Egypt, Qatar working to salvage Gaza ceasefire deal, vital aid into territory on the line: AP Explains
Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to salvage the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, according to Egypt's state-run Al-Qahera News TV, which is close to the country's security agencies.
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New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
Gazans Worry Israel-Iran Conflict Will Shift World's Attention From Their Plight
Palestinians in Gaza said on Saturday that they worried the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran was shifting world attention away from their urgent humanitarian crisis. While Israeli military planes bombed Iranian nuclear sites and Iran fired barrages of ballistic missiles at Israeli cities over the past two days, Palestinians in Gaza were struggling to find food, connect to the internet and avoid strikes. 'Everyone is speaking about Iran now,' said Khalil al-Halabi, a 71-year-old retired U.N. official living in a partially destroyed home in Gaza City. 'Gaza has become a secondary matter.' Aid distribution sites in Gaza have been shuttered since Friday morning, which was shortly after the initial Israeli attacks on Iran began. Finding flour, Mr. al-Halabi said, had become a nightmare for his family, with some street vendors selling a 55-pound sack for more than $350 dollars. More concerning, he said, was that the Israel-Iran conflict could undermine desperately needed efforts to hammer out a cease-fire in Gaza. Repeated efforts to clinch a deal between Israel and Hamas have failed in recent months, with Israel saying it would end the war only after dismantling Hamas, and Hamas saying it will not surrender. Sharif al-Buheisi, 56, a resident of Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, said he thought the war would continue regardless of the fight between Israel and Iran. 'Israel and Hamas are in agreement about the continuation of the war,' he said. 'They both benefit in their own way.' Still, Mr. al-Buheisi, who was a university administrator before the war, said that any diminished focus on Gaza would have negative consequences for Palestinians. He argued that Israel would now be able to make contentious moves 'without a real response from the international community.' In particular, he said, he worried that the international community would not put enough pressure on Israel to fix the new system for delivering aid to Palestinians, which has had a chaotic, and often deadly, roll out. Mr. al-Buheisi, who said he has hypertension, said the system was not an option for him because he could not fight through frequently unruly crowds of people to get a box of handout food. Since the new aid effort began in May, scores of hungry and desperate Palestinians have been killed or wounded on their way to collect parcels of food at aid distribution sites in Gaza, which is operated by American security contractors. Palestinian witnesses say at least some of them were killed by Israeli soldiers who guard the perimeters of these aid sites. The Israeli military has said that its forces have fired warning shots toward people advancing in what was described as a threatening manner. Mr. al-Halabi, the former U.N. official, said the world's shifting attention was a reminder of the helpless situation of Palestinians in Gaza. 'We're living through misery here,' he said. 'But what can we do?'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine has not yet received Patriot air defence system from Israel
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told journalists that a Patriot air defence system which Kyiv was due to receive from Israel via the United States has not yet arrived. Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Details: Zelenskyy said an agreement on the supply of air defence systems with Israel did exist, although initially it did not cover the US-made Patriot systems. The president said that Ukraine had initially negotiated with Israel to acquire Israeli-Indian Barak 8 air defence systems, but that due to the attack on Israel by Hamas in autumn 2023, the delivery never took place. Ukraine then approached the United States requesting a Patriot system that Israel could send for refurbishment. Quote: "We received information that we could count on receiving some older models of the Patriot. That is, there are systems that are operational and there are donors willing to help repair them. There were some systems in Israel that could work if slightly refurbished. Eventually, one system was handed over by Israel to the United States to be repaired. We have not yet seen this system on Ukrainian territory." Background: Earlier, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky stated that Israel had transferred Patriot air defence systems which it received from the US in the early 1990s to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Tehran will burn,' Israel warns as Iran fires missiles in response to deadly strikes
DUBAI — Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing several top generals and dozens of others. The attacks have left Iran's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of plunging deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seeking a diplomatic route. The ongoing Israeli strikes appear to have halted — for now — any diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. Israel and Iran signaled more attacks are coming despite urgent calls from world leaders to de-escalate to avoid all-out war. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after 20 months of fighting. Israel — which is widely believed to have a nuclear weapons program — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the last two days also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lighted the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. 'If [Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. The U.S. and Iran were scheduled to be in Oman on Sunday for their sixth round of indirect talks over Iran's nuclear program. Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the talks were 'unjustifiable' after the Israeli strikes, likely signaling no negotiations this weekend. But he stopped short of saying the talks were canceled. The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat. The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes. There was no immediate word from the White House after Araghchi's comments. On Friday, President Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program. He warned on social media that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse,' adding that 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.' Khamenei signaled in a recorded message Friday that Iran was prepared to keep up its retaliatory attacks on Israel: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded 76, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders. The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes. 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. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one whose front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone,' said Moshe Shani. Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Video from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures. Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were 'operating freely.' He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated. Defrin said fighter jets struck more than 40 'missile-related targets and advanced air defense array systems' across Iran. Overnight, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate de-escalation from both sides. Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi told the Security Council that the aboveground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including 'infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,' and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment, 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.' Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions nearby, Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi. Gambrell, Lidman and Frankel write for the Associated Press. Gambrell reported from Dubai and Lidman and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. AP writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.
