
'Great progress' made in Gaza ceasefire talks, says Donald Trump
Donald Trump has suggested a ceasefire in Gaza may be imminent.
The US president told reporters that "great progress" had been made in talks as a result of the end of the recent 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran. At the weekend, the US carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites.
"Because of this attack that we made [in Iran], I think we're going to have some good news… Gaza's very close," he added.
While missile strikes between Israel and Iran have dominated headlines in recent days, the war in Gaza has ground relentlessly on.
On Wednesday, Israeli officials said seven soldiers were killed by an explosive device in Khan Younis, in the south of the territory.
That was the highest number of deaths for its forces in a single incident since the breakdown of a previous truce in March.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said another 33 people had been killed and 267 people injured while seeking aid at food distribution points.
Sky News's Gaza Team observed bodies being laid out at Nasser Hospital, and people being treated, after reports of gunfire at an aid point near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.
Rabih Abed-Rabo, a Palestinian man, told Sky News that tens of thousands of people had gone to the site to seek food.
"I'm really thanking God I managed to get this bag. I have to feed 15 people. We've been trying for three months," he said.
"I went back and forth to that area 10 times. Near the tanks, near the Israelis, through intense gunfire. Thank God."
The Gaza health ministry said a total of 549 people had now been killed at food distribution centres since March.
The aid stations are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organisation backed by Israel and now funded directly by the US too.
A UN official has described the aid delivery mechanism as a "death trap".
The Israeli military did not comment on the latest incident but told Sky News: "The Ministry of Health in Gaza is controlled and directed by Hamas, and is therefore subject to its agenda.
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Rhyl Journal
25 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Trump says US and Iranian officials will talk next week as ceasefire holds
Mr Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire that took hold on Tuesday on the 12th day of the war, told reporters at a Nato summit that he was not particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that US strikes had destroyed its nuclear programme. Earlier in the day, an Iranian official questioned whether the United States could be trusted after its weekend attack. 'We may sign an agreement, I don't know,' Mr Trump said. 'The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done.' Iran has not acknowledged any talks taking place next week, though US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of negotiations between the US and Iran had been scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was cancelled when Israel attacked Iran. Earlier, Mr Trump said the ceasefire was going 'very well', and added that Iran was 'not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich'. Iran has insisted, however, that it will not give up its nuclear programme. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog that has monitored the programme for years. Ahead of the vote, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticised the IAEA for having 'refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities' that the United States carried out on Sunday. 'For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend co-operation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran's peaceful nuclear programme will move forward at a faster pace,' Mr Qalibaf told legislators. IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities. Among other things, Iran claims to have moved its highly enriched uranium ahead of the US strikes, and Mr Grossi said his inspectors need to reassess the country's stockpiles. 'We need to return,' he said. 'We need to engage.' French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country was part of the 2015 deal with Iran that restricted its nuclear programme but began unravelling after Mr Trump pulled the US out in his first term, said he hoped Tehran would come back to the table. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres 'very much hopes' the promised talks will lead to an end to the Israel-Iran conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Mr Guterres also hopes the momentum from the Israel-Iran ceasefire will also lead to negotiations to end the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, Mr Dujarric said. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme was peaceful, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons, which it has never acknowledged. The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said its assessment was that the US and Israeli strikes have 'set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years'. It did not give evidence to back up its claim. The US strikes hit three Iranian nuclear sites, which Mr Trump said 'completely and fully obliterated' the country's nuclear programme. At the Nato summit, when asked about a US intelligence report that found Iran's nuclear programme has been set back only a few months, Mr Trump scoffed and said it would at least take 'years' to rebuild. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed that the strikes by US B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs had caused significant damage. 'Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,' he told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, while refusing to go into detail. Mr Baghaei seemed to suggest Iran might not shut out IAEA inspectors for good, noting that the bill before parliament only talks of suspending work with the agency, not ending it. He also insisted Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear energy programme. 'Iran is determined to preserve that right under any circumstances,' he said. Mr Witkoff said on Fox News late on Tuesday that Israel and the US had achieved their objective of 'the total destruction of the enrichment capacity' in Iran, and Iran's prerequisite for talks – that Israel end its campaign – had been fulfilled. 'The proof is in the pudding,' he said. 'No-one's shooting at each other. It's over.' Mr Grossi said he could not speculate on how bad the damage was but that Iran's nuclear capabilities were well known. 'The technical knowledge is there, and the industrial capacity is there,' he said. 'That no-one can deny, so we need to work together with them.' An Israeli official said the ceasefire agreement with Iran amounted to 'quiet for quiet', with no further understandings about Iran's nuclear programme going ahead. In the Fox News interview, Mr Witkoff said Mr Trump is now looking to land 'a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire'. 'We're already talking to each other, not just directly, but also through interlocutors,' Mr Witkoff said, adding that the conversations were promising and 'we're hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement'. However, Mr Baghaei said Washington had 'torpedoed diplomacy' with its attacks on nuclear sites, and that while Iran in principle was always open to talks, national security was the priority. 'We have to make sure whether the other parties are really serious when they're talking about diplomacy, or is it again part of their tactics to make more problems for the region and for my country,' he said. China, a close Iranian partner and major buyer of Iranian oil, said it hoped a 'lasting and effective ceasefire can be achieved so as to promote' peace and stability in the region. China has blamed Israel for starting the war and destabilising the region. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China is willing to 'inject positive factors to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East'. Mr Grossi said Iran and the international community should seize the opportunity of the ceasefire for a long-term diplomatic solution. 'Out of the … bad things that military conflict brings, there's also now a possibility, an opening,' he said. 'We shouldn't miss that opportunity.'


North Wales Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Trump says US and Iranian officials will talk next week as ceasefire holds
Mr Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire that took hold on Tuesday on the 12th day of the war, told reporters at a Nato summit that he was not particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that US strikes had destroyed its nuclear programme. Earlier in the day, an Iranian official questioned whether the United States could be trusted after its weekend attack. 'We may sign an agreement, I don't know,' Mr Trump said. 'The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done.' Iran has not acknowledged any talks taking place next week, though US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of negotiations between the US and Iran had been scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was cancelled when Israel attacked Iran. Earlier, Mr Trump said the ceasefire was going 'very well', and added that Iran was 'not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich'. Iran has insisted, however, that it will not give up its nuclear programme. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog that has monitored the programme for years. Ahead of the vote, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticised the IAEA for having 'refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities' that the United States carried out on Sunday. 'For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend co-operation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran's peaceful nuclear programme will move forward at a faster pace,' Mr Qalibaf told legislators. IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities. Among other things, Iran claims to have moved its highly enriched uranium ahead of the US strikes, and Mr Grossi said his inspectors need to reassess the country's stockpiles. 'We need to return,' he said. 'We need to engage.' French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country was part of the 2015 deal with Iran that restricted its nuclear programme but began unravelling after Mr Trump pulled the US out in his first term, said he hoped Tehran would come back to the table. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres 'very much hopes' the promised talks will lead to an end to the Israel-Iran conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Mr Guterres also hopes the momentum from the Israel-Iran ceasefire will also lead to negotiations to end the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, Mr Dujarric said. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme was peaceful, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons, which it has never acknowledged. The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said its assessment was that the US and Israeli strikes have 'set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years'. It did not give evidence to back up its claim. The US strikes hit three Iranian nuclear sites, which Mr Trump said 'completely and fully obliterated' the country's nuclear programme. At the Nato summit, when asked about a US intelligence report that found Iran's nuclear programme has been set back only a few months, Mr Trump scoffed and said it would at least take 'years' to rebuild. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed that the strikes by US B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs had caused significant damage. 'Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,' he told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, while refusing to go into detail. Mr Baghaei seemed to suggest Iran might not shut out IAEA inspectors for good, noting that the bill before parliament only talks of suspending work with the agency, not ending it. He also insisted Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear energy programme. 'Iran is determined to preserve that right under any circumstances,' he said. Mr Witkoff said on Fox News late on Tuesday that Israel and the US had achieved their objective of 'the total destruction of the enrichment capacity' in Iran, and Iran's prerequisite for talks – that Israel end its campaign – had been fulfilled. 'The proof is in the pudding,' he said. 'No-one's shooting at each other. It's over.' Mr Grossi said he could not speculate on how bad the damage was but that Iran's nuclear capabilities were well known. 'The technical knowledge is there, and the industrial capacity is there,' he said. 'That no-one can deny, so we need to work together with them.' An Israeli official said the ceasefire agreement with Iran amounted to 'quiet for quiet', with no further understandings about Iran's nuclear programme going ahead. In the Fox News interview, Mr Witkoff said Mr Trump is now looking to land 'a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire'. 'We're already talking to each other, not just directly, but also through interlocutors,' Mr Witkoff said, adding that the conversations were promising and 'we're hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement'. However, Mr Baghaei said Washington had 'torpedoed diplomacy' with its attacks on nuclear sites, and that while Iran in principle was always open to talks, national security was the priority. 'We have to make sure whether the other parties are really serious when they're talking about diplomacy, or is it again part of their tactics to make more problems for the region and for my country,' he said. China, a close Iranian partner and major buyer of Iranian oil, said it hoped a 'lasting and effective ceasefire can be achieved so as to promote' peace and stability in the region. China has blamed Israel for starting the war and destabilising the region. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China is willing to 'inject positive factors to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East'. Mr Grossi said Iran and the international community should seize the opportunity of the ceasefire for a long-term diplomatic solution. 'Out of the … bad things that military conflict brings, there's also now a possibility, an opening,' he said. 'We shouldn't miss that opportunity.'


North Wales Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Seven Israeli soldiers killed in armoured vehicle blast in Gaza, says military
The attack on the Israeli troops, which occurred on Tuesday, was one of the deadliest for the army in Gaza in months, and quickly drew the nation's attention back to the grinding conflict with the Hamas militant group after nearly two weeks of war between Israel and Iran. Among the 79 reported killed in Gaza were 33 people who died while trying to access aid. Israel has been operating in Gaza since the Hamas militant group's October 7 2023 attack on Israel. US-led ceasefire efforts have repeatedly stalled. Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the army's chief spokesman, said the soldiers were attacked on Tuesday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where the army has operated on and off throughout much of the war. 'Helicopters and rescue forces were sent to the spot. They made attempts to rescue the fighters, but without success,' he said. The army said another soldier was seriously wounded in a separate incident in Khan Younis. It gave no further details, but Hamas claimed on its Telegram channel it had ambushed Israeli soldiers taking cover inside a residential building in the area. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began with the October 7 2023 Hamas attack, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. The initial Hamas attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and 251 others were taken hostage. Some 50 hostages remain in captivity, at least 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. The Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza and killed more than 56,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, a branch of the Hamas government. The death toll is by far the highest in any round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children. The ministry said the dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel resumed fighting on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, which operates in heavily populated areas. Israel says more than 20,000 Hamas militants have been killed, though it has provided no evidence to support that claim. Hamas has not commented on its casualties. Israeli forces shot and killed a 66-year-old Palestinian woman during a raid on Wednesday in east Jerusalem, her husband and a local Palestinian official said. Joudah Al-Obeidi, a 67-year-old resident of the neighbourhood's Shuafat refugee camp, said his wife Zahia Al-Obeidi was standing on the roof of their home when Israeli forces stormed the camp and shot her in the head. He said she had posed no threat. 'It is a crime,' he told The Associated Press. 'What danger did a sick 66-year-old woman pose to them?' Israeli police said they were investigating the incident, saying a woman had arrived at a military checkpoint with 'serious penetrating injuries' and was pronounced dead. They said Israeli forces fired at 'rioters' who threw rocks and heavy objects at them during the operation, with one officer admitted to hospital with a head injury from a large rock. Marouf Al-Refai, the Palestinian official, said Israeli forces stormed the Shuafat refugee camp overnight, killing Ms al-Obeidi with a shot to the head at around 10pm local time and took her body away. Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Middle East war. It considers the area to be part of its capital – a move that is not internationally recognised. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.