Trump: Iran War Talks to Begin Monday  08/03 06:11

   U.S. President Donald Trump said new talks to wind down the war in Iran will 
start Monday afternoon, after announcing he is holding off on new massive 
strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country.

   CAIRO (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said new talks to wind down the 
war in Iran will start Monday afternoon, after announcing he is holding off on 
new massive strikes he had threatened to unleash on the country.

   The talks will seek to end the conflict and revive stalled cargo traffic 
through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway through which about a fifth of 
all traded oil and natural gas passed before the war.

   Iranian state media quoted the country's foreign ministry as saying Tehran 
was not currently holding negotiations with the United States.

   Israel struck the Gaza Strip over the weekend, days after the U.S. and Hamas 
said a deal was reached for the militant group to disarm, a potential step 
toward ending the war in Gaza.

   Hospitals in Gaza said at least 17 were killed in the weekend's strikes, 
including children. A strike on a residential apartment in southern Gaza killed 
three family members including a 4-year-old child, according to Nasser 
hospital, where the bodies arrived.

   The Israeli military said the strikes had targeted militant operatives.

   Here is a look at the most important developments in the Middle East today.

   Trump announces renewed talks

   Trump said Sunday he decided not to carry out major strikes against Iran at 
the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He 
said a plan was in place for U.S. forces to carry out "the biggest attack since 
World War II," but he decided to give diplomacy more time after hearing from 
key Gulf leaders, as well as at the request of unnamed Iranian officials.

   "Now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. 
It begins tomorrow afternoon," he said. He did not provide further details or 
say who would be involved in the talks.

   Trump has had a pattern of threatening massive strikes which he later calls 
off, with the announcements often later upended by renewed attacks. The abrupt 
shifts have been a defining feature of the five-month war that has upended 
global markets and sent the prices of fuel and other basic goods soaring.

   Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said Monday that Tehran 
was not currently holding negotiations with the United States. He said ongoing 
talks were with Oman, the country that lies on the other side of the Strait of 
Hormuz, and were focused only on establishing a temporary route for safe 
navigation through the strait.

   Iran executes 2 men it says spied for Israel

   Iran's judiciary said it executed two men on Monday after convicting them of 
spying for Israel during both last year's 12-day war and the ongoing conflict.

   The judiciary's Mizan news agency identified the two as Omid Behzad and 
Pouria Safvat, who were accused of providing military coordinates, images and 
other intelligence used in attacks on Iranian targets. It did not specify where 
the executions took place.

   Last week, Iran publicly hanged two men convicted of killing four police 
officers during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

   Gaza's residents swelter in tents

   Soaring temperatures in Gaza this summer have turned the makeshift tents 
sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into suffocating 
ovens. Made of plastic sheets, the shelters trap heat during the day and offer 
little ventilation, forcing many families to spend hours outside.

   The extreme weather compounds an already dire humanitarian crisis. With 
limited access to clean water, electricity and sanitation, overcrowded camps 
are grappling with flies, mosquitoes and other insects. Humanitarian agencies 
such as the Norwegian Refugee Council warn that the conditions heighten the 
risk of dehydration, heat-related illnesses and the spread of skin infections, 
diarrheal diseases and other communicable illnesses.

   "It's very hot. We can't stay inside the tents. Our tent is made of nylon," 
said Aida Abu Hadeesha, a woman displaced from the town of Rafah, near the 
border with Egypt. "There is no breeze, nothing, and our kids are suffering," 
she said, adding that the stifling heat didn't let up all night. "The flies and 
the cockroaches attack us."