US Sec State Blinken To Travel To Israel On Aug 17

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel on August 17 to, "continue diplomatic efforts to conclude a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza," according to a statement from the US State Department.

• The trip, which was initially scheduled for earlier this week, comes amid optimism that a ceasefire deal for Gaza could be closer than at any point in recent months, following two-days of talks in Doha, Qatar.
• US President Joe Biden told reporters in the Oval Office a short time ago: "We're much, much closer than we were three days ago. I don't want to jinx anything" and "we're not there yet," but "we're close."
• Ceasefire talks come amid a flurry of diplomacy to bridge remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, and deter Iran from a potential attack on Israel that has loomed over the talks.
• Barak Ravid at Axios reports: "Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani spoke on the phone with acting Iranian foreign minister and briefed him on the Gaza deal talks. This was the second phone call between them in the last two days. The Qatari foreign ministry said al-Thani stressed to his Iranian counterpart the need to de-escalate the situation in the region."
• Middle East Eye reports, corroborating an earlier report from AFP, that Hamas sources said: “the Israeli delegation’s primary efforts were to add Netanyahu’s conditions to be part of Biden’s proposal.” The sources added that “Hamas categorically rejects Netanyahu’s conditions”.