Middle East
Comply with international law in Gaza
Israel must comply with international law in Gaza and address the devastating humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, a group of Western nations wrote in a letter to the Israeli government seen by Reuters yesterday.
GAZA OFFENSIVE, CAMPUS PROTEST / Democratic divide hurting Biden: poll
Democrats are deeply divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of both the offensive in Gaza and the US campus protests against it, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, fraying the coalition that he relied on four years ago to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
RETALIATORY STRIKES / Hezbollah fires rocket barrage at Israeli positions
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it yesterday launched “more than 60” rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for overnight air strikes on the country’s east.
Israel-Hamas gun battle intensifies
Israeli troops fought Hamas members across Gaza yesterday, including in the southern city of Rafah that had been a refuge for civilians, in an upsurge of the more than seven-month offensive that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Iran port deal: India downplays US sanctions threat
India's foreign minister has said his company will work to communicate the benefits of a strategic port project in Iran after the United States said Indian firms working on the project risked sanctions
450,000 displaced from Rafah since May 6
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said yesterday that nearly 450,000 people have been displaced from Rafah since Israel began issuing evacuation orders for the south Gaza city eight days ago.
PRO-GAZA PROTEST / Protesters occupy univ buildings in Dutch cities
Pro-Palestinian protesters yesterday occupied university buildings in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Groningen and Eindhoven, condemning Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the Dutch protest group behind the action said in a statement.
India, Iran sign deal to develop port project
India and Iran yesterday signed a 10-year contract to develop and equip the strategic Chabahar port in Iran as India seeks to grow trade in west and central Asia.
Biden threatens to withhold arms supply to Israel
Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded areas of Rafah yesterday, Palestinian residents said, after US President Joe Biden vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces launch a major invasion of the southern Gaza city.
Iran frees seven crew from Portuguese ship seized in Gulf
Iran yesterday freed seven of the 25 crew on a Portuguese-flagged ship seized in the Gulf on April 13, Portugal’s foreign ministry said.
‘Our lives have completely stopped’
Displaced Palestinian Marwan al-Masri, sheltering in Rafah, said “Our lives have completely stopped” since Israeli tanks and troops entered the city’s east, sending desperate people fleeing north in the besieged territory.
Biden threatens to withhold arms supply to Israel
Israeli tanks and warplanes bombarded areas of Rafah yesterday, Palestinian residents said, after US President Joe Biden vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces launch a major invasion of the southern Gaza city.
Afghan blast kills 3 Taliban security personnel
Three Taliban security personnel were killed when a motorcycle carrying an explosive device blew up near a military vehicle in northern Afghanistan being used in opium poppy eradication operations, an interior ministry spokesman said yesterday.
Patients, medics flee major Rafah hospital
Fearful medics and patients are fleeing a hospital in Rafah and transfers of the sick and injured via a border crossing with Egypt are at a standstill due to Israel’s military operation, doctors and residents said.
Battles rage around Rafah
Israel bombarded the overcrowded Gaza city of Rafah, as talks resumed yesterday in Cairo aimed at agreeing the terms of a truce in the seven-month offensive.
Gaza ‘choked off’ from aid
The two main crossings into the southern Gaza Strip remain shut, virtually cutting off the enclave from outside aid with very few stores stationed inside, said UN agencies yesterday.
Israel plays down Hamas nod to ceasefire, hits Rafah
Israel played down the likelihood of a ceasefire in Gaza yesterday after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from mediators, even as residents fled the city of Rafah in fear of an Israeli assault.
Yemen rebels dismantle US-Israel ‘spy’ network
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said yesterday they had exposed a “spy” network aiding the United States and Israel and arrested suspected members of it.
