Israel-Hamas war: Countries impose sanctions on 2 far-right Israeli ministers
Australia, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Norway have united to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers, known for their far-right positions. The group of five western nations has accused Finance Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and National Security Minister Bezalel Smotrich of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The countries underlined that their move should not be seen in isolation from events in Gaza. Sanctions include travel bans and the freezing of assets. Trent Murray has more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Commentary: How China beat Trump before the trade battle even started
LONDON: In the cult film The Princess Bride, the hero Westley tricks a villain, Vizzini, into killing himself in a battle of wits. Vizzini has to choose between two cups of wine, one of which Westley says is poisoned. In fact, Westley's cup is also poisoned, but he survives: he had spent years building up immunity to the toxin. Through long and careful preparation, Westley won the battle of wits long before it had begun. Substitute Xi Jinping for Westley and Donald Trump for Vizzini, and this week's US-China trade talks in London make a lot more sense. They didn't end in the US lying dead on the ground, but not far off. The sides agreed on a comically vague framework of co-operation, with the US asking for a handshake to seal the deal – an activity at which Donald Trump, as it happens, is famously poor. THE CLEAR WINNER Nor is he much good at negotiating. Beijing is the clear winner in these early skirmishes. Trump has now lifted most of the extraordinarily punitive tariffs he has imposed on China since his inauguration. What he got back this time was China vaguely promising to lift the restrictions on rare earth exports it imposed on April 4, as plaintively requested by his chief economic adviser Kevin Hassett. As I wrote recently, China's decision in April to cut off exports of certain rare earth minerals is a much more surgical strike than previous ineffectual scattergun restrictions. The restrictions of the early 2010s were undermined by the expansion of mineral production outside China and through smuggling by its notoriously lawless miners and processors. The latest round of restrictions focuses on the less common 'heavy' rare earth elements such as dysprosium, which has no large rival producers outside China and whose price shot higher after the controls were announced. Since the 2010s, Beijing has clamped down heavily on wildcat rare earth production and smuggling. Production is dominated by a small number of tightly state-controlled companies, and the latest controls are imposed via 'dual-use' export licensing for products used in defence manufacturing. This makes it much easier for the authorities to control the supply chain. The Chinese state certainly has its own issues with judgment and co-ordination. Its rare earth controls are threatening economies Beijing is trying to pull out of the US orbit. European car manufacturers have complained volubly. CLEARING A LOW BAR Alienating all buyers of rare earths is politically risky, but China is at least differentiating somewhat between European companies and American ones. Suppliers to Volkswagen, which has more than 30 plants in China, were among the first to receive a licence to buy rare earths. Beijing is managing to clear the low bar of exceeding the Trump administration's competence by some distance. US weapons, although formidable, are harder to target precisely. Just as the UK was wrongly convinced that its trade deficit with the EU gave it the superpower Brexit weapon of access to the British consumer, Trump thought prohibitive tariffs on Chinese imports would bring Beijing to heel. There's no doubt China is vulnerable, having maintained dependence on overseas demand by clinging to its traditional export-oriented growth model. But Trump's untargeted tariffs meant US companies risked losing key industrial inputs, as well as shelves potentially emptying of consumer goods. As for the US's own attempts to use export controls to crimp China's economy, its tools have proved too easily circumvented. Joe Biden's administration used restrictions on US technology and outward investment to slow China's technological development in semiconductors and other sectors, and leaned on allies to do the same. It didn't really work. China rapidly developed its own chip technology. Similarly, it's unlikely that Trump's recent restrictions on the export of chip software will allow the US to regain ground lost to China. Trump's attempt to fight on China's own ground of controlling critical physical inputs by restricting exports of ethane, a gas used in the chemical industry, is more likely to damage his country's companies and those of allies. The US still has some extremely powerful weapons, such as restricting access to the global dollar payment system, but their use on a large scale is untested. The triumph of the serenely calculating Westley over the bombastically ignorant Vizzini is a truly great moment in cinema. If Trump wants to win the next round, he is going to have to assess the ordnance at his disposal and deploy it far more accurately. History does not suggest this is a likely outcome.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US slams UN conference on Israel-Palestinian issue, warns of consequences
A Palestinian child watching smoke billowing in the distance during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, on June 11. PHOTO: AFP PARIS/WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump's administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending a United Nations conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a US cable seen by Reuters. The diplomatic demarche, sent on June 10, says countries which take 'anti-Israel actions' following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington. The demarche, which was not previously reported, runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies France and Saudi Arabia, who are co-hosting the gathering next week in New York that aims to lay out the parameters for a road map to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. 'We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,' read the cable. President Emmanuel Macron has suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories. French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the US, Israel's staunchest major ally. 'The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,' the cable read. The United States for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel. Mr Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a long-time pillar of US Middle East policy. The Republican President has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term. But on June 10, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal. Gaza war 'Unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state would effectively render Oct 7 Palestinian Independence Day,' the cable read, referring to when Palestinian Hamas militants carried out a cross-border attack from Gaza on Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Hamas' attack triggered Israel's air and ground war in Gaza in which almost 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of the 2.3 million population displaced and the enclave widely reduced to rubble. If Mr Macron went ahead, France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities, would become the first Western heavyweight to recognise a Palestinian state. This could lend greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations generally more critical of Israel. Mr Macron's stance has shifted amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and there is a growing sense of urgency in Paris to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever. The US cable said Washington had worked tirelessly with Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, free the hostages and end the conflict. 'This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted.' This week Britain and Canada, also Group of Seven allies of the United States, were joined by other countries in placing sanctions on two Israeli far-right government ministers to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the Gaza war to an end. 'The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,' the cable read. Israel has repeatedly criticised the conference, saying it rewards Hamas for the attack on Israel, and it has lobbied France against recognising a Palestinian state. 'Nothing surprises me any more, but I don't see how many countries could step back on their participation,' said a European diplomat, who asked for anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. 'This is bullying, and of a stupid type.' The US State Department and the French Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Zelensky to urge Trump for stronger Russia sanctions at G7 summit
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday (Jun 12) that he hoped to press US President Donald Trump at the upcoming G7 summit to introduce tougher sanctions against Russia, as peace talks between the two sides remain stalled. Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Zelensky said: 'I count on having a conversation with President Trump at the G7. This sanctions package is very important... the final decision is still in the White House.' Zelensky's comments come as Moscow and Kyiv continue negotiations, most recently in Istanbul, that have so far yielded little beyond large-scale prisoner swaps. Russia has rejected calls for a ceasefire in its three-year invasion of Ukraine. TRUMP EXPRESSES FRUSTRATION US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was 'very disappointed in Russia' but also in Ukraine, for failing to reach a peace agreement. 'I think deals could have been made,' Trump told reporters at the White House. He estimated that up to 6,000 people were dying each week in the conflict, including civilians 'getting hit by missiles.' Trump has previously urged both sides to reach a settlement, but while he has threatened new sanctions on Moscow, these have yet to materialise. His return to the White House has also cast uncertainty over Washington's military and financial support for Kyiv. US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, is currently backing a bipartisan 'bone-breaking' sanctions bill, proposing a 500 per cent tariff on countries that continue to import Russian oil and gas, particularly targeting China and India. EUROPEAN CAUTION AND NEW PLEDGES Germany, Ukraine's second-largest defence backer after the US, signalled it would not send Taurus long-range missiles, a setback to Kyiv's ambitions. 'Asked whether we are considering this, my answer is no,' said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius during a visit to Kyiv. He did, however, announce a new €1.9 billion (US$2.2 billion) military aid package. Zelensky appeared with Pistorius at the joint press conference and noted the urgency of maintaining and increasing military support. 'We want to end this war this year,' he said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, speaking separately at a conference in Rome, warned against appeasement in dealing with Russia. 'The diplomacy of appeasement does not work with Russia,' he said in what was widely seen as a veiled critique of Trump's approach. CASUALTIES AND ONGOING ATTACKS Russia has intensified drone and missile strikes in recent days, with two civilians killed in Donetsk on Thursday, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian forces have responded with drone attacks of their own. In Russia's Belgorod region, a two-year-old child was killed during one such Ukrainian strike, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Tens of thousands have died since Russia invaded in February 2022. Millions more have been displaced, with large swathes of eastern Ukraine heavily damaged by continuous bombardment. PRISONER SWAP OFFERS RARE BREAKTHROUGH Amid the ongoing conflict, the warring sides completed another large prisoner swap on Thursday. Under an agreement reached in Istanbul, each side released more than 1,000 detainees, focusing on wounded soldiers and troops under the age of 25. 'Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, National Guard, and Border Guard Service are back home,' Zelensky wrote on social media. He added that many of the returnees were seriously injured and in need of medical attention. Images published by Kyiv showed the Ukrainian servicemen smiling, wrapped in national flags, and calling loved ones. AFP reporters at the scene noted that many families gathered at the exchange site, hoping to learn about the fate of their missing relatives. Russian state media broadcast images of Moscow's returned prisoners chanting 'Russia, Russia' and draped in national colours.
