UN conference for two-state solution rescheduled for end of July
Infant who had just uttered first words among dozens killed in Israeli strikes
Lebanese President says no normalisation with Israel for now
Nearly 800 aid-related deaths in Gaza since late May, UN says
At least 57,762 Palestinians killed and 137,656 wounded since Gaza war began
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Middle East Eye
37 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza: Families of Israeli captives contact Hamas over fate of ceasefire talks
The families of Israeli captives being held in Gaza reached out to Hamas through a representative to ask about the fate of stalled ceasefire talks, Middle East Eye can reveal. Sources told MEE that the third party reached out to Hamas after the captives' families feared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin was trying to torpedo a possible deal. A senior figure within Hamas told the representative it was "serious" about reaching an agreement to end the war and release the captives, but that it was facing "intransigent Israeli positions", sources told MEE. "Hamas is serious about reaching an agreement to end the war and establish arrangements that ensure calm and stability. It has demonstrated significant flexibility and positive responsibility during the negotiation rounds," the sources quoted Hamas as saying. "Israel has insisted on continuing the war, destroying the Gaza Strip, displacing its population, and imposing a state of hunger, suffering, and ongoing massacres that have not ceased for a single day." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Hamas and Israel reached a brief three-stage ceasefire in January, but the deal collapsed in March after Israel took back several of its captives and resumed bombing Gaza, walking away from the deal before talks with Hamas on a permanent end to the war could start. Since then, the Trump administration has given Israel full backing to wage war on Gaza. According to sources, the Hamas official told the representative that the Palestinian movement had complied with "everything stipulated" in the first phase of the previous ceasefire, which was supposed to transition to phase two talks on ending the war. Before withdrawing from the ceasefire, Hamas said that Israel committed "hundreds of violations", including deploying troops beyond 'buffer zones", killing 132 civilians, preventing the inflow of reconstruction material, and remaining in the Philadelphia Corridor that separates Gaza from Egypt. Hamas reportedly told the representative that despite Israel unilaterally resuming the war, it responded to proposals by mediators to revive the ceasefire, 'but Israel rejected them and insisted on releasing half of the Israeli prisoners without offering any guarantees that the war would cease. In fact, it openly insisted on its continuation'. As it stands, there are believed to be around 20 living captives in Gaza and just over 30 dead Israelis. Since the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, the country's military has only rescued eight captives in raids that have seen hundreds of Palestinians killed. Talks remain deadlocked On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said talks on a Gaza ceasefire were going along well, repeating remarks he made last week during a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In contrast, MEE reported on Saturday that Hamas negotiators were sceptical that a ceasefire agreement could be reached in the current round of talks in Doha, Qatar. Sources close to Palestinian negotiators said talks have remained deadlocked over at least two of four key issues. Exclusive: Gaza talks at risk after Israel refuses to withdraw from Rafah Read More » The first is the extent of the proposed Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip during a 60-day truce. The second is the method of aid distribution. The US has reportedly proposed postponing discussions on these two points, instead focusing on the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives. According to the sources, Hamas told the representative for the captives' families that it asked to amend three points related to the distribution of aid, the deployment of Israeli soldiers in Gaza and guarantees on ending the war after an initial 60-day truce is over. 'However, Israel has taken a hardline stance, particularly in its redeployment maps, where it seeks to control approximately 36 percent of the Gaza Strip's area and keep approximately 600,000 residents displaced and unable to return to their homes," Hamas is reported to have said. "Israel has repeatedly rejected our offer to return all Israeli prisoners at once in exchange for ending the war. "They rejected it and preferred a partial solution. This is a clear indication of their intention to continue the war and their disregard for prisoners as a central issue for Israeli society," it added. For more than 21 months, Israel has relentlessly bombed the besieged Gaza Strip, displacing the entire 2.3 million population multiple times, and has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians. The figure also includes at least 1,400 health sector professionals, 280 United Nations aid workers - the highest staff death toll in UN history - and at least 228 journalists, with the highest number of media workers killed in conflict since the Committee to Protect Journalists began recording data in 1992.
Zawya
42 minutes ago
- Zawya
Sudan: Life-saving aid must reach the people caught between the rains and conflict
Following the start of the rainy season in Sudan's North Darfur region, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah said: 'The rainy season is a terrifying prospect for many Sudanese who have fled fighting in North Darfur between armed groups. Internally displaced persons and refugees have told Amnesty International that they fear the coming rains will heighten the risk of diseases and make already dire conditions in their areas even worse. They are desperate for food, including seeds to plant ahead of the rains, water and medical services. Adequate shelter also remains a major concern. One 90-year-old woman told us that she didn't have any proper shelter and was living under the trees. Others are in similar situations. 'Sudan is the world's largest displacement and humanitarian crisis, yet the humanitarian response for 2025 is grossly underfunded. This will go down in history as an abject failure unless Sudan's international partners rise to the occasion and increase emergency funding for the humanitarian response in Sudan, as well as for Sudanese refugees. 'To stop this humanitarian emergency from spiraling further, parties to the armed conflict must facilitate rapid, unconditional and safe access to humanitarian aid, and end all attacks on humanitarian objects and personnel. 'Sudan is the world's largest displacement and humanitarian crisis, yet the humanitarian response for 2025 is grossly underfunded. This will go down in history as an abject failure unless Sudan's international partners rise to the occasion and increase emergency funding for the humanitarian response in Sudan, as well as for Sudanese refugees. More must be done to save lives. The international community cannot afford to look away.' Background Since the latest armed conflict broke out in Sudan in April 2023, over 11 million people have fled their homes. Displaced persons live in dire conditions in Sudan, including in Darfur, one of the regions most severely affected by fighting, as well as other countries. Cases of cholera outbreak are already being reported in North Darfur. Parties to the conflict continue to impede humanitarian access and attack humanitarian objects and personnel. Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to ensure sufficient humanitarian aid to a suffering population. The rainy season in Darfur typically lasts from June to September. In April, MSF already warned that the rainy season threatened to worsen the ongoing malnutrition crisis. In August 2024, the UN confirmed famine conditions in Zamzam camp and identified 13 other areas at risk of famine. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.
Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel's air superiority in Iran conflict can't be compared to either Russia or Ukraine
Israel's ability to achieve air superiority over Iran during its recent 12-day conflict has been contrasted with Russia's inability to gain control of Ukraine's skies and the US's failure to do the same during its recent attacks against Yemen's Houthi fighters. To be sure, in its surprise attack on Iran, Israel reaffirmed the value of old-school air superiority, even in the age of ballistic missile and drone warfare. 'Just ask yourself, would you want to be Ukraine or Israel?" Douglas Birkey, the executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Middle East Eye. "Ukraine has zero ability to scare the sky for offensive or defensive purposes. It's stuck in WWI-style attrition conflict while Israel had entré to do what it wanted in the battle-space,' Birkey added. But analysts say that despite some trying to draw comparisons, all three conflicts are uniquely distinct, and drawing connections could in fact be misleading. This is especially true with the Iran-Israel outcome more uncertain, and the countries both moving to address their vulnerabilities. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters According to Andrew Curtis, a retired air commodore in Britain's Royal Air Force and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, the "comparisons in terms of the technology and battle space are apples-to-oranges". First, Iran's US-supplied air force quickly decayed after the 1979 overthrow of the Shah. So 40 years later, Israel knew it didn't have to worry about Iranian pilots, whereas Ukraine still had 55 operational fighter jets from Soviet days when Russia invaded in early 2022. Ukraine's air defence systems - mainly S-300s and Buk batteries - were intimately familiar to the Russians. However, they failed to capitalise on this knowledge and take them out early - a misstep that military analysts say Moscow is still paying the price for. Under US guidance, the Ukrainians dispersed their air defences, making it harder for the Russians to locate them. Ukraine was then backed up with US-made Stingers and, more recently, precious Patriot air defence batteries. Israel learned from Russia's early failures by knocking out Iran's air defences on the opening day of the war, experts said. They reportedly used teams of Mossad agents with drones smuggled into Iran and fifth-generation modified F-35 warplanes to stay in the sky without refuelling to disable Iran's mix of domestic air defence, and Russian and Chinese equipment. 'If you can find, you can kill, and if you can hide, you can survive' - Andrew Curtis, former air commodore, Royal Air Force Once Iran's air defences were knocked out, Israel's more vulnerable non-stealth F-15s and F-16s were able to roam Iran's skies. The key for Israel was intelligence collection. "No one expected the F-35 to be shot down by Iran's air defences," Curtis told MEE. "But it was Israel's ability to hunt down Iran's batteries and destroy them to clear the path for more vulnerable aircraft that was key. Israel spent decades collecting intelligence on Iran's defences, whereas the Russians did not with Ukraine." Some experts expressed surprise at how quickly Israel was able to achieve air superiority over Iran, noting that the US was unable to do so against Tehran's allies, the Houthis in Yemen. Between January 2024 and May 2025, when US President Donald Trump struck a truce with the Houthis, the group was able to shoot down at least 19 US Reaper drones. "The Iranians and the Houthis have the same equipment," Birkey told MEE. "In that sense, we should not underestimate how impressive Israel's performance was." Of course, drones are easier to shoot down than jet fighters. And again, it came down to intelligence collection, experts say. "Houthi air defences have not been an intelligence collection priority for the US," a US defence official told MEE on the condition of anonymity. That leaves an opening for Iran now, as it looks to rebuild its defences, experts say. Can Israel maintain its air superiority? Sources told MEE last week that Iran was moving to rebuild its air defences and had purchased Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries since its ceasefire with Israel last month. According to the analysts, if it can plug its intelligence gaps and better disperse those systems, it will be harder for Israel to achieve air superiority next time. "It's all about hiding and finding," Curtis told MEE. "If you can find, you can kill, and if you can hide, you can survive." A former senior US official told MEE that he was sceptical Iran would learn from its mistakes. "The ayatollah still thinks he killed 200 American soldiers at al-Asad because that's what his people told him," the former US official said, referring to Iran's 2020 strike on a US base in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. No American deaths were reported as a result of the largely symbolic strike. "Say what you want about Israel, but I promise you the military will have an intense debate about the shortfalls of their ballistic missile defence internally. Iran is unlikely to have the same," the former senior US official added. Israel used its air superiority to knock out Iranian ballistic missile launchers on the ground. It claimed to have destroyed half of them during the conflict. Despite this, and a tiered air defence system backed up by American Terminal High Altitude Area Defence batteries and missile destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean, Iran was able to send missiles into Israeli cities right up until a ceasefire was reached. Iran receives Chinese surface-to-air missile batteries after Israel ceasefire deal Read More » The Telegraph reported last week that Iranian missiles directly hit five Israeli military facilities. Iran's ability to do so did not go unnoticed in the region, particularly in the Arabian Gulf, where the US's allies have energy infrastructure and glitzy towers with no similar American air defence backstop. Still, Birkey said the sheer volume of Iranian missiles fired at Israel underscored that Israel's US-supported air defence "was more effective than many people would have guessed from the get-go". "The weakness is that it is an enterprise where you are at risk of running out of your magazine depth. We only have so many interceptors and the ability to produce them," he said. Having achieved air superiority over Iran once, Israel now faces its own dilemma. Air superiority is not static. Maintaining it over a small country like Lebanon, where Israel is tracking Hezbollah's movements with drones, is easier than in vast Iran. One of the Islamic Republic's first moves after the ceasefire in June was to try to rout out Israeli spies. "Hunting missile launchers is really hard. You need someone detecting them - that's spies or persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance)," Fabian Hinz, a defence and military researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told MEE. With Iran receiving SAM batteries from China, Israel faces a new dilemma: whether to strike them or not. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrapped up a visit to Washington last week, which US and Arab officials tell MEE appeared to be an effort to obtain US buy-in for more strikes on Iran instead of negotiations. "I would predict the Israelis would prevent the Iranians from establishing another air defence network unless they are deterred by the US," the former senior US official told MEE.
