Gaza City (CNN)at least temporarily.  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Thursday that an unconditional humanitarian cease-fire will begin at 8 a.m. Friday in Gaza (1 a.m. ET).
It will last 72 hours — or three days — “unless extended,” the United Nations and United States said in a joint statement.

“During this time, the forces on the ground will remain in place,” the statement said.   Hamas accepted the cease-fire, a spokesman for the militant fundamentalist Islamic organization texted Thursday.

Speaking to CNN moments after the announcement, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said it came “after careful deliberations with all the parties.”  (read more)

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No doubt the primary weapons they are using come courtesy of Hillary Clinton and President Obama via Operation Zero Footprint.

(Reuters) – Militant fighters overran a Libyan special forces base in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday after a battle involving rockets and warplanes that killed at least 30 people.
A special forces officer said they had to abandon their main camp in the southeast of Benghazi after coming under sustained attack from a coalition of Islamist fighters and former rebel militias in the city.
“We have withdrawn from the army base after heavy shelling,” Saiqa Special Forces officer Fadel Al-Hassi told Reuters.
A separate special forces spokesman confirmed the militants had taken over the camp after the troops pulled out. Part of the area is Camp 36 in the Bu Attni district and the special forces school. (more…)

Given what we now know – THE BENGHAZI BRIEF – any congressional hearings seem like a total waste of time.  There’s really nothing left to discover.
What could possibly be learned ? What possible benefit/value could come as a result ?
Your Thoughts

A really odd dynamic surfaces yet again in the realm of the Obama administration’s remarkable list of “firsts”.   President Obama has become the first U.S. administration ever to factually side with radical islamists – like al-Qaeda, ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood and HAMAS – over the more moderate Arab nations like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Even the Palestinian Authority, yes the Palestinian Authority, was shocked by the Obama/Kerry proposal for Gaza.

For years some people have claimed the Muslim Brotherhood actually has serious influence inside the White House.   Given jaw dropping recent events it seems almost impossible now to refute such a proposition.
(Via Newsweek) American diplomacy in the Middle East in recent days may have failed to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, but it has managed to reposition the United States on an unfamiliar side of the region’s complex web of alliances.
Israelis believe US Secretary of State John Kerry’s week-long ceasefire negotiations has firmly placed the US in the camp of Qatar and Turkey, both of which back the militant government of Hamas, while it has sidelined its traditional allies. (more…)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama own this outcome !
(Via Fox News) The United States shut down its embassy in Libya Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.
“Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya,” spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
The withdrawal underscored the Obama administration’s concern about the heightened risk to American diplomats abroad, particularly in Libya where memories of the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in the eastern city of Benghazi are still vivid and the political uproar over it remain fresh ahead of a new congressional investigation into the incident. A senior military official told Fox News the Pentagon has been advising the State Department leave the post for weeks.  (read more)

They needed a poll to determine this?    Most people already knew the anti-Israel crowd was always youngish, stupid, lo-fo, emotional moonbats -ie. Democrats-  without a scientific poll to define.

According to Gallup’s internals, self-identifying Republicans are the primary reason Israel’s actions attract plurality support in this poll.  GOP-leaners back Israel’s actions by a whopping 44-point margin; the numbers turn upside-down among independents (-10), and especially Democrats (-16).  The cohorts least likely to label Israel’s attacks against Hamas as “justified” are young people (-26), non-whites (-24), women (-11), and people with a high school education or less (-11) — namely, the Democratic coalition.
On a not-unrelated note, Americans who are under-informed about the issue tend to break heavily against Israel, whereas those who say they’re following developments at least “somewhat closely” back our democratic ally.  (link)

More evidence.   Just in case you were wondering what the current “trust level” is between Egypt and the U.S regime….

EGYPT – Secretary of State John Kerry defied a Federal Aviation Administration ban and flew into Israel’s main airport Wednesday in a sign of sheer will to achieve a cease-fire agreement in the warring Gaza Strip despite little evidence of progress in ongoing negotiations aimed at halting fighting that’s left at least 31 Israelis and 650 Palestinians dead.

Kerry: “me? you don’t trust me”?  el Sisi: “you do work for Obama, no”?

Kerry’s arrival in Israel came as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants near a southern Gaza Strip town as dozens of Palestinian families trapped by the fighting scrambled to flee the area.
It also came as Israel closed the border crossing into Gaza at Erez “until further notice,” citing the heavy fighting.
Kerry planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during what appeared to be a crucial day in the flailing talks. (more…)

Let it not be said that no-one saw this coming.   This Islamic terror outcome was  completely predictable.   Western media may avoid the obvious, but Libya is already in a state of civil war.   Oh yeah, and Obama/Clinton – you both own this !

LIBYA – An Islamist-led militia has stepped up its assault on Libya’s main airport, controlled by rival fighters, which the health ministry said on Monday had left at least 47 dead in a week.
The fighting, which erupted on July 13 and shut Tripoli international airport, also injured 120 people, according to figures for the week until Saturday.

The European Union condemned a fresh outbreak of violence on Sunday, two days after the collapse of a truce with the militia controlling the airport, which left five civilians dead according to local media.
A coalition of militias led by Islamist fighters launched an assault on the airport on Sunday, with clashes later spreading along the road to the capital. (more…)

Against the backdrop of both Israel (Netanyahu) and Egypt (el-Sisi) telling Secretary Kerry to stay out of the issues in the Gaza Strip – Kerry goes on the Sunday talk show circuit, and -during ‘hot mic’ candor- simultaneously reveals why Netanyahu and el-Sisi want Obama’s team kept out.  

(Via Daily Caller) Maybe there’s a reason the White House has been keeping John Kerry from Fox News.
Just moments after a testy exchange with “Fox News Sunday’s” Chris Wallace over what the Secretary of State perceived as repeated interruptions, Wallace played a clip captured while Kerry waited to appear on the Sunday news program.
Seemingly oblivious to the fact that the State Department camera in front of him and mic pinned on his lapel were live, America’s top diplomat harshly criticized the on-going Israeli operation in Gaza following news of Israeli army casualties and Palestinian civilian deaths.  (read more)

It should be anticipated the Muslim Brotherhood will intensify calls for further attacks against Egyptian authorities – especially given the el-Sisi support for Israel’s efforts against Hamas.    The Brotherhood and Hamas are ideological brethren.   With Libya in a state of civil war and crisis, the Eastern Libya border to Egypt will be used by the severe Islamists as an incursion zone to attack.   

Remember the most hated man in the region (by the terrorists) is not Benjamin Netanyahu, it is Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi .  President el-Sisi has deconstructed the terror networks, arrested the brotherhood members, and jailed the violent extremists.

VIA BBC – Gunmen have killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in western Egypt, security officials say.

The attackers used grenade launchers and heavy machine guns when they attacked the desert post some 390 miles (630km) west of Cairo, officials said.  It is not yet clear who carried out the assault.  Militants have intensified a campaign against the security forces since the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was ousted from power just over a year ago.  (link)
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