Egypt raises electricity prices for most households by 12%, spares lowest bracket

A senior Israeli official has said that Israeli forces will not pull back from their current positions in Gaza until Hamas undergoes what the official called “genuine disarmament.” Hamas, in turn, said it would only hand over its heavy weapons once Israel ends “all forms of aggression” and withdraws its forces from the territory entirely, leaving the two sides at odds over which step must come first. The dispute follows an announcement from President Donald Trump that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement calling for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups operating in Gaza. Trump calls the deal a “big step,” Israeli minister rejects it Speaking Friday, Trump insisted that Israel was “very happy” with the proposed agreement, describing it as a “big step for the Middle East.” His characterization was quickly contradicted, however, by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who dismissed the draft proposal as “not acceptable.” The disarmament question forms part of the second phase of a US-brokered ceasefire plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza. The broader 20-point plan, first unveiled last September, called for the creation of the Board of Peace to oversee implementation, along with the disarmament of Hamas, a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, and reconstruction efforts across the territory. Trump says he has an “understanding” with Israel Speaking at a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, Trump said he had reached an “understanding” with Israel regarding the latest disarmament proposal negotiated with Hamas, reiterating that “Israel’s very happy about it.” Asked directly whether Hamas would disarm before Israeli forces withdraw, or whether the withdrawal would come first, Trump declined to give a clear answer, instead describing the overall situation in Gaza as “very complex.” He said Hamas’s weapons would ultimately be handed over to the Board of Peace as part of the arrangement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet publicly commented on the latest proposal. Israel insists on disarmament before any pullback A senior Israeli official told reporters that the country’s position remains unchanged: there will be no Israel Defense Forces withdrawal from the current Yellow Line without what the official again described as the “genuine disarmament” of Hamas. The Yellow Line refers to the demarcation point within Gaza that Israel agreed to pull its forces back to under last year’s US-brokered ceasefire. Under that arrangement, Israel was meant to retain temporary control over the area behind the line, amounting to roughly 53% of Gaza’s total territory. Netanyahu, however, has recently said Israeli forces actually control more than 60% of Gaza, a figure well above what the original ceasefire terms outlined. In May, he went further, stating publicly that his directive was to move Israeli control up to 70% of the territory, raising questions about how closely the current situation on the ground still matches the original agreement. Hamas ties disarmament to Israeli withdrawal and statehood In its own statement, Hamas said that Israel ending its military campaign in Gaza remains a “fundamental prerequisite” for any further progress on the deal. The group also said any agreement must guarantee the Palestinian right to “self-determination, establishing an independent Palestinian state.” Hamas said it had negotiated “responsibly and positively” and that its position reflected “national consensus among the Palestinian factions” involved in the talks. Palestinian officials involved in the negotiations said the decision by Hamas’s new leadership, which they described as the most consequential in the group’s history, was shaped largely by the severe humanitarian conditions facing more than two million Palestinians currently living in Gaza. Board of Peace publishes a roadmap Earlier Friday, the Board of Peace released what it described as a roadmap for Gaza, reaffirming its proposal for a phased disarmament of Hamas alongside a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the deployment of an international stabilization force to oversee the transition. Voices from Gaza and Israel Tala, an 18-year-old university student who has been living in a tent in Gaza since her home was destroyed in an airstrike, said the repeated cycle of ceasefire hopes and setbacks has taken an emotional toll. “Every time people hear about a possible ceasefire, we hope that it will finally end,” she told BBC Newsbeat. “But when these promises are broken, it creates more fear.” She described daily life in Gaza as “very challenging,” saying: “Every day comes with a new difficulty, and we are constantly thinking about safety and basic needs.” She added that stopping the fighting, protecting civilians and beginning reconstruction matter most right now. In Israel, a man named Jonny told the BBC he “prays” the ceasefire can hold, though he expressed doubt about whether the broader cycle of conflict will ever truly end. “I don’t see an ending to this cycle, but I pray it’s the case,” he said. International reaction remains cautious Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told CNN that Israel is “looking forward to implementing” the deal, but stressed the need for verification. “We have to verify what they [Hamas] are doing, not what they are saying,” he said. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the proposed agreement as “the only good news in recent days,” a notably positive assessment given the broader tone of the conflict. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the priority now must be full implementation of the original 20-point peace plan, including “withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and respect for the ceasefire by all parties.” He said conditions in Gaza “remain appalling” and called on Israel to “immediately end the unacceptable restrictions on aid,” an accusation Israel denies. The war’s toll The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,290 people, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry, which the UN considers reliable. What happens next With Israel insisting on Hamas disarmament before any withdrawal and Hamas demanding the reverse, the sequencing dispute remains the central obstacle to moving the ceasefire’s second phase forward. Neither Netanyahu nor Hamas’s leadership has signaled a willingness to shift its position, leaving the Board of Peace’s newly published roadmap facing an uncertain path toward implementation.

Nine people were killed in a Russian armed forces attack on Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, as cited by APA. A large number of people were also injured in the overnight assault, and officials said Friday into Saturday that both the death toll and the number of wounded continued to climb as rescue operations proceeded. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko initially reported a much smaller toll shortly after the attack began, saying at least one person had been killed and several others injured, including a 17-year-old. That early figure has since risen sharply as emergency crews worked through the night to assess the damage across the city. Fires break out across multiple districts The strikes sparked fires in both residential and non-residential buildings across three districts of Kyiv: Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi. Missile debris fell onto buildings and vehicles in the affected areas, adding to the damage caused by direct hits. Emergency crews responded to multiple fire sites simultaneously as the scale of the overnight bombardment became clear. The State Emergency Service has not yet released a full breakdown of the number of buildings damaged or destroyed across the three districts. Attack extends beyond the capital The assault was not confined to Kyiv itself. In the Bucha district of the wider Kyiv region, fires also broke out at a warehouse and in nearby residential areas, according to the report. Bucha, located northwest of the capital, has previously been the site of intense fighting and Russian occupation earlier in the war. Residents across the affected areas described hearing dozens of powerful explosions throughout the night, a pattern consistent with a large-scale missile and drone assault rather than an isolated strike. Death toll expected to rise further Ukrainian officials cautioned that the current casualty figures remain provisional as search and rescue operations continue at strike sites across the capital and surrounding region. Emergency crews were still working to clear debris and check damaged structures for additional casualties as of the latest update. The scale of the August 1 attack marks one of the deadlier assaults on Kyiv in recent months, adding to a war that has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s capital with large-scale missile and drone barrages since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. What happens next Ukrainian authorities are expected to release updated casualty figures as rescue and recovery operations continue at the affected sites. Officials have not yet detailed what weapons were used in the attack or issued a formal response regarding Ukraine’s air defense performance during the overnight assault.