Trump launches Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ with $10 billion pledge, outlines vague ambitions
Speaking in Washington before representatives from nearly 50 countries, Trump said nine member states had committed more than $7 billion...
Geostrategy
Trump signals second carrier deployment as US-Iran prepare to resume talks
In interviews with Israeli media, Trump warned of consequences if negotiations fail. “Either we reach a deal or we'll have...
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Israel army says Gaza City now ‘a dangerous combat zone’
The Israeli military, however, is gearing up to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City, with its Arabic-language spokesman saying:...
- The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.
- The UN declared a famine in Gaza governorate last week, blaming "systematic obstruction" by Israel of humanitarian aid deliveries.
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Israeli minister calls to annex Gaza if Hamas doesn’t surrender
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday called on the government to begin annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if...
- The far-right minister, who has vocally opposed striking a deal with Hamas to end the nearly two-year war, presented his plan to "win in Gaza by the end of the year."
- Under Smotrich's proposal, Hamas would be given an ultimatum to surrender, disarm and release the hostages still held in Gaza since the group's October 2023 attack.
Geostrategy
Israeli forces raid site near Syria capital after bombing it several times: state media
Israeli forces conducted an overnight airborne raid on a site near the Syrian capital after bombing it several times, Syrian...
- Israel has not confirmed the raid, but Defence Minister Israel Katz said its forces operate "in all combat zones" to ensure the country's security
- If verified, it would be the deepest such operation Israel has carried out inside Syria since an Islamist alliance seized power in Damascus in December
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UN chief condemns ‘endless’ Gaza horrors as Israel presses offensive
Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its...
- The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war.
- Massive clouds of smoke rose into the sky above Gaza City after Israeli bombardments of the outskirts of the territory's largest city.
Geostrategy
Iran says return of IAEA inspectors not full resumption of cooperation
Iran said Wednesday that the return of UN nuclear inspectors did not represent a full resumption of cooperation, which was...
- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency began work at the key nuclear site of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, the nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi said
- "No final text has yet been approved on the new cooperation framework with the IAEA and views are being exchanged," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, quoted by state television
Geostrategy
Israel ups pressure on famine-struck Gaza City as Trump talks post-war plan
On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 38 people on Wednesday, including...
- Israel is under mounting pressure both at home and abroad to end its almost two-year campaign in Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a famine
- On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 38 people on Wednesday, including 16 in Gaza City
Geostrategy
Erdogan jubilant as ‘Steel Dome’ air defence system delivered to military, hails it a milestone
Last August, Turkey, a member of NATO, unveiled plans to build a multi-layered air defence system to protect its airspace,...
- "Today we are providing our army with the Dome system, consisting of 47 vehicles worth $460 million, which will inspire confidence in friends and fear in enemies," Erdogan said
- "This system will make the world of difference for Turkey's air defence. This is a turning point for Turkey," he said at a ceremony at the hqrs of Turkish defence giant Aselsan
Geostrategy
Mediator Qatar says ‘still waiting’ for Israeli response to Gaza truce proposal
Qatar and Egypt, along with the United States, have been mediating indirect ceasefire negotiations throughout the Gaza war, but despite...
- The latest proposal put forward by mediators involves an initial 60-day truce and staggered exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
- But Israel has appeared reluctant to budge from its demand that all the hostages being held at Gaza be freed at once.
Geostrategy
Amnesty urges war crimes probe into Israeli destruction in Lebanon
Amnesty International said Tuesday that the Israeli army's extensive destruction of civilian property in south Lebanon, including after a ceasefire...
- The November 27 truce largely ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war
- The rights group's Erika Guevara Rosas said in the statement that the destruction had "rendered entire areas uninhabitable and ruined countless lives".
Geostrategy
Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament ahead of government talks with visiting US officials
Hezbollah's chief on Monday doubled down on his refusal to give up the group's weapons ahead of talks between Lebanese...
- Hezbollah was the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, doing so in the name of "resistance" against Israel, and has always rejected the decision
- The move came after the balance of power in Lebanon shifted following more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that left the group badly weakened
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Trump launches Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ with $10 billion pledge, outlines vague ambitions
Speaking in Washington before representatives from nearly 50 countries, Trump said nine member states had committed more than $7 billion...
Geostrategy
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Hamas proposes weapons ‘freeze’ in return for long-term truce: leader to Al Jazeera
A top Hamas leader told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to a...
Geostrategy
UNRWA chief denounces Israeli police’s seizure of agency’s Jerusalem assets
The compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has been empty of UNRWA staff since January, when the law banning its operations...
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US-Israel-Qatar meeting seeks to salvage Gaza peace deal amid strain over Israeli strike on Doha
Axios also reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and...
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If Europe wants war with Russia, ‘we are ready,’ says Putin as he meets US envoys over Ukraine deal
Washington has presented a 28-point draft to end the conflict, later amended after criticism from Kyiv and Europe, which viewed...
- The comments came as US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Moscow for high-stakes talks on ending the nearly four-year war
- "They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war," he added, repeating his claim that European leaders were hindering US attempts to broker peace in Ukraine
Geostrategy
Trump warns Israel not to ‘interfere’ in Syria, days after deadly operation killed 13 people
"It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that...
- "It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria's evolution into a prosperous State,"
- Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and invited him for another White House visit, Netanyahu's office said shortly after Trump issued the warning
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Trump says US freeze on asylum decisions will last ‘a long time’
US President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration intends to maintain a pause on asylum decisions for "a long time"...
- "We don't want those people," Trump said. "You know why we don't want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn't be in our country."
- The Trump administration issued the pause in the aftermath of the shooting in Washington on November 26, that left 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom dead and another guardsman wounded