Gaza ceasefire talks continue as Hamas reviews proposals
The plan, put forward by the US, includes a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 28 Israeli hostages within the first week in exchange for the 1236 Palestinian hostages and the remains of 180 dead Palestinians.
The deal also includes sending humanitarian aid into Gaza, to be delivered by the UN, Red Crescent and other agencies, as well as Israel ceasing all military operations in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect.
READ MORE: The National nominated for three Refugee Media Awards
Israel said it has agreed to the proposal, while Hamas has said it does not satisfy the group's core demands, including guarantees that the temporary truce will lead to a permanent ceasefire. A senior official said Hamas was reviewing the plan and would be in touch with mediators in due course.
It comes as Israel issued forced displacement orders for five more areas in north Gaza.
The Israeli army's Arabic language spokesperson said on Twitter/X that Palestinians in the Atatra, Jabalia Al-Balad, Shujaiya, Daraj and Zeitoun areas of Gaza must leave immediately and move west.
Israel has been systematically clearing out parts of the Gaza Strip with forced displacement orders, pushing the Palestinian population into smaller and smaller areas of the enclave.
Earlier this month, the Israeli government approved plans to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time.
And on Thursday, Israel said it plans to establish 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with blocks of flats, shopping centres, factories, and public parks.
Settlements have been widely condemned by the international community as illegal, with the UK Government announcing sanctions last week on three people and four organisations in the settler movement.
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Western Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Iran has increased stockpile of highly enriched uranium, watchdog says
The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks over a possible nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump is trying to reach. The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency — which was seen by The Associated Press — says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6kg of uranium enriched up to 60%. That is an increase of 133.8kg since the IAEA's last report in February. Rafael Mariano Grossi leads the IAEA (Jon Gambrell/AP) That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. A report in February put the stockpile at 274.8kg. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has stressed repeatedly that 'Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching to this level'. On Saturday, Mr Grossi said he 'reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively' with the IAEA. On Thursday, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasising that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country's nuclear programme to continue. The comments came a day after Mr Trump said he has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the US administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Mr Trump said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the 'not too distant future'. 'They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,' Mr Trump said of Iran. He added: 'That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East.' US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons programme but has 'undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so'. Israel said Saturday's report was a clear warning sign that 'Iran is totally determined to complete its nuclear weapons programme', according to a statement from Mr Netanyahu's office. It said the IAEA's report 'strongly reinforces what Israel has been saying for years — the purpose of Iran's nuclear program is not peaceful'. The Fordo enrichment facility in Iran (Planet Labs PBC via AP) It also added that Iran's level of enrichment 'has no civilian justification whatsoever' and appealed for the international community to 'act now to stop Iran'. Mr Grossi said on Saturday that he 'reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively' with the IAEA's years-long investigation into uranium traces discovered at several sites in Iran. The IAEA also circulated to member states on Saturday a second, 22-page confidential report, also seen by the AP, that Mr Grossi requested following a resolution passed by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors last November. In this so-called 'comprehensive report', the IAEA said that Iran's cooperation with the agency has 'been less than satisfactory' when it comes to uranium traces discovered by IAEA inspectors at several locations in Iran that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites. Western officials suspect that the uranium traces discovered by the IAEA could provide evidence that Iran had a secret military nuclear programme until 2003. One of the sites became known publicly in 2018 after Mr Netanyahu revealed it at the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden at a rug-cleaning plant. Iran denied this but in 2019 IAEA inspectors detected the presence of manmade uranium particles there.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
How actress Gal Gadot became a lightning rod for anti-Israel hate
Hollywood actress Gal Gadot is currently dashing around the streets of London while filming her new movie The Runner. But the surrounding Metropolitan Police presence isn't part of this fictional action thriller: officers have been deployed to the set in response to demonstrators targeting Gadot due to her Israeli nationality. It's the latest incident in a concerted and increasingly vehement campaign. The prominent Wonder Woman star has become a lightning rod for anti-Israeli sentiment since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in 2023 and subsequent military escalation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Five people were arrested near Gadot's film set in Westminster on Wednesday. According to a Metropolitan Police statement, in recent weeks 'protestors have disrupted filming at various locations across London. They have done so solely because an actress involved in the production is Israeli.' The protestors were arrested for harassment and for wrongfully and unlawfully obstructing access to a workplace. Just a few days earlier, last Sunday morning, keffiyeh-wearing activists also gathered on Waterloo Bridge where Gadot was filming. They banged metal saucepan lids, blared sirens and shouted chants through megaphones like 'Gal Gadot, you can't hide'. The protestors also displayed Palestinian flags and signs with slogans such as, 'Trash Gadot not welcome in London!', and a large red banner with the message 'Stop starving Gaza'. Officers from Scotland Yard were called to the scene and moved the protestors away, although no arrests were made. The aggressive targeting of Gadot, 40, isn't confined to London, either. Earlier this week her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles was defaced, with vandals writing 'Baby killer' in black pen and changing her surname from Gadot to 'Greestien' – the latter a misspelling of her Jewish family's original name Greenstein, which was changed before Gadot was born. The vandals also added a sticker reading 'Israeli snipers target children'. The Campaign Against Antisemitism denounced the defacement in a statement, saying: 'Medieval antisemitic tropes like the blood libel [a false accusation of ritualised murder] are alive and well. Parts of humanity really haven't progressed at all.' Gadot, who has not commented publicly on the protests, has previously spoken of her immense pride at receiving her star on the Walk of Fame. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony in March, she said: 'I'm just a girl from a town in Israel. This star will remind me that with hard work and passion and some faith, anything is possible.' But as pro-Palestinian protestors continue to target the very visible Gadot, is her Hollywood dream turning into a nightmare? Disney's dismal live-action version of Snow White, released in March, might have been a box office bomb anyway, but the surrounding political firestorm certainly didn't help its chances. In the PR circus in the run-up to the film's release, all of the focus was on the opposing views of its two stars and their reported rift. Rachel Zegler, playing the titular princess, drew criticism after she posted the movie's trailer online with the comment 'And always remember, free Palestine' – as did Gadot, for her support of Israel. Gadot was born in Petah Tikva to Jewish parents of European descent. Her mother, Irit, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and, at the age of 11, Gadot was taken to visit Holocaust sites in Poland. Many of the activists now seeking to cancel the actress call her a 'soldier', citing her time in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). However, Gadot didn't choose to become a soldier: service in the IDF is compulsory. She was conscripted into the army aged 20, and spent much of her mandatory two years of service working as a combat trainer, teaching fitness. She also learned martial arts techniques such as Krav Maga. Speaking to Canadian magazine Fashion in 2016, Gadot said: 'There is something special in giving back to your community.' When the statuesque Gadot burst onto cinema screens as the new Wonder Woman in 2017, both reviewers and fans admired that military-honed strength and athleticism. The fact that she is a real-life ass-kicking woman with muscular limbs lent authenticity to this empowering female superhero. How times have changed: now that same history is held against her. Conversely, Gadot has also been criticised by her countrymen for her relatively measured statements. In 2019, responding to president Benjamin Netanyahu 's assertion that Israel is 'not a state of all its citizens', Gadot wrote a now-deleted post on Instagram striking a very different tone. 'Love thy neighbor,' she said. 'It is not a matter of right or left, Arabs or Jews, secular or religious. It is a matter of […] dialogue for peace, and of our tolerance for each other.' In 2021, during the Israel-Palestine crisis, Netanyahu's son Yair unfavourably compared Gadot's public statements with what he termed the 'antisemitic propaganda' coming from models Gigi and Bella Hadid, who are of Palestinian descent. Yair complained on Twitter that the only comparable high-profile Israeli celebrity, Gadot, had chosen to 'write a neutral post [on Instagram] as if she was from Switzerland'. But Gadot has been more vocal and more partisan since the horrific terrorist attack on her home country in October 2023. She posted the names of the 80 Israeli hostages on her social media along with hashtags like #BringThemBack and #ReleaseTheHostages. Speaking to Variety in March, she explained: 'When people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors […] I could not be silent. I was shocked by the amount of hate.' She concluded: 'I had to speak up.' Yet Gadot, who is a mother of four, added a clarification: 'I am praying for better days for all. I want everybody to have good life and prosperity, and the ability to raise their children in a safe environment.' That month she also made an impassioned speech at the Anti-Defamation League's Never Is Now event. 'None of us can ignore the explosion of Jew-hatred around the world any more,' said Gadot. 'My name is Gal, and I'm Jewish, and we have had enough of Jew-hatred.' Gadot, a vocal feminist, specifically addressed the horrific treatment of female Israelis attacked by Hamas, saying: 'On October 7, Jewish women were sexually terrorised, raped, murdered and kidnapped by Hamas.' She continued: 'We were all hoping to hear support from our sisters around the world and too often heard silence.' She backed Israel's entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest, Yuval Raphael, too, who was also the target of vociferous protestors, including an attempt by two people to scupper her performance by rushing the stage. The protests came despite the fact that Raphael sustained shrapnel injuries during the Nova festival massacre. In a video call ahead of the final, Gadot told Raphael (who would go on to storm into second place overall after winning the public vote): 'You've already won – now it's just about enjoying it.' But regardless of how, and how much, Gadot publicly engages with the complex and emotional issues surrounding Gaza, she is doing so as a private citizen – not a member of the Israeli government or military. She might be in London filming a glamorous movie for a six-figure salary, rather than trudging into an office, but she is still doing her job, as are her cast mates and crew. Does her A-lister fame mean she is fair game for protestors to interrupt her at work? Perhaps the bigger worry for the 40-year-old actress and mum is whether this could tank her career – either through boycotts of her movies, or the costs and headaches for studios of protecting her. Disney reportedly had to beef up security for Gadot after she received death threats during that ill-fated Snow White press tour. Not exactly a Hollywood happily ever after.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Israel's ‘violations' in Gaza make world more dangerous, Norway warns
Israel is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway's international development minister has warned. Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so. 'For the last one and a half years we have seen very low respect for international law in the war in Gaza and in recent months it is worse than ever before,' Åsmund Aukrust said. 'So for the Norwegian government it is very important to protest against this, to condemn this very clear violation.' In addition to contributing to the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, he said Israel's actions posed a global threat to other and future conflicts. 'We are very concerned that there will be a new international standard where food is used as a weapon, where the UN is denied entrance to the war and conflict zone, and other NGOs are denied entrance,' he said. 'And Israel is building up something they call Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is to militarise humanitarian aid.' GHF, the controversial Israeli and US-backed logistical group, started distributing food in Gaza this week. Amid chaotic scenes, Israeli forces said they fired 'warning shots' at a distribution centre. Gaza health officials said at least one civilian had been killed and 48 injured. A UN-backed assessment earlier this month found that the entire population of the Gaza Strip, approximately 2.1 million people, were at critical risk of famine, with half a million people categorised as in catastrophe. Aukrust said: 'We are afraid and very concerned that this might be a new standard in international law and this will make the world a lot more dangerous to all of us.' However, he said it was not up to politicians to decide whether the term genocide applied to Gaza, saying that was a decision for the international court of justice. 'Genocide is the worst crime a country can do and the worst crime that politicians can do and this should not be polarised,' he said. However, he said Oslo would be keeping an 'open line' to all parties – including Hamas – for dialogue and promised that Norway would be 'there for the long run' to rebuild Gaza. 'We have no limitation of who we are talking to. I would say the opposite. We would be happy to, and we want to, talk with those who are responsible, whether it is Israel, Hamas or others,' he said. 'Dialogue is the most important word when it comes to peacemaking and we want to have an open line with all countries, all groups that might have an influence here.' The Norwegian oil fund, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund that operates under rules set by parliament, has so far blacklisted 11 companies for assisting Israel's occupation. Next week, the Norwegian parliament is expected to reject calls to stop the fund from investing in companies that sell products and services in the occupied Palestinian territories. Aukrust said decisions about the wealth fund were made by the bank, not politicians. 'The bank decides where they want to invest. What the politicians do is to decide the rules,' he said. The rules, he added, were 'very clear' that the fund should not invest in anything that contributed to a violation of international law. Norway's decision to recognise the state of Palestine in May 2024 was 'to send out a message of hope,' said Aukrust. He urged people across Europe to 'continue to protest' and to keep their faith in politics. 'As long as the war is going on, from the Norwegian government side we will all the time look into what more can we do. What new initiative can we take. How can we send an even clearer message to those who are responsible for this.'
