Nato leaders expected to meet to discuss Ukraine as Russia launches largest attack
Trump's wife, Melania Trump, raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials said on Friday when Trump met Putin at a summit in Alaska. Trump hand-delivered that letter to Putin.
Trump and the European leader "have been discussing the massive Worldwide problem of missing children," the U.S. president said on social media late on Monday, without mentioning any particular country in his post. "This is, likewise, a big subject with my wife, Melania."
Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. Moscow has previously said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"The human cost of this war must end. And that means every single Ukrainian child abducted by Russia must be returned to their families," von der Leyen said on X, in reference to her discussion with Trump.
Images of suffering children during Russia's war in Ukraine and Israel's war in Gaza have caused alarm around the world, including the visuals of starving kids in the Palestinian enclave. The plight of children left devastated by years of violence in Syria had also sparked outrage.
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Irish Independent
12 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Israel has begun its planned assault on Gaza City amid clashes with Hamas
Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government supposedly considered a new proposal for a ceasefire after nearly two years of war. The call-up signals Israel is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza's biggest urban centre despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians. But a military official briefing reporters said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel over truce terms. The official said that as part of planning for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, there would be five divisions operating in the enclave, but most reservists were not expected to serve in combat in Gaza City. "We will be moving into a new phase of combat, a gradual, precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City, which currently serves as Hamas' main military and governing stronghold," the official said. Israel's security cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, approved a plan this month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75pc of the Gaza Strip. Many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider but Netanyahu is under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire, continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory. One far-right member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, announced final approval on Wednesday of a widely condemned Israeli plan for a settlement project in the occupied West Bank that he said would erase any prospect of a Palestinian state. The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza. Over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children. Hamas has accepted a proposal put forward by Arab mediators for a 60-day ceasefire that would involve releasing some of the remaining hostages and freeing Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The Israeli government, which has said all the 50 remaining hostages must be released at once, is studying the proposal. Israeli authorities believe that 20 hostages are still alive. Many Gazans and foreign leaders fear a storming of Gaza City would cause significant casualties. Israel says it will help civilians leave battle zones before any assault begins. ISRAELI TROOPS, HAMAS FIGHTERS CLASH Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said. In a statement, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops southeast of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted several hours. Israel's military campaign has caused widespread devastation across the Gaza Strip, which before the war was home to about 2.3 million Palestinians. Many buildings including homes, schools and mosques have been destroyed, while the military has accused Hamas of operating from within civilian infrastructure. Most Gazans have been displaced multiple times and forced into densely packed areas along the Mediterranean coast, including in Gaza City in the enclave's north. Israeli officials have said evacuation orders would be issued to Gaza City residents before any force moves in. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Gaza's only Catholic Church, located in Gaza City, said it had received reports that neighbourhoods near the small parish had started to receive evacuation notices. Hamas, an Islamist movement that has ruled Gaza for almost two decades, has been severely weakened by the war. The Israeli military says Hamas has been reduced to a guerrilla force. The Israeli military official who briefed reporters on Wednesday said Hamas had been trying to regroup and re-form in Gaza City in a more organised manner, but gave no evidence to support the assertion. Hamas has said it would release all remaining hostages in exchange for an end to war. Israel says it will not end the war before Hamas disarms. Opinion polls show strong Israeli public support for ending the war if it ensures the release of the hostages, and a rally in Tel Aviv urging the government to pursue such a deal drew a huge crowd on Saturday. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll of Americans showed a 58pc majority believe that every country in the United Nations should recognise Palestine as a nation.
RTÉ News
41 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Hundreds attend solidarity gig in Dublin for Kneecap rapper
Hundreds of people have attended a music session in Dublin city in solidarity with Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh after he appeared in a London court on Wednesday. Kneecap flags and logos hung from the windows in Connolly Books, which dubs itself Ireland's oldest radical bookshop, in solidarity with Ó hAnnaidh, Kneecap, and the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine supporters criticised the decision by British authorities to bring a charge against the performer instead of focusing on the Israeli government's actions against the Palestinian people. Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted Ó hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until 26 September, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with Kneecap. Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is "angry" at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. "I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza," she told the PA news agency. "It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. "I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. "When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that." Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. "I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing, and they're getting plenty of publicity. "The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? "They're supplying a lot of the bombs, and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So, they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. "It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians." Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. "I'm here because it's important to for two reasons - first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. "The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. "It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain."
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Players call on GAA to drop Allianz as sponsor after Occupied Palestinian Territories report
A number of prominent GAA stars have handed in an open letter and petition to management at Croke Park, calling on the association to drop Allianz insurance as a sponsor for GAA games. Close to 800 current and former players from Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies' football signed the petition, which was handed over at GAA HQ in Dublin and received by an official there. The open letter to Ard-Stiúrthóir of the GAA Tom Ryan calls on the organisation to demonstrate its commitment to its principles and to international humanitarian law. The players are calling on the association to end its association with Allianz, after the insurance company was among a series of companies listed in a report by UN special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese. Allianz Insurance was listed in the report published in June this year on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN as being among companies and corporations Ms Albanese said were involved in sustaining and paying for Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories. Among those signing the petition is former Meath footballer, manager and commentator Colm O'Rourke. "Sometimes the right thing costs money but in this case it is the least of what we should do. I think all club members should be made aware of what is happening in their name because of the sponsorship of the competition. "GAA members probably aren't that aware of this. When they do become aware they will want the link with Allianz to be broken once and for all," he said. "If it means that we don't have a sponsor for the National League Competition, so be it," Mr O'Rourke added. He said he hoped the GAA would review its position and do so quickly. Former Dublin GAA footballer Kieran Duff was also among those at the protest who had signed the petition. A number of players travelled to Dublin for the protest and around 70 people took part in the protest. "Some action has to be taken. We're a small little country. This is our national game and if the GAA can't stand up and call them out, what hope has anyone got? The emphasis has to be that people go back to their clubs and push it further," Mr Duff said. A petition for all GAA members is being published on calling on people to bring motions to their own clubs and seeking a new sponsorship provider. Barrister and former Derry Ladies GAA player Nodlaig Ní Bhrollaigh helped co-ordinate the protest. "The facts cannot be ignored and it really is up to the GAA now to do human rights due diligence and I don't think they'll come to any other conclusion other than they'll have to do what the report recommends and to end their relationship with Allianz," she said. Other well-known signatories of the letter include former Dublin footballer and retired transplant surgeon Dr David Hickey, who spoke at the event, saying that the GAA and Croke Park was place that epitomises the soul, culture and historical experience of the Irish people. Neil McManus, Peter Canavan, Tomás Ó Sé, Joe Brolly, Shane McGuigan, Niall Cahalane, Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton, Michael Darragh McAuley, Aoife Ní Chasáide, Jane Adams, Brendan Devenney, Greg McCartan, Sorcha Gormley and Danny Sutcliffe have also signed the petition. The UN report found that as a global insurance company, Allianz invested large sums in shares and bonds implicated in the occupation of Palestinian territories. The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to follow and report on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a statement, Allianz said: "Our long-standing partnership with the GAA is about supporting Irish sport and communities. "Allianz Ireland is part of a global group, and while the wider group operates internationally across insurance and investment, as a matter of principle, we do not comment on individual customers or business matters. "What we can say is that all Allianz business decisions are guided by strict legal standards and world-leading ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles."
