Israel | Pakistan

US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner will visit Israel next week in hopes of bridging gaps on a Gaza plan rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said Friday. Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace implementing the deal, will visit both Israel and key mediator Egypt. The trip comes after Netanyahu publicly rejected a 15-point plan announced by Mladenov in which Hamas agreed to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing committee in Gaza. A Board of Peace official said Kushner and Mladenov hoped for “constructive conversations” on advancing Trump’s overall peace plan that began with the October 2025 declaration of a ceasefire, which has reduced but not ended Israeli strikes in Gaza. “The United States and Israel agree on the end state, which is a demilitarised Hamas,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “We will hear the concerns that have been raised and talk about next steps. “What is cr...

Prosecutors charged an Israeli settler on Thursday in the killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in the occupied West Bank, the first such indictment since the outbreak of the Gaza war in 2023, activists say. “Yinon Eliya Levi [33], from Ma’on, has been charged with allegedly firing toward an area where people were present during a confrontation that developed over earthworks on private land, causing the death of the late Awdah Hathaleen,” Israel’s Ministry of Justice said on X. “The Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment against him … on charges of reckless manslaughter, trespassing, and willful property damage.” Hathaleen, an activist who took part in the production of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was killed in July 2025 during a settler attack on his village of Umm al-Khair, in the southern West Bank. Umm al-Khair sits in the region of Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian communities have faced frequent settler violence and home demolitions by the military, which...

• Qassem says talks will bring Lebanon ‘nothing but shame, humiliation’ • Salam accuses group of ‘helping Israel’ • Talks between both sides continue in Rome BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s chief said on Tuesday that direct talks between Lebanon and Israel would bring only “humiliation” for Lebanon and accused authorities of helping Israel, prompting Lebanon’s prime minister to hit back. The statement came as Lebanon and Israel were preparing to hold a fresh round of direct talks in Rome under US sponsorship, the seventh such meeting since the outbreak of the US-Iran war. “All the direct negotiations will bring Lebanon nothing but shame, humiliation, disappointment and successive concessions,” Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a televised address. He said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “has not acted as an arbiter, nor as a unifying figure, but has become biased and divisive, which is incompatible with his role and with Lebanon’s strength”. The head of the Iran-backed group also accused Lebanese authorities of having “...

US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Monday assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza would only begin after Hamas’s complete disarmament, following his objections. Two members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet had urged a vote to tear up the deal championed by Trump after the board released a text that called for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal. Netanyahu’s office said it had raised concerns to the United States, after Trump on Friday hailed as a “major milestone” an agreement by Hamas to hand over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee. Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the Board of Peace, met with Netanyahu on Monday for what he acknowledged was difficult work. But the board said it had reached a “common understanding of the shared objectives” with Israel. Israel’s withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which demarcates the area in which Hamas still has control, “will take place only once decommissioning [of weapons] is...

Israel has conveyed concerns to the United States on a Gaza plan hailed by President Donald Trump after Hamas said it had agreed on disarmament, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. “Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s positions,” Doron Spielman, spokesman for the prime minister’s office, told AFP. He alleged that Israeli intelligence had found that Hamas had been rearming and recruiting forces since a ceasefire announced by Trump in October, which has reduced the level of violence although Israel has kept up strikes. Hamas announced on Friday that it had agreed to the next stage of a deal that includes handing over weapons to a nascent Palestinian governing committee. Trump called the move a “major milestone” in efforts to end the devastating war and told reporters that Israel was “very happy” about the developments. But Netanyahu’s spokesman said that Hamas’...

• Top American commander warns navy is stretched too thin; US has used nearly half of its THAAD interceptors • Pentagon may face choice between US interests and Israel • Missile defences consumed faster than they can be replaced; war tests Washington’s ability to fight on multiple fronts WASHINGTON: A warning from one of America’s top military commanders has exposed a growing dilemma for Washington: The United States may no longer have enough naval forces to simultaneously defend Israel against Iranian missile attacks and protect its own interests across the Middle East. General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of US European Command, has privately informed Pentagon officials that American naval assets are becoming stretched too thin as the conflict with Iran continues, according to reports by The Washington Post and other news outlets. The general reportedly warned that without another US Navy destroyer assigned to the region, commanders could eventually face a difficult choice between protecting American forces...

Drop Site says network of pro-Israel websites created to shape chatbot answers through search indexing, training data

Israel will allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for the enclave, an Israeli official said on Sunday, a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington. Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the legal framework that would allow the force’s entry to Gaza, the official said. Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday. The official said that the mission, called the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), will include 200 members from “friendly countries such as Uganda and Morocco” deploying in areas that are not under Israeli control. Each contingent requires individual Israeli approval to enter Gaza. It was unclear when the forces would deploy. Much of Gaza remains in ruins from two years ​of relentless Israeli bombing triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct 7, 2023. After a ceasefire deal was struck in October, Trump set ​out a 20-point peace...

An Israeli airstrike on Saturday killed the head of the police force in the northern Gaza Strip, Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser Al-Maqadma, the enclave’s interior ministry and medics said. Maqadma, one of at least five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, was also known as the governor of the northern Gaza Strip. He was killed in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, medics said. The Israeli military claimed he was part of Hamas’ military wing. Israel has killed dozens of members of the police force, including senior officials, in the past months, accusing many of them of being members of the Hamas armed wing. Hamas says Israeli attacks on the police force and its headquarters are intended to sow chaos and anarchy in the enclave and violate the US-brokered October ceasefire. Medics, high school student among dead Another Israeli strike on Saturday killed a Palestinian medic in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said, adding that a police officer wounded by an Israe...

The US House of Representatives defeated an amendment to cut off aid to Israel on Wednesday, despite nearly half of Democrats ​supporting it, reflecting a growing rupture between US progressives and Israel over its attacks in Gaza. The House voted 314 to ‌104 to defeat the measure, offered as an amendment to a State Department spending bill by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. However, 103 Democrats and one Republican backed it, a sharp departure from years in which bills supporting Israel passed almost unanimously. Left-wing Democrats are pushing to end US aid to Israel as they campaign in ​midterm election primaries, while moderate Democrats promote sending money that would be used for defensive weapons only. Massie is a fiscal hawk who ​opposes all foreign aid, but he said he was also responding to the heavy toll on civilians of ⁠Israel’s attacks in Gaza. “There have been 70,000 casualties in Gaza, and I don’t think we should be part of that,” he said during the House ​debate. His amendm...

Lebanon's Aoun backs US-sponsored framework as talks with Israel continue

A United Nations inquiry on Wednesday expressed concern at reports of abuse against a prominent Palestinian doctor seized by the Israeli military in Gaza in December 2024, who is still being held in Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, called for the immediate release of Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Rights groups and Abu Safiya’s lawyer have said his life is in imminent danger, and he continues to be held without charge, according to the Physicians for Human Rights Israel, an Israeli rights group. “The actions of the Israeli Prison Service guards towards Palestinian detainees raise grave concerns of violations of international law that likely amount to international crimes. “Dr Abu Safiya’s medical condition is the direct result of these actions,” the UN inquiry said in a statement. An Israel Prison Service (IPS) spokesperson said on Wednesday, “The allegations and character...

Antonio Tajani says Italy communicated willingness to support 'dialogue for peace' to Israel, Lebanon last month

The United States on Wednesday signed an agreement to build a new embassy compound in Jerusalem, in a move that Israel said reflected the “unbreakable alliance” between the countries. During his first term, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and ordered the relocation of Washington’s diplomatic mission from Tel Aviv. But the services were spread across several locations in Jerusalem until a single permanent site could be found. “The United States not only recognises Jerusalem as the eternal, indigenous, and forever capital of the Jewish people, but also that the United States says that we’re going to do something about it,” US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said during a signing ceremony at Israel’s foreign ministry. “We are going to plant our flag, our American flag, on the soil of Jerusalem for a permanent and a brand new embassy compound that will serve as our mothership of diplomatic activities here in Israel. “I would say God made that decision 3,800 y...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Sunday that legal cases must be pursued against the US and Israel over “child killings and war crimes” in Iran. Mojtaba, who has not appeared publicly since being named as the supreme leader on March 8, made these remarks in his message on the death anniversary of then-Iranian judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti and several key political figures in a bomb blast in 1981. The message was shared on his official X account and reported by the Iranian media. In his written message, Mojtaba stated: “One of the most important legal, judicial issues now affecting the Iranian nation is the pursuit and vindication of their rights that have been violated by the crimes of international criminals, global arrogant powers & aggressors, particularly in the years 1404 and 1405.” The mention of the two wars is a reference to the 12-day Israel-Iran war in 2025 and another one that began with the launch of US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February this year. He ad...

GAZA CITY: Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 11 people, including four members of the same family, in the latest violence to rock the Palestinian territory despite a ceasefire. Hamas accuses Israel of daily truce violations and the Gaza Strip continues to suffer severe bloodshed, with efforts to permanently halt the destructive assault on the enclave still at a standstill. An overnight Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City killed four members of the Al-Safadi family, including the husband, wife and their two daughters, according to the civil defence agency, a rescue service that operates under Hamas authority. It said the strike also injured 12 others. Apartment bombing leaves four family members dead Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four members of the Safadi family, including two children. “Around 2 o’clock, my cousins were asleep when a missile struck them. They have no connection to Hamas, nor ...

• Truce under strain as Tel Aviv kills family of four, Lebanese soldier • Israel refuses to withdraw its troops from southern territory • Hezbollah warns unprovoked aggression will not pass without a response BEIRUT: Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least 20 people on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency said, one day after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, underscoring the fragility of a truce aimed at halting months of escalating violence. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes and drones struck multiple civilian and structural locations in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah accused Israel of committing hundreds of blatant ceasefire violations and warned that the continued Israeli aggression “will not pass without a response”. The group noted that responsibility for the dangerous escalation lay solely with Israel and urged the US to place intense pressure on the Israeli regime to implement diplomatic agreements and halt its devastating attacks The Israeli mil...

RIYADH: Muslim-majority countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Turkiye said on Thursday that they held Israel responsible for arson attacks on two West Bank mosques, which Palestinian officials said were torched by settlers. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye lambasted “the continued and escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank”, pointing to the mosques that were set on fire a day earlier. “The Ministers hold Israel — as the occupying power — responsible for these attacks,” they said in a joint statement. On Wednesday, Israeli settlers set fire to mosques in the West Bank villages of Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, and neighbouring Mazari an-Nubani, their mayors said, with journalists at one site seeing scorched walls and graffiti. Israel’s military confirmed the arson and graffiti on the mosques, but did not identify the perpetrators. Journalists who visited one torched mosque saw graffiti d...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday urged all sides in the ongoing Middle East conflict to “exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance” after a new round of hostilities between Iran and Israel. “The recent surge in violence in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to,” PM Shehbaz said in a post on X. “We sincerely urge all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance,” the premier wrote, emphasising that the “final objective is just about to be achieved”. He noted that Pakistan was working “earnestly and painstakingly, together with our brothers and partners, to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict”. “Let us continue to remain on the path of peace and diplomacy which have bright prospects of success instead of violence and destruction!” PM Shehbaz urged. PM Shehbaz’s statement comes after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Monday for the first time since the shaky ce...

Iran on Monday said it was ending its latest military operation against Israel after the first exchanges of fire between the foes since a shaky ceasefire began, but warned it could inflict a more “crushing” response. United States President Donald Trump earlier on Monday told both Iran and key ally Israel to stop fighting, against the background of reports of an increasingly testy relationship between the US leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel overnight and Israel responded by targeting military sites in the Islamic republic, sparking fears the escalation could usher in a new full-scale conflict after the April 8 truce. “Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the US leader wrote on his Truth Social network. Minutes later, he added in a new post that “final negotiations” towards peace were proceeding “subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Iran’s military command then said it was halting the operati...