CNA938 Rewind - From avocados to tequila, among the top traded products between Mexico and Singapore
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the population of Gaza will be displaced to the south after his security cabinet approved an expanded military operation in the enclave that a minister described as a plan to 'conquer' the territory. How much of a setback will this be to any sort of ceasefire? Susan Ng and Hairianto Diman speak with Dr Simon Frankel Pratt, Senior Lecturer, Political Science, The University of Melbourne, to find out.
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Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Straits Times
US issues sanctions against charities supporting Hamas, PFLP
The US Treasury said it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - The United States imposed sanctions on June 10 targeting individuals and sham charities that it said were prominent financial supporters of the Palestinian groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The individuals and groups targeted were funding Hamas' military wing under the pretense of doing humanitarian work, in Gaza and internationally, the Treasury Department said. The Treasury said it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas, which still holds hostages it seized in the group's Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The entities sanctioned included the Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society, the Turkey-based Filistin Vakfi, the El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, which is based in Algeria, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation and the Associazione Benefica La Cupola d'Oro, based in Italy, the department said in a statement. The five individuals targeted on June 10 were leaders associated with the groups, it said. "Today's action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations," Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said in the statement. Hamas and PFLP have a long histroy of abusing non-profit organisations and charities, the Treasury said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Straits Times
Israel's Netanyahu says significant progress made in talks to release hostages
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that there had been "significant progress" in efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, but that it was "too soon" to raise hopes that a deal would be reached. Despite efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to restore a ceasefire in Gaza, neither Israel nor Hamas has shown willingness to back down on core demands, with each side blaming the other for the failure to reach a deal. Netanyahu, who has come under pressure from within his right-wing coalition to continue the war and block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, said in a video statement shared by his office that there had been progress, without providing details. A source familiar with the negotiations said that Washington had been giving Hamas more assurances, in the form of steps that would lead to an end to the war, but said it was U.S. officials who were optimistic, not Israeli ones. The source said there was pressure from Washington to have a deal done as soon as possible. The White House National Security Council and representatives for U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading U.S. efforts in the ceasefire talks, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did Hamas representatives. Israel's leadership has said that it would wage war until the remaining 55 hostages held in Gaza are freed and when Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war, has been dismantled. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has said it would no longer govern after the war if a Palestinian, non-partisan technocratic committee took over, but it has refused to disarm. The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israel said it would abide by the terms but Hamas has sought amendments. The militants have said that they would release all hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war. The war in Gaza has raged since Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in the October 2023 attack and took 251 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Straits Times
US envoy says he does not think Palestinian state is US policy goal, Bloomberg reports
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File photo US envoy says he does not think Palestinian state is US policy goal, Bloomberg reports U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he did not think that an independent Palestinian state remains a goal of U.S. foreign policy, according to an interview with Bloomberg News released on Tuesday. "I don't think so," Huckabee said when asked if a Palestinian state remains a goal of U.S. policy, Bloomberg reported, Bloomberg reported. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, is staunch pro-Israel conservative picked by President Donald Trump to be his envoy to Israel. "Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there's no room for it," Huckabee was quoted as saying. Those probably won't happen 'in our lifetime,' he told the news agency. Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a longtime pillar of U.S. Middle East policy, and he has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term. Huckabee suggested a piece of land could be carved out of a Muslim country rather than asking Israel to make room. "Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?' Huckabee said, using the biblical name the Israeli government favors for the West Bank, where some 3 million Palestinians live under occupation. The White House and U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Huckabee's remarks. An evangelical Christian, Huckabee has been a vocal supporter of Israel throughout his political career and a longtime defender of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Trump has pursued strongly pro-Israel policies as president and his choice of Huckabee as ambassador signaled that they would continue. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
