Ahead of ceasefire talk, Israeli forces and Palestinian armed group clash

Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups clashed in Israel occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike on Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on August 14, while Hamas said its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces in the territory's Tubas city. One man was killed in Tubas, while four others were killed in the Israeli drone strike in the nearby town of Tammun, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

While the war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups was on, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon and said that the clock was ticking for a Gaza ceasefire that could also help end 10 months of cross-border exchanges between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel. His Lebanon trip comes a day before ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire negotiations, if effected, may avert further flare up of tension in the Middle East.