EU tells Israel to reverse move to cut off Palestinian banks
BRUSSELS: The EU on Wednesday urged Israel to undo a move by a far-right minister that threatens to paralyse Palestinian financial institutions.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tuesday that Israel had cancelled a waiver allowing its banks to work with Palestinian ones.
'The European Union is deeply concerned by the instruction by Israel's finance minister Smotrich to cancel the waiver on cooperation with Palestinian banks, which could cut them off from the Israeli financial system, devastate an already crippled Palestinian economy, and may lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,' EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
'The EU calls on Israel to revert this decision immediately and to refrain from any action that could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian authority.'
The Palestinian financial and banking system is dependent on the regular renewal of the Israeli waiver.
It protects Israeli banks from potential legal action relating to transactions with their Palestinian counterparts, for instance in relation to financing terror.
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The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
Israel says Hamas ‘weaponising suffering in Gaza' as aid workers killed
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Asked to respond to the GHF accusation, the Hamas government media office in Gaza said GHF was a 'filthy tool' of Israeli forces and was being used to 'lure civilians into death traps'. It did not comment on the GHF's accusation. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach GHF distribution points since they began operating in late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. The agency said another 21 people were killed while waiting for aid on Thursday, adding that they were among 29 people across the territory who were killed by Israeli fire. Contacted by AFP about reports of a deadly incident near an aid distribution point close to the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, the Israeli military said it had 'conducted warning shots hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours.' Israeli restrictions on media in Gaza and the difficulties of access on the ground mean AFP is unable to independently verify the casualty tolls provided by the civil defence agency or the deaths reported by the GHF. - 'Died while waiting' - An officially private effort with opaque funding, the GHF began operating on May 26 after Israel cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, sparking international condemnation and warnings of imminent famine. During its first week of operations, the GHF said it distributed more than seven million meals' worth of food, but its operations were widely criticised even before the deadly shootings near its sites. The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality. Gaza medics have said hospitals are being inundated with people wounded while trying to obtain food. At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday, the emergency department said it had received dozens of people who had been killed or wounded while waiting for aid in recent days, including 200 in a single day. 'Many Gazans went to the Nabulsi and Netzarim areas to receive aid and were shot at and shelled with tanks,' said Mutaz Harara, head of Al-Shifa's emergency department. But with few medical supplies and no operating theatres, 'many patients died while waiting for their turn', he said. The war has caused major damage to infrastructure across Gaza, including water mains, telecommunication cables, power lines and roads. The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable which it blamed on Israel. - Aid workers deported - Meanwhile, Israel's foreign ministry said six people detained aboard a boat attempting to breach Israel's Gaza blockade were put on a plane for deportation on Thursday afternoon. They included European parliamentarian Rima Hassan, it said. 'Bye-bye -- and don't forget to take a selfie before you leave,' the ministry wrote on X. The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted 149-12 with 19 abstentions a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urging 'all necessary measures' to pressure Israel into ending the conflict. The US vetoed a similar push at the Security Council last week. Egyptian authorities meanwhile detained more than 200 pro-Palestinian activists in Cairo ahead of a planned march to the Gaza border, the organisers said. Egypt said while it backs efforts to put 'pressure on Israel' to lift its Gaza blockade, any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must obtain prior approval. The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel said late on Wednesday that its forces had retrieved the bodies of two hostages from southern Gaza. Prior to the latest announcement, out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 were still held in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military has said are dead. Hamas's assault resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 55,207 people, the majority of them civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The Sun
36 minutes ago
- The Sun
UN General Assembly calls for Gaza ceasefire, pressure on Israel
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The Sun
37 minutes ago
- The Sun
Trump warns Israeli attack on Iran ‘could very well happen'
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Israel may soon strike Iran's nuclear sites, but urged the key US ally to hold off as he stressed his commitment to a diplomatic solution. Tensions have soared in the region in the last two days with Trump warning of a 'massive conflict' and drawing down US staff. Tehran meanwhile defiantly vowed to increase its output of enriched uranium -- a key sticking point in talks with Washington -- after being censured by the UN's atomic watchdog. 'I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if an Israeli attack loomed. Trump said he believed a 'pretty good' deal on Iran's nuclear program was 'fairly close,' but said that an Israeli attack on its arch-foe could wreck the chances of an agreement. The US leader did not disclose the details of a conversation on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said: 'I don't want them going in, because I think it would blow it.' Trump quickly added: 'Might help it actually, but it also could blow it.' News outlet Axios reported that Trump had said the United States would not participate in any strikes. - US troops in crosshairs - Trump later appeared to want tensions dialed down in a post on social media, while insisting that Iran must 'give up hopes' of developing a nuclear weapon. 'We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,' Trump said on his Truth Social network. Tensions have rapidly escalated in the past few days amid growing speculation that Israel could push ahead with air strikes on Iran. Trump's Middle East pointman Steve Witkoff is set to hold a sixth round of talks with Iran on Sunday in Oman, which has mediated efforts towards a nuclear deal so far. But Iran has also ramped up rhetorical pressure before the talks, including with a threat to strike American bases in the region if the negotiations break down and conflict erupts. 'If the talks fail, the risk of military escalation becomes much more immediate,' said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. The United States on Wednesday said it was reducing embassy staff in Iraq -- long a zone of proxy conflict with Iran. Israel, which counts on US military and diplomatic support, sees the cleric-run state in Tehran as an existential threat and hit Iranian air defenses last year. Netanyahu has vowed less restraint since the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, which triggered the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza. - 'Non-compliance' - The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it has repeatedly denied. Israel again called for global action after the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran on Wednesday of non-compliance with its obligations. The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke a 'snapback' mechanism, which expires in October, that would reinstate UN sanctions eased under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by then US president Barack Obama. Trump pulled out of the deal in his first term and slapped Iran with sweeping sanctions. Iran's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, slammed the resolution as 'extremist' and blamed Israeli influence. In response to the resolution, Iran said it would launch a new enrichment center in a secure location. Iran would also replace 'all of these first-generation machines with sixth-generation advanced machines' at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close, though still short, of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.
