Kuwait’s Emir dissolves parliament and suspends some parts of the constitution

CAIRO: Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Friday that efforts to find a Gaza ceasefire deal were back to square one after Israel effectively rejected a plan by international mediators, and the White House said it was trying to force the sides ” if only “to engage virtually.”
Hamas said in a statement it would consult with other Palestinian factions on its strategy for talks to end the seven-month war sparked by the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Hours earlier, the United Nations warned that aid to Gaza could come to a halt within days after Israel this week seized control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a key supply route for the devastated Palestinian enclave.
Despite heavy U.S. pressure, Israel has said it will continue an attack on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where more than a million displaced people have sought refuge and Israeli forces say Hamas militants are dug in.
Israeli tanks captured the main road separating the eastern and western parts of Rafah and surrounded the eastern part of the city in an attack that caused Washington to delay the delivery of some military aid.
The White House said it was “watching with concern” but Israeli operations appeared to be centered around the closed Rafah border crossing and did not reflect a large-scale invasion.
“We once again urge the Israelis to immediately open this border crossing to humanitarian assistance,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Israel’s plan for an all-out attack on Rafah has led to one of the biggest conflicts in generations with its main ally. For fear of massive civilian casualties, Washington withheld an arms shipment.
In a report to Congress on Friday, President Joe Biden’s administration said it was reasonable to assess that Israel had used U.S. weapons in cases that were “contrary to international humanitarian law.”
However, the administration said it still believes Israel’s assurances that it will use U.S. weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law are credible and reliable.
Indirect diplomacy has failed to end a war that health authorities say has killed nearly 35,000 people in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack. According to Israeli figures, around 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage in Israel on October 7th.
Ceasefire talks in Cairo broke off on Thursday without an agreement.
Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a proposal from Qatari and Egyptian mediators that had previously been accepted by Israel. Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it could not accept.
“Israel’s rejection of the mediators’ proposal through the changes it made brought things back to square one,” Hamas said in Friday’s statement.
“In view of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior and his rejection of the mediation document, as well as the attack on Rafah and the occupation of the border crossing, the movement’s leadership will hold consultations with the fraternal leaders of the Palestinian factions to review our negotiating strategy.”
“Hamas has neither suspended nor withdrawn from negotiations; “The (Israeli) occupation has turned against the mediators’ proposal,” a senior Hamas official, Khalil Al-Hayya, told Al Araby TV in comments published by Hamas.
Kirby said the end of the talks – which CIA Director William Burns helped broker – was “deeply regrettable” but that the US believed the differences could be overcome.
“We are working hard to engage both sides in continuing the discussion, even if only virtually,” he said.

EXPLOSIONS AND SHOTS
Residents reported near-constant explosions and gunfire Friday east and northeast of Rafah, as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.
Hamas said it had ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign that the Israelis had advanced several kilometers from the east to the edge of the built-up area.
Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge outside the city, which was previously the last refuge for more than a million people who fled other parts of the enclave during the war.
Israel says it cannot win the war without attacking Rafah and wiping out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are taking refuge there. Hamas says it will fight to defend itself.
Supplies were already running low and relief efforts could be halted within days as fuel and food supplies were depleted, U.N. aid agencies said.
“For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel,” said UNICEF Gaza Senior Emergency Coordinator Hamish Young.
Aid groups say the fighting has threatened hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.
“It’s not safe, the whole of Rafah is not safe because tank shells have been hitting everywhere since yesterday,” Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel Al-Sultan west of Rafah, told Reuters via a chat app.
“I’m trying to leave, but I can’t afford the 2,000 shekels ($540) to buy a tent for my family,” he said. “There is an increasing outflow of people from Rafah, even from the western areas, even though these have not been designated as red zones by the occupation.”
Israeli tanks have sealed off the east of Rafah from the south and captured and closed the only crossing between the enclave and Egypt. A push on Friday toward Salahuddin Street, which cuts through the Gaza Strip, completed the encirclement of the “red zone” from which residents have been driven out.
The Israeli military said its forces located several tunnel shafts in eastern Rafah and troops backed by an airstrike fought hand-to-hand combat with groups of Hamas militants, killing several.
It said Israeli fighter jets hit several locations from which rockets and mortar bombs were fired at Israel.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member, recognizing it as qualified for accession and recommending that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter positively.”