Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said "we are closer to a deal than we ever have been," according to Yaron Avraham on 103FM on Thursday. This is a statement he has not heard from an Israeli official up to this point, Avraham stated.Avraham argued that this indicates the mindset of some officials who believe a deal is possible with Hamas and, at the very least, bring about the first phase of the outline.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday met Mohammad Mokhber, the interim president of Iran, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.Moscow and Tehran have been negotiating a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement reflecting the "unprecedented upswing" in the bilateral ties, according to Russia's foreign ministry.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters cleared out tents and tarps on Wednesday from a fenced-off grassy area on the campus of Canada's largest university, where for two months, they had held an encampment ahead of an evening deadline.In a ruling on Tuesday, an Ontario judge ordered the protesters to leave by 6 p.m. on Wednesday (2200 GMT), granting an injunction requested by the University of Toronto. The judge said that, in this case, free expression was no defense against trespassing."We are leaving on our terms to protect our community," said Mohammad Yassin, a recent University of Toronto graduate, a Palestinian, and a spokesman for the protesters, to a crowd of supporters and reporters outside the former encampment site.He added that the occupation during the school's convocation period was "a massive victory."The protesters had been calling on the University of Toronto to disclose its investments, divest from investments associated with the Israeli occupation, and cut ties with some Israeli-affiliated institutions."Negotiations have been frozen for a little while now," Yassin said.University of Toronto President Meric Gertler said in a statement Wednesday he was pleased the encampment had ended peacefully."Members of our community continue to be free to exercise their right to free speech and lawful protest," he said.