“I will go with other brothers” – The Time

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will go to Gaza. Abu Mazen himself announced this while speaking in Ankara at a special session of the Turkish Parliament. “I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers of the Palestinian leadership,” he said in a speech applauded by Turkish parliamentarians.

Meanwhile, negotiations have begun in Doha for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. A US delegation is present in Qatar, including CIA chief Bill Burns, while Mossad chief David Barnea is with the Israeli delegation. Senior Egyptian officials are also present. The talks are being hosted by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and will take place over two days. Hamas will not take part in the negotiations. The group announced it would not send a representative in protest at what it called Israel’s failure to commit to negotiations based on a July 2 ceasefire proposal.