US State Dept Expects Gaza Ceasefire Talks To Take Place As Planned

US State Department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, has told reporters that the US expects Gaza ceasefire talks, planned for August 15 in Doha or Cairo, to go ahead despite comments from Hamas warning they could reject the talks, in light of an IDF strike on a school over the weekend.

• Patel: "I am aware of those comments from Hamas and we fully expect talks to move forward as they should. All negotiators should return to the table and bring this deal to conclusion."
• Separately, Patel says the US is, "deeply concerned by reports that Iran is planning to deliver hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia," adding that, "such a move would represent a dramatic escalation."
• Considering elevated tensions between Kyiv and Moscow since Ukrainian troops seized a large swath of Russia's Kursk region, access to Iranian ballistic missiles could raise the prospect of punitive strikes on Ukrainian cities or infrastructure, similar to Russian strikes that followed the 2023 Ukrainian sea drone attack on the Kerch Bridge in Crimea.
• Regarding what could be an imminentIranian attack on Israel in response to the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran, Barak Ravid at Axios reports: "Iran has taken significant preparatory steps in its missile and drone units, similar to those it had taken before the attack on Israel in April, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me. They stress, however, that Israel and the U.S. do not know the exact timing of the attack."