The Guardian view on annihilation in Gaza: the deaths mount, but the pressure has ebbed
'We cannot be asking civilians to go into a combat zone so that then they can be killed with the justification that they are in a combat zone.' It defies belief that the Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, should have needed to spell that out this week. And yet each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect aid for their families from food hubs in Gaza, forced to make a lethal choice between risking being shot and letting their families slowly starve. More than 500 have died around the centres since the system was introduced – yet, with attention fixed on Israel's attacks on Iran, there has been little to spare for recent deaths.
The Israeli military has given shifting accounts of events. But soldiers told the newspaper Haaretz that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds that posed no threat. The Israeli prime minister and defence minister attacked the allegations as 'blood libels'. Médecins Sans Frontières has accurately described the system as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. Meanwhile, Israel has closed crossings into the north.
Overall, Gaza's health ministry says that 56,331 people have died in Israeli attacks since war began. Researchers who assess war casualties suggested this week that, far from being exaggerated, this undercounts the toll. They estimated that violent deaths had reached 75,000 by this January, with another 8,500 excess deaths due to the war. The toll of hunger has yet to be reckoned.
The ceasefire with Iran has prompted talk that Benjamin Netanyahu may be contemplating an early election, hoping to ride to victory on the glory. That would be tough without the release of hostages and at least the impression of an end to the war in Gaza. Yet it remains unclear whether there is actual movement towards a deal with Hamas. Donald Trump's hazy vision of a grand deal for the Middle East is built upon a fantasy of Arab state acquiescence without any concrete offer for Palestinians.
Without a proper agreement, the threat of strikes resuming would loom large, there would be no promise that proper aid would follow, and recovery would be impossible. The far-right coalition partners upon whom Mr Netanyahu depends want the 'day after' to bring not a resurgence of life but the disappearance of Palestinians from Gaza – and beyond. The surging violence and mass displacements in the occupied West Bank, which have seen 943 Palestinians killed by settlers or security forces since 7 October 2023, have been described as 'Gazafication'. Meanwhile, Israel entrenches its control politically.
As Israel's allies stand by – or, like Mr Trump, spur on horrors such as the food scheme – the necessary destination of a two-state solution is becoming a mirage. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has suggested openly that the US no longer sees an independent Palestinian state as a goal. European nations, including the UK, which had edged towards recognising one, have backed off since Israel attacked Iran.
A review by the diplomatic service of the EU – Israel's biggest trading partner – found that the country was probably breaching human rights duties under their trade deal, yet the bloc has not acted accordingly. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, rightly urged the EU to suspend the accord. While the arms and trade still flow, Israel's allies are complicit in the destruction of lives in Gaza. They must instead make themselves central to building a future for Palestinians in a state of their own.
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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on annihilation in Gaza: the deaths mount, but the pressure has ebbed
'We cannot be asking civilians to go into a combat zone so that then they can be killed with the justification that they are in a combat zone.' It defies belief that the Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, should have needed to spell that out this week. And yet each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect aid for their families from food hubs in Gaza, forced to make a lethal choice between risking being shot and letting their families slowly starve. More than 500 have died around the centres since the system was introduced – yet, with attention fixed on Israel's attacks on Iran, there has been little to spare for recent deaths. The Israeli military has given shifting accounts of events. But soldiers told the newspaper Haaretz that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds that posed no threat. The Israeli prime minister and defence minister attacked the allegations as 'blood libels'. Médecins Sans Frontières has accurately described the system as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. Meanwhile, Israel has closed crossings into the north. Overall, Gaza's health ministry says that 56,331 people have died in Israeli attacks since war began. Researchers who assess war casualties suggested this week that, far from being exaggerated, this undercounts the toll. They estimated that violent deaths had reached 75,000 by this January, with another 8,500 excess deaths due to the war. The toll of hunger has yet to be reckoned. The ceasefire with Iran has prompted talk that Benjamin Netanyahu may be contemplating an early election, hoping to ride to victory on the glory. That would be tough without the release of hostages and at least the impression of an end to the war in Gaza. Yet it remains unclear whether there is actual movement towards a deal with Hamas. Donald Trump's hazy vision of a grand deal for the Middle East is built upon a fantasy of Arab state acquiescence without any concrete offer for Palestinians. Without a proper agreement, the threat of strikes resuming would loom large, there would be no promise that proper aid would follow, and recovery would be impossible. The far-right coalition partners upon whom Mr Netanyahu depends want the 'day after' to bring not a resurgence of life but the disappearance of Palestinians from Gaza – and beyond. The surging violence and mass displacements in the occupied West Bank, which have seen 943 Palestinians killed by settlers or security forces since 7 October 2023, have been described as 'Gazafication'. Meanwhile, Israel entrenches its control politically. As Israel's allies stand by – or, like Mr Trump, spur on horrors such as the food scheme – the necessary destination of a two-state solution is becoming a mirage. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, has suggested openly that the US no longer sees an independent Palestinian state as a goal. European nations, including the UK, which had edged towards recognising one, have backed off since Israel attacked Iran. A review by the diplomatic service of the EU – Israel's biggest trading partner – found that the country was probably breaching human rights duties under their trade deal, yet the bloc has not acted accordingly. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, rightly urged the EU to suspend the accord. While the arms and trade still flow, Israel's allies are complicit in the destruction of lives in Gaza. They must instead make themselves central to building a future for Palestinians in a state of their own. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Spy chiefs probed ‘Russian double agent' at the heart of MI6 in huge 20-year global operation – and never caught ‘mole'
SPY chiefs probed a suspected "Russian double agent" at the heart of MI6 in a 20-year global operation. An investigation launched into the alleged mole, dubbed Operation Wedlock, sent surveillance officers around the world. 6 6 6 It included a team of over 30 MI5 officers, as reported by the Guardian, whose work spanned up to two decades. One on occasion, they were sent to the Middle East and sheltered in a CIA safe house. It is understood they were sent on the mission under terms that would have been illegal according to international law. Despite their work, MI5 were unable to conclude whether there had been a mole spying for Russia. A source told the Guardian: "We thought we had another Philby on our hands". Kim Philby was a prominent member of the notorious Cambridge Five, a ring of spies who passed information to the Soviet Union. With fascism plaguing Europe, Philby headed for Austria where he became active in helping the oppressed working class socialists. Alongside his wife, Jewish socialist Litzi Friedmann, the couple helped the anti-fascist cause in Vienna but later fled to London to escape the Nazis. Philby's life changed when he was introduced to a resident Soviet agent, code-named "Otto", at Regents Park. Along with four other Cambridge students, they were persuaded to start double lives as spies for the Soviets. Through the help of the KGB they worked their way into government jobs and passed on state secrets to the Russians. Philby was so good at his job he even secured a high-level job with MI6. In 1949 he was sent to Washington where be became a liaison intelligence officer 'combating Soviet subversion in Western Europe'. However, after two members of the Cambridge Five defected, suspicion grew over Philby and he resigned from the Foreign Office. Cleared of treason allegations, MI6 posted him to Beirut, where he worked as a correspondent for The Observer. In 1962, his cover was blown during a conversation with a MI5 officer at a party and he later made a 'sham' confession to be granted immunity. A year later a KGB guide smuggled him into Russia where he lived out the remainder of his life and was treated as a 'hero'. MI6 is the intelligence agency which supplies the Government with foreign intelligence (as opposed to MI5 which deals with domestic security threats). Its existence was not formally acknowledged until 1994. It is regarded as one of the best spy agencies in the world. Describing its work on its official website, the agency says: 'Our mission is to provide Her Majesty's Government with a global covert capability. 'We collect secret intelligence and mount operations overseas to prevent and detect serious crime, and promote and defend the national security and economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom.' Meanwhile, MI5 is widely understood to focus its intelligence efforts inside the UK but that isn't always the case. With threats to Britain's security often coming from abroad, the agency says it does "work outside the UK where it's necessary to protect the UK's national security or to counter security threats". It describes itself as a "publicly accountable civilian intelligence organisation", not a "secret police force", as it does not have the power to arrest people. Reporting to the Home Office, it was formed in 1909 under British army captain Vernon Kell to identify and counteract German spies in the country, according to the Britannica. The MI5 probe into an alleged mole was sparked in the 1990s and continued to at least 2015. It was launched after a tip off from the CIA in America, where they believed a British intelligence officer was working for Russia. Vladimir Putin was in charge of the FSB, Russia's secret intelligence service, at one point in the investigation. A source said: '[We were told] the target was a Russian spy. The US believed he was leaking information to the Russians. "He was suspect 1A. The job was taken more seriously than any other [MI5] was involved in. Wedlock eclipsed them all.' As reported by the Guardian, it has been revealed the UK believed they had identified the alleged spy. MI5 specialists were put in charge of tracking him down, although they did not operate from the Westminster HQ. The mission was so top secret, one insider claimed the officer in charge was briefed about the task in a church. Instead, the team were based in Wandsworth, south London, which was near an MI6 base. The officers were told the suspected mole held a senior role at MI6 and listening devices were planted inside his home, as well as secret cameras. He was tracked across the world, with officers travelling as far as Asia and the Middle East. The agents were given authentic passports, but fake names, and told they would be "on their own" if caught. A source also claimed the suspect was not thought to have been working by himself, but aided by two other people. The insider added how Wedlock was a 'highly unusual operation, the longest in recent memory and probably the most expensive'. 'MI5 never got the conclusive proof it was looking for,' they added, and MI6 "still [potentially] has a mole to find". 6 6 6
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump says Gaza ceasefire is possible within a week
President Donald Trump has suggested that a ceasefire in the Gaza could be reached within a week. The US president told reporters on Friday that he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas was close. Mr Trump's administration has been working on a deal after Israel shattered a two-month truce with Hamas by launching strikes in April. Weeks later, he voiced optimism a deal would be reached to stop the conflict and secure the release of more hostages. Interest in resolving the conflict has picked up steam this month after the US and Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. A ceasefire to the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict went i nto effect early this week. On Friday, at an Oval Office event celebrating a Congo-Rwanda accord, Mr Trump said he had been just been talking to some of the people involved in trying to reach a cessation of hostilities in the Palestinian enclave. "I think it's close. I just spoke to some of the people involved," he said. "We think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire." Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's post-October 7 military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. Mr Trump's surprise prediction of a possible ceasefire deal in the coming days comes at a time when there have been few signs that the warring parties were ready to restart serious negotiations or budge from entrenched positions. A spokesperson for US special envoy Steve Witkoff's office said they had no information to share beyond Mr Trump's comments. Mr Witkoff helped former President Joe Biden's aides broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement shortly before Mr Trump took office in January but the deal soon unravelled. The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer plans to visit Washington starting on Monday for talks with Trump administration officials about Gaza, Iran and a possible White House visit by Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a source familiar with the matter. Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday the outcome of Israel's war with Iran presented opportunities for peace that his country must not waste. "This victory presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements. We are working on this with enthusiasm," Netanyahu said in a statement.
