EU weighs options to pressure Israel over Gaza but remains divided
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
20 minutes ago
- Arab News
Gaza civil defense says Israeli forces kill 28 people
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli military operations killed at least 23 people on Friday across the Palestinian territory, with another five killed in an overnight air strike. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that five people were killed in a strike on Gaza City that hit a school building sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, now in its 22nd month. Bassal said five others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent used by displaced Palestinians also in Gaza City, in the territory's north. The Israeli military said that strike was carried out late Thursday, targeting 'a key terrorist in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,' a militant group that has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza. According to the civil defense agency, more than a dozen other Palestinians were killed in several strikes in Gaza's north, center and south on Friday. The toll includes at least eight people killed by Israeli fire while waiting to collect humanitarian aid, Bassal said. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not comment on the agency's reports. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli campaign has killed 59,676 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Al Arabiya
20 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump agrees to Palestinian statehood, says Bishara Bahbah
A prominent Palestinian-American said Friday that US President Donald Trump had informed him he would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state. Bishara Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Peace, formerly known as Arab-Americans for Trump, told Al Arabiya that one sticking point in current ceasefire talks was whether Israeli forces would remain present in parts of Gaza. He said a ceasefire deal was still possible and that he remained in contact with Hamas after the US withdrew from negotiations earlier this week. Bahbah also revealed that Arab countries had convinced Trump to disavow earlier plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza. 'Trump informed me of his approval for the establishment of a Palestinian state,' Bahbah said. Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly 'riviera,' as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory. The name of the event evokes a proposal floated by Trump in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into 'the Riviera of the Middle East' after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control. The idea drew swift condemnation from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the 'Nakba,' or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.
Saudi Gazette
an hour ago
- Saudi Gazette
Iran, EU hold ‘serious' nuclear talks in Istanbul
ISTANBUL — A senior Iranian diplomat said 'serious, frank, and detailed' discussions on nuclear and sanctions issues were held Friday in Istanbul between Iranian officials and representatives of the European Union and the E3 — France, Germany, and the UK — amid rising tensions following the recent 12-day war with Israel. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal affairs, said he and Majid Takht-Ravanchi, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, met with envoys from the three European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal as well as EU officials. The talks, conducted at the deputy foreign minister level, focused heavily on the so-called snapback mechanism — a provision that allows for the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran — which the E3 is reportedly preparing to trigger. In a social media post, Gharibabadi said the Iranian side sharply criticized the European stance on the recent Israeli military strikes and emphasized Tehran's "principled positions," including its opposition to the snapback provision, which it considers 'legally and morally void.' The Istanbul meeting follows heightened diplomatic tensions, including a letter last week from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, stating that the European trio had forfeited their role as participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Gharibabadi said both sides entered Friday's meeting with specific proposals that were 'thoroughly examined,' and agreed to continue talks came more than a month after Israel launched an unprecedented series of airstrikes on Tehran and other cities on June 13, killing several senior military officials and nuclear confrontation has cast doubt over the future of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, originally scheduled to resume in Muscat. — Agencies
