Daily Briefing: Is there a deal between the U.S. and Irael on Rafah plus Iran?

Jim Williams covers the Israel – Hamas War plus the Middle East. Be sure to check out his posts and video reports.

Things have gotten very interesting Thursday when the Qatari newspaper The New Arab reported that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the United States agreed on a military operation in Rafah, meanwhile Israel will refrain from making a major attack on Iran.

Later in today’s State Department briefing they said there was a hard no on the question of a deal.

MORE DETAILS FROM JERUSALEM POST

The report that a deal between the U.S. and Israel seems to be counter to what the Prime Minister has been saying and it was addressed at today’s press briefing.

G-7 CALLS FOR NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN

On day one of the G-7 countries meeting in Italy the Middle East was front and center during Thursday morning first set of talks on issues that need to be addressed. The group discussed a number of new actions, and they are calling for new sanctions against Iran over the attack on Israel.

The Iranian attack on Saturday marked the first time that Tehran has launched a direct military assault on Israel. Israeli authorities said Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles, 99% of which were intercepted by air defenses in tandem with the U.S., Britain, France and Jordan. The attack took place less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consulate building in Damascus.

WILL THERE SOON BE A PALESTINIAN STATE?

UN Security Council holds debate on Middle East and the Palestinian question over the next couple of days with a possible vote on the matter coming as soon as Friday. At question is if the United Nations should recognize the Palestinian State into the body of nations.

It is expected that if a vote happens on Friday that the United States will veto the entry at this time.

MORE TO COME LATER…

Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.