Israel to establish more settlements in the West Bank – Middle East crisis live
Update:
Date: 2025-05-29T07:22:04.000Z
Title: Opening summary
Content: Welcome to our ongoing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East
Israel has authorised 22 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation, its defence minister has said.
Israel Katz said the settlement decision 'strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria,' using the biblical term for the West Bank, 'anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism.'
Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers.
We'll be bringing you more on this shortly. In other developments:
Four people have died as thousands of starving Palestinians burst into a United Nations warehouse in Deir al-Balah in Gaza. Two were fatally crushed and two others died of gunshot wounds, health officials said. It was not immediately clear if Israeli forces, private contractors or others had opened fire.
Donald Trump has claimed he warned Israel against attacking Iran because he believed he was very close to a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme. As part of that deal US inspectors will be given unparalleled access to sites to ensure the country is not planning to build a nuclear bomb.
Thousands of family members of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza held protests across the country, blocking traffic and calling for a deal securing the release of their loved ones from captivity and an end to the conflict.
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Iran retaliates after Israeli strikes targeting its nuclear program and military
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The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, to head to shelter for hours. Iranian missiles strike Israel Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in Israeli attacks. Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they were injured when a projectile hit a building in the city. Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two people and injuring 19, according to Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged. Meanwhile, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday. An Associated Press journalist could hear air raid sirens near their home. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, with a video posted on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport. Israel's paramedic services said 34 people were wounded in the barrage on the Tel Aviv area, including a woman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an AP journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. 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On Thursday, Iran was censured by the U.N.'s atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defenses and missile launchers near Tehran, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not possible to independently corroborate the officials' claims. Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. It also appeared to strike a second, smaller nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby. 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The National
28 minutes ago
- The National
The left needs to act more boldly or we are all doomed
According to immigration lawyers, agents arrested people – including families with small children – and held them in a stuffy office basement for days without sufficient food and water. Given the brutal nature of these raids, and the failure to uphold basic human rights (such as the right to due process and the right to legal representation), it is no wonder that protests have taken place. However, unlike the 1992 LA riots, the protests sparked by the actions of ICE have been overwhelmingly peaceful, and have been confined to a six-block stretch of downtown LA. READ MORE: Israel launches second wave of major strikes on Iran Yet, despite this, Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to be deployed against the California governor's wishes – the first time since 1965 that a president had deployed National Guard troops to a state without a governor's request. Although it is heartening to see ordinary Americans beginning to make a stand against the inhumane, illegal, and downright cruel actions of the Trump administration, we cannot forget the path that led the United States here – corruption, obscene inequality, and the deliberate fanning of the flames of racism and bigotry. I find myself grateful on a daily basis that I do not live in America, only to be reminded that these issues are much closer to home than many of us care to admit. Over the last several nights, Ballymena in Northern Ireland has been rocked by racist riots. They began after a vigil held for a teenage girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by two 14-year-olds. (Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire) When rumours spread that a Romanian interpreter was in the court, it was enough to ignite the racism that has long been simmering away. Police said the unrest escalated into racially motivated violence, with mobs targeting foreign residents by breaking their windows, and setting fire to their homes. The justification given for these racist riots is that residents feel their community is being 'overrun' by foreigners, and that it has happened very quickly. For context, 3.4% of Northern Ireland's population are from ethnic minority backgrounds compared to 12.9% in Scotland and 18.3% in England and Wales. Northern Ireland is the least diverse part of the United Kingdom. The rioters claim immigrants are 'freeloading' off taxpayer-funded resources, and are committing crimes. Again, this is an age-old claim which barely masks the racism motivating it. But when a young, white, Irish or British person moves to somewhere like Australia or Spain to start a new life, we encourage them and wish them the best. We do not assume they are scroungers looking to suck resources away from native Australians, so why is it different when people come to the UK for a better life? Equally, the vast majority of sexual assaults in the UK are committed by white men born in the UK – where are the riots then? The anger and despair that people feel when they see their communities decline, their opportunities disappear and their national institutions disintegrate is completely understandable and justified. The problem comes when that righteous anger is manipulated and aimed at entirely the wrong people. While standards of living in the UK continue to decline, while social security is dismantled piece by piece – no matter which party is in government – when the waiting lists for NHS appointments and decent housing seem to only ever grow, it is fair to feel angry and attacked. However, when the richest people in society are getting richer while ordinary people are simultaneously told that they must, again, tighten their belts, it seems obvious to me where that anger should be directed. And it certainly is not at immigrants just trying to live their lives. This same manipulation of that anger and despair that we have seen in the US, and in Northern Ireland, can also be seen much closer to home in Scotland. Nigel Farage's Reform UK came third in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. It was once unthinkable that Farage would ever enjoy even close to that level of success in politics, never mind in Scottish politics. As I have said previously, something is going to eventually give way. People are desperate for change from the status quo, and they will vote for whoever they perceive to be deviating the most from it, no matter how false that perception is. Given that the status quo has been moving increasingly further to the right, it is the perfect time for left-leaning political parties to think and act boldly. If they don't, then we are all doomed.
The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
US military parade has global counterparts in democracies, monarchies and totalitarian regimes
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The Bastille Day parade has rolled annually since 1880. Now, it proceeds down an iconic Parisian route, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It passes the Arc de Triomphe — a memorial with tributes to the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars and World War I — and eventually in front of the French president, government ministers and invited foreign guests. Trump attended in 2017, early in his first presidency, as U.S. troops marched as guests. The spectacle left him openly envious. 'It was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen,' Trump told French President Emanuel Macron. 'It was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France. We're going to have to try and top it.' The British set modern ceremonial standards In the United Kingdom, King Charles III serves as ceremonial (though not practical) head of U.K. armed forces. Unlike in France and the U.S., where elected presidents wear civilian dress even at military events, Charles dons elaborate dress uniforms — medals, sash, sword, sometimes even a bearskin hat and chin strap. He does it most famously at Trooping the Colour, a parade and troop inspection to mark the British monarch's official birthday, regardless of their actual birthdate. (The U.S. Army has said it has no specific plans to recognize Trump's birthday on Saturday.) In 2023, Charles' first full year as king, he rode on horseback to inspect 1,400 representatives of the most prestigious U.K. regiments. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, used a carriage over the last three decades of her 70-year reign. The British trace Trooping the Colour back to King Charles II, who reigned from 1660-1685. It became an annual event under King George III, described in the American colonists' Declaration of Independence as a figure of 'absolute Despotism (and) Tyranny.' Authoritarians flaunt military assets Grandiose military pomp is common under modern authoritarians, especially those who have seized power via coups. It sometimes serves as a show of force meant to ward off would-be challengers — and to seek legitimacy and respect from other countries. Cuba's Fidel Castro, who wore military garb routinely, held parades to commemorate the revolution he led on Dec. 2, 1959. In 2017, then-President Raúl Castro refashioned the event into a Fidel tribute shortly after his brother's death. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, known as 'Comandante Chávez,' presided over frequent parades until his 2013 death. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, has worn military dress at similar events. North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, who famously bonded with Trump in a 2018 summit, used a 2023 military parade to show off his daughter and potential successor, along with pieces of his isolated country's nuclear arsenal. The event in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square — named for Kim's grandfather — marked the North Korean Army's 75th birthday. Kim watched from a viewing stand as missiles other weaponry moved by and goose-stepping soldiers marched past him chanting, 'Defend with your life, Paektu Bloodline' — referring to the Kim family's biological ancestry. In China, Beijing's one-party government stages its National Day Parade every 10 years to project civic unity and military might. The most recent events, held in 2009 and 2019, involved trucks carrying nuclear missiles designed to evade U.S. defenses, as well as other weaponry. Legions of troops, along with those hard assets, streamed past President Xi Jinping and other leaders gathered in Tiananmen Square in 2019 as spectators waved Chinese flags and fighter jets flew above. Earlier this spring, Xi joined Russian President Vladimir Putin — another strongman leader Trump has occasionally praised — in Moscow's Red Square for the annual 'Victory Day' parade. The May 9 event commemorates the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II — a global conflict in which China and the Soviet Union, despite not being democracies, joined the Allied Powers in fighting the Axis Powers led by Germany and Japan. A birthday parade for Hitler Large civic-military displays were, of course, a feature in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy before and during World War II. Chilling footage of such events lives on as a reminder of the dangers of authoritarian extremism. Among those frequent occasions: a parade capping Germany's multiday observance of Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday in 1939. (Some far-right extremists in Europe still mark the anniversary of Hitler's birth.) The four-hour march through Berlin on April 20, 1939, included more than 40,000 personnel across the Army, Navy, Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Schutzstaffel (commonly known as the 'SS.') Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the streets. The Führer's invited guests numbered 20,000. On a street-level platform, Hitler was front and center. Alone.
