Israel | Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that Pakistan remained firmly committed to its longstanding position on Palestine and Gaza and that there could be no change in Islamabad’s stance towards Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He said this during a press conference at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington after a meeting with Rubio. Dar was asked whether US President Donald Trump had dropped his calls for Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords as part of a potential deal with Iran. The question arose because Trump did not mention the issue in a statement issued earlier on Friday outlining potential key areas in the deal. DPM Dar did not respond directly to the question. Instead, he said he had reiterated Pakistan’s position during his engagements at the United Nations earlier this week. “Pakistan remains steadfast in its position on Palestine and Gaza,” Dar said, adding that Israel “must move towards the establishment of a Palestin...

The United Nations warned on Friday that an Israeli plan to take control of 70 per cent of Gaza will increase suffering among children already hit by the impacts of severe overcrowding. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to take control of more territory in the Gaza Strip, flouting the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October. He said the military had controlled 50pc of the Palestinian territory under the terms of the ceasefire, then advanced to take over 60pc. “My directive is to move to… 70pc,” he said. The United Nations children’s agency Unicef warned that this would deepen the health crisis among children in the territory, suffering from acute lack of food, water and hygiene. Israel controls the flow of aid into the territory along with all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Even before Israel’s assault in Gaza that began in 2023, the territory was already very densely populated. Now “people have been crammed into a...

Israeli and Russian security forces have been added to a United Nations blacklist on sexual violence in conflict, according to a report reviewed on Thursday by AFP. Published annually by the UN, the list includes dozens of state and non-state groups credibly suspected of having engaged “systematically” in sexual violence in countries such as Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Syria and Mali. Last August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel and Russia of their possible inclusion on the list. Despite the warning, the report says that “incidents and patterns of sexual violence continued to be documented by the United Nations” in the war in Ukraine and in the occupied Palestinian territories. UN investigators faced “continued denial of access” from authorities in both countries, according to the report, seen by AFP before its circulation among Security Council members. Regarding Israel, “in 2025, patterns of sexual violence against Palestinians detained in Israel and the Occu...

Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, in a strike the day before, after killing his predecessor in a similar attack this month. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday”. Hamas has not yet commented. “In the Prime Minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz claimed in a post on X. “We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be.” After announcing the strike on Tuesday, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint statement that Odeh had “served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad”. Haddad was killed by an Israeli strike on May 15. “Odeh was responsible for...

Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by Israeli forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, following global outcry over their treatment in custody. Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman, Oren Marmorstein, said that “all foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel”. “Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza,” he added. Earlier, the legal centre and rights groups representing the activists, Adalah, said all detained activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been released from Israel’s Ktziot prison ahead of deportation. Adalah said it had received “official confirmation” from the Israeli Prison Service and state officials that the detainees had been released. “The majority of the participants are being transferred to Ramon Airport to be flown out of the country,” the group said. One of the organisers of the Freedom Flotilla mission, Thiago Avila, in a post on X, said, “Zohar, one of our...

Israeli authorities have begun detaining hundreds of activists seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla at the southern port of Ashdod on Wednesday, a rights group said, after Israeli forces intercepted their vessels at sea. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkiye last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month. Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard the flotilla were en route to Israel, while rights group Adalah said some had already arrived at Ashdod port and were being held there. “Having set sail toward Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge the unlawful blockade, these civilian participants were forcefully abducted from international waters and taken into Israeli territory entirely against their will,” Adalah said. “These acts are a direct extension of Israel’s policies of collective punishment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.” The Israeli foreign ministry dismissed ...

Israel on Thursday threatened to take The New York Times to court over a piece it published denouncing allegedly widespread sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have ordered the “initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times”, according to a joint statement issued by their offices. The offices said that the piece by Nicholas Kristof, a prominent opinion columnist, was “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper”. Kristof’s investigation is based on testimonies gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from 14 men and women who said that they had been sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces. The report described “a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency an...

Israel deported on Sunday two foreign activists seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, in what a rights group representing them described as a “punitive attack” on a civilian mission. Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30. The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. “Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel” following an investigation, the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X on Sunday. Israel would “not allow any breach” of the blockade on Gaza, it added. Spain, Brazil and the United Nations had all called for the men’s swift release. On Wednesday, an Israeli court rejected an appeal contesting the pair’s detention. “From their abduction in international waters to thei...

Israel will release two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla from detention on Saturday before handing them to immigration authorities ahead of their deportation, the rights group representing them said. Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla that was intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30. The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. “Today, the Shabak Israeli intelligence agency informed Adalah’s legal team that Global Sumud Flotilla activists and leaders Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek would be released from Israeli detention today, Saturday,” the rights group Adalah said in a statement. “They will be handed to Israel’s immigration authorities later today and kept in custody pending their deportation,” it added. Adalah said it was closely monito...

WASHINGTON: Nearly 30 Democratic lawmakers have urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to end Washington’s longstanding ambiguity over Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons programme, arguing that such secrecy has become untenable during the ongoing war on Iran. Israel is widely believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons, though it neither acknowledges nor denies having a nuclear arsenal. In a May 4 letter addressed to Secretary Rubio, the lawmakers said the US was “currently engaged in a war against Iran, a conflict with nuclear dimensions that the administration has not adequately addressed with Congress or the American public”. The move is led by Congressman Joaquin Castro, a senior Democratic lawmaker from Texas who has served in the US House of Representatives since 2013 and is known for his work on foreign policy and intelligence-related issues, including his tenure on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In a post on the social media platform X on Thursday, Castro said, “For nearly six decades, the US...

Doctors Without Borders on Thursday accused Israel of having deliberately restricted food and aid in Gaza, creating a “manufactured malnutrition crisis” with particularly devastating impacts on infants and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The report also examined the harm done by the US- and Israeli-backed private organisation set up last year to largely replace UN distribution of aid in Gaza. The medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, based its case on an analysis of the situation between late 2024 and early 2026 at four health facilities it supports in the Gaza Strip. That analysis showed significantly higher levels of prematurity and mortality among infants born to malnourished mothers, and spikes in miscarriages, it said. MSF linked these outcomes with Israel’s blockade of essential goods and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities. “Insecurity, displacement, restrictions on aid, and limited access to food and medical care have had devastating consequences for maternal...

Israel struck Beirut on Wednesday for the first time since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last month, with Israel claiming it targeted a commander of the group’s elite Radwan force in the city’s southern suburbs. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the action in a joint statement. Israeli media reported that the commander was killed in the strike, but there was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military or Hezbollah. The Lebanon ceasefire has underpinned a broader US-Iran truce, with a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon being a key Iranian demand. As Iran and the US say they are drawing closer to a deal to halt their conflict, the strikes threaten the ceasefire that halted Israeli attacks on Beirut. Israeli troops have remained in areas south of the Litani River and strikes continued in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has responded by firing and launching armed drones towards Israeli soldiers. Israel earlier on Wednesday called for residents to eva...

An Israeli court on Tuesday extended the detention of two foreign activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla by six days, a lawyer representing them said. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon for their second hearing, after being brought to Israel for questioning last week. The extension is to allow police more time to interrogate them, the pair’s lawyer said. The two, held in a prison in Ashkelon, were among dozens of activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece early on Thursday. The other detained activists were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released. The representatives of Avila and Abu Keshek have accused Israeli authorities of abusing the two men, who have been on hunger strike for the past six days. The flotilla’s vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid...

Italian prosecutors have opened an unlawful detention investigation following a raid by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Italian media reported on Monday. The probe was opened following complaints received over the detention last week of Spanish citizen Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, who were on an Italian-flagged vessel. An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of the two activists who were taken to Israel for questioning. The two were on a flotilla of more than 50 vessels that left France, Spain and Italy, aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted in international waters off Greece on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists. Avila and Abu Keshek were taken to Israel for questioning, while the other activists were released. The Israeli operation was widely criticised, particularly by Italy and Spain. The Rome prosecutor’s office opened a similar investigation...

An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, who were brought to Israel for questioning, a rights group representing them said. The flotilla of more than 50 vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Greece early on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists — two of whom were taken to Israel for questioning. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon on Sunday. AFP footage showed the pair being escorted into the courtroom, with Avila walking with his hands behind his back and Abu Keshek’s feet in shackles. “The court extended their detention by two days,” Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, told AFP. Adalah said the state attorney had prese...

Israel has approved the purchase of two new combat squadrons of advanced fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin and Boeing as part of a long-term military expansion plan aimed at strengthening its air superiority and readiness against regional threats.

Israel gave final approval for a plan to purchase two new combat squadrons of F-35 and F-15IA advanced fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin and Boeing in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars, the defence ministry said on Sunday. The deal, approved by Israel’s Ministerial Committee on Procurement, is a first step in a 350 billion shekel ($119 billion) plan to bolster Israel’s military and “strengthen readiness ahead of a demanding decade for Israeli security,” it said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said much of this expanded defence budget will be to produce munitions in Israel and not be dependent on foreign countries. Israel, he noted, will also develop “groundbreaking” aircraft. The ministry added that the new squadrons will serve as a cornerstone of the military’s long-term force development, addressing regional threats and preserving Israel’s strategic air superiority. “Alongside immediate wartime procurement needs, we have a responsibility to act now to secure the Israeli Defence Forces’ militar...

Two activists who participated in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla were brought to Israel for questioning, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, after the vessels were intercepted by Israeli forces this week. Saif Abu Keshek, from Spain, and Thiago Avila, a Brazilian, were in Israel and would “be transferred for questioning by law enforcement authorities”, the ministry said on X, adding that the two activists were affiliated with an organisation sanctioned by the US Treasury. The ministry said the activists were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group Washington has accused of “clandestinely acting on behalf of Hamas”. In January, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the group, which it said was involved in organising Gaza-bound civilian flotillas that aimed to break Israel’s sea blockade on the Palestinian territory. Israel’s foreign ministry said Abu Keshek was a leading member of PCPA and Avila, also linked to the organisation, was “suspected of illegal activity”. “Both wil...

Israel and Lebanon extended a shaky ceasefire by three weeks, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, as the United States remained at a standstill in negotiations with Iran to end the Middle East war. Trump announced the truce extension as he met with ambassadors of the two countries and despite recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon and fresh rocket fire from Hezbollah, which was not part of the talks in Washington. “I think there’s a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. The initial truce had been set to expire on Sunday. Still, the US president said earlier he was in no rush to end the war with Iran, adding that “the clock is ticking” for the Islamic republic as a third American aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East. Iranian media reported blasts over the capital Tehran, a first since the ceasefire in the Middle East war came into effect two weeks ago. It was not clear what caused the explosions, though an Israeli security source told AFP ...

Indonesia on Wednesday accused Israel of flying a “propaganda” banner over the ruins of a hospital that had been built in Gaza with Indonesian funding. The Indonesia Hospital, in the north of the Gaza Strip near the fortified border with Israel, was opened in late 2015 after Indonesia’s Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, a humanitarian NGO, raised approximately $7.3 million in donations for its construction, according to state news agency Antara. It has since been destroyed, and Jakarta on Wednesday objected to the raising of a banner over the ruins that alluded to Israel’s 12-day “Rising Lion” military operation against Iran last year. “The use of military symbols and propaganda over the ruins of a destroyed hospital, especially when linked to a specific military operation, is a highly provocative act and cannot be justified,” the foreign ministry said in a statement posted on X. “This act is an insult to a humanitarian facility built from the solidarity of the Indonesian people for the Palestinian people.”...