Israel-Hamas war latest: Blinken pushes for cease-fire in his 9th trip to Mideast since war began

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says now is “maybe the last” opportunity to reach a Gaza cease-fire agreement that…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says now is “maybe the last” opportunity to reach a Gaza cease-fire agreement that would return hostages held by Hamas and bring relief to Palestinian suffering after 10 months of war in Gaza.

Blinken on Monday was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the conflict began. His visit came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism a deal was near. But Hamas has voiced deep dissatisfaction with the latest proposal and Israel has said there were areas it was unwilling to compromise.

The trip also comes amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel.

“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a cease-fire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken said as he opened talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.

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Here’s the latest:

Hamas claims responsibility for Tel Aviv bombing that killed the apparent attacker and wounded a bystander

JERUSALEM — Hamas claimed responsibility Monday for a bombing the day before in Tel Aviv that killed the apparent attacker and wounded a bystander.

The bomb appeared to go off before it was intended and the presumed attacker was shown in security footage walking down the street wearing a large backpack just before the explosion.

Israeli media quoted police officials as saying the intended target was a nearby synagogue.

In a statement Monday, Hamas’ militant wing said it and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s militant wing were responsible for the blast and threatened to continue attacking “as long as the occupation’s massacres, displacement of civilians, and the continuation of the assassination policy continues.”

UN says a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023, mostly from the agency for Palestinian refugees

BERLIN — A record number of aid workers were killed in conflicts around the world last year, and this year may be on course to be even deadlier, the United Nations said Monday.

The U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023 — more than double the previous year’s figure of 118. It said that more than half of last year’s deaths were registered in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza war that started in October, mostly as a result of airstrikes.

The office said that this year “may be on track for an even deadlier outcome,” with 172 aid workers killed as of Aug. 7.

More than 280, the majority of them with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed in Gaza so far, according to OCHA.

Israeli authorities say ‘powerful explosive’ killed 1 person in Tel Aviv

JERUSALEM — A blast that killed one person and wounded another in Tel Aviv on Sunday night was a terror attack caused by a large explosive device, Israeli authorities said Monday.

A joint statement from the police and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency gave few details other than saying the attack involved “a powerful explosive.” They did not identify the attacker or give a motive.

Police said Sunday that the explosion killed one person, presumed to be the bomber.

“We know that the mutilated body is not that of an innocent bystander but the one who carried the bomb,” Tel Aviv District Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner Peretz Amar said. The statement on Monday only referenced the bystander who was moderately wounded.

Israeli media provided security footage that showed the presumed attacker walking down the street wearing a large backpack just before the explosion.

1 Palestinian killed and 2 wounded in a shooting on a street in Istanbul

ISTANBUL — Police in Istanbul have launched a “large-scale investigation” after a Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting as they sat in a car, officials and media said Monday.

The killer dropped a handgun fitted with a silencer at the scene, the Istanbul Governor’s Office said in a brief statement.

The Demiroren News Agency reported that the man sitting in the driver’s seat was killed and his friend seriously wounded in the shooting late Sunday. Another man, who the governor’s office described as the dead man’s bodyguard, was injured in the foot.

The killing was carried out by a masked assailant or assailants, the agency said. The victims were sitting on Dilaver Street in the Kagithane district of north Istanbul when the attack happened. It described the seriously wounded victim as a businessman.

Former Saudi official alleges Prince Mohammed forged king’s signature on Yemen war decree, BBC says

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A former Saudi official alleged in a report that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s yearslong, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published Monday by the BBC, though the kingdom has described him as “a discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been a yearslong dispute with the kingdom as his two children have been imprisoned in case he describes as trying to lure him back to Saudi Arabia.

The allegation comes as Prince Mohammed now serves as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, often meeting leaders in place of his father, the 88-year-old King Salman. His assertive behavior, particularly at the start of his ascension to power around the beginning of the Yemen war in 2015, extended to a wider crackdown on any perceived dissent or power base that could challenge his rule.

In al-Jabri’s remarks to the BBC, he said a “credible, reliable” official linked to the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed to him that Prince Mohammed signed the royal decree declaring war in place of his father.