Israeli ex-security chiefs urge Trump to help end Gaza war
"It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media on Monday, calling on Trump to "steer" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decisions.
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India unites against US tariff threat over Russian oil trade
India's ruling party and main opposition condemned on Tuesday a threat by US President Donald Trump to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, in a show of political unity as a trade rift deepens with Washington. Trump had already in July announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports, and US officials have cited a range of geopolitical issues standing in the way of a US-India trade accord. Manish Tewari, a member of parliament and leader of the opposition Congress, said Trump's 'disparaging remarks hurt the dignity and self-respect of Indians'. 'The time has come to call out this constant bullying and hectoring,' he added. BJP Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda quoted Henry Kissinger — the most powerful US diplomat of the Cold War era — in a post on X: 'To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.' India's Foreign Ministry said the country was being unfairly singled out over its purchases of Russian oil, and highlighted continued trade between Moscow and both the United States and the European Union, despite the war in Ukraine. 'It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia,' it said in a statement issued late on Monday. 'It is unjustified to single out India,' the ministry said. It said the EU conducted 67.5 billion euros ($78.02bn) in trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reaching 16.5 million metric tons. The United States, the statement said, continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals. It did not give a source for the export information. The US embassy and the EU's delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the United States and EU have sharply scaled back their trade ties with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2021, Russia was the EU's fifth-largest trading partner, with goods exchange worth 258 billion euros, according to the EU executive European Commission. SUDDEN RIFT India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. It has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine. New Delhi has resisted, citing its longstanding ties with Russia and economic needs. India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is likely to travel to Russia this week on a scheduled visit, two government sources said. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is expected to visit in the coming weeks. The sudden rift between India and the US has been deepening since July 31, when Trump announced the 25 per cent tariff on goods being shipped to the US and for the first time threatened unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil. Trump has said that from Friday he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end the war with Ukraine. The trade tensions have caused concern about the potential impact on India's economy. The equity benchmark BSE Sensex .BSESN closed down 0.38 per cent, while the rupee dropped 0.17 per cent versus the dollar.
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Ali Larijani appointed secretary of Iran's top security body
Iran has appointed Ali Larijani, a top adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as secretary of its Supreme National Security Council. The appointment by Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian was reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Tuesday. Ali Akbar Ahmadian previously held the position. The son of a prominent cleric, Mr Larijani has held several influential positions in government. He served as speaker of parliament from 2008 to 2020. He was also a national security adviser and before that the head of Iran's state broadcaster. He and his four brothers are part of a powerful conservative family with ties to other prominent members of the political class. Mr Larijani's father-in-law was the late Morteza Motahhari, a well-known cleric and a central figure in the 1979 revolution. Last month, Mr Larijani made a surprise visit to Moscow, where he met the Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Tehran's nuclear programme. Mr Larijani "conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme", the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the meeting at the time. Mr Putin had expressed Russia's "well-known positions on how to stabilise the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme", he added. Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the US joined Israel's massive bombing campaign against Iran in June. Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon, while defending its "legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic energy. Mr Larijani also visited China as the sitting speaker in 2019, in the company of Mohammad Javad Zarif, who at that time was the country's foreign minister. Even after leaving office, he continued to help steer Tehran's relations with Beijing.
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Israel says it will allow controlled entry of goods into Gaza via merchants
Israel says it will allow gradual and controlled entry of goods to Gaza through local merchants, an Israeli military agency that coordinates aid said on Tuesday, as global monitors say famine is unfolding in the enclave, impacting the hostages Hamas holds. Israel's COGAT said a mechanism has been approved by the cabinet to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, allowing the entry of supplies to Gaza through the private sector. The agency said the approved goods include basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables, and hygiene supplies. "This aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the UN and international organisations," it added. It was unclear how this aid operation would work given the widespread destruction in Gaza. Palestinian and UN officials say Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements - the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war. Images of starving Palestinians including children have alarmed the world in recent weeks, while a video released by Hamas on Sunday showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Israel in response to a rising international uproar, announced last week steps to let more aid reach Gaza, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. Hamas said it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel permanently opens humanitarian corridors and halts airstrikes during the distribution of aid. Israel and the US urged the UN in May to work through an organisation they back, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which employs a US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. veterans. The UN refused as it questioned GHF neutrality and accused the distribution model of militarising aid and forcing displacement. Palestinians were killed near GHF sites where limited aid was distributed, with the UN estimating that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food since May, most near the organisation's distribution sites. GHF denies that there have been deadly incidents at its sites, and says the deadliest have been near other aid convoys. The war in Gaza began when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organisations from having any kind of access to the hostages and families have little or no details of their conditions.
