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.

Read More

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