Netanyahu rejects US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, breaking with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly r…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected a 15-point ceasefire plan for Gaza that was backed by the United States, marking a rare and visible split with President Donald Trump. In an official statement, Netanyahu said he was pushing back against what he called a wave of rumors suggesting Israeli weakness or withdrawal on multiple fronts, and he criticized American pressure to end hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran without securing Israel's explicit agreement.

Elsewhere in the region, Iran has issued strict new conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while the United Arab Emirates reported that one of its vessels was struck by an Iranian missile over the weekend. Tehran has insisted that the strait will remain closed until the United States changes its approach. In a separate development, Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are aligned with Iran, claimed responsibility for an attack on a Saudi refinery on Sunday morning.

The ongoing conflict has had a severe human toll on those working in the region's waters. Up to 20,000 seafarers, many of them from India and the Philippines, are now stranded in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with no clear timeline for when they might be able to leave. Since the start of hostilities, at least 17 seafarers have died, with the majority of those deaths attributed to Iranian strikes.

In Washington, experts are grappling with how to

In Washington, experts are grappling with how to prepare for potential escalations. Justin Vail, who heads the D.C. office of the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy, explained that tabletop exercises are a common method used by specialists to plan for various scenarios. He stressed that these drills are not predictions of what will happen, but rather a way to build realistic frameworks that can help identify weaknesses, challenge existing assumptions, and improve coordination. The goal, he said, is to develop concrete recommendations that boost readiness.

On the domestic front, voting rights advocates are raising alarms about President Trump's efforts to undermine confidence in U.S. elections. They point to his July primetime address as a clear sign of his intentions, noting that his attacks on the integrity of voting machines and election offices could pave the way for more direct interference. During that speech, Trump threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of networks that did not air his remarks live, and he again urged Congress to pass the Save America Act—a measure that would prohibit mail-in voting nationwide and introduce stricter identification requirements for voters at registration and at the polls.