New round of Hamas–Israel ceasefire talks begins in Doha
Israeli and Hamas negotiators launched a new round of ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday, as diplomatic efforts resumed to halt the war in Gaza and reach a deal on the release of hostages.
Israel's public broadcaster Kan confirmed that an Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar earlier in the day to participate in the negotiations, which are being held with Qatari and Egyptian mediation.
The renewed talks come amid mounting international pressure to end the war and address the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, Hamas announced its willingness to begin discussions based on a US-backed ceasefire proposal, signaling a potential shift toward a negotiated settlement after weeks of deadlock.
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Rudaw Net
16 minutes ago
- Rudaw Net
Why did PKK pick Sulaimani for first disarmament?
Also in Kurdistan Sulaimani town uses cameras, fines to curb littering Turkish soldier death toll from methane exposure in Kurdistan Region rises to eight Five Turkish officers killed due to methane gas exposure in Kurdistan Region Turkey extends flight ban on Sulaimani again A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An initial group of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters is set to disarm in a Sulaimani province ceremony within a week, according to well-informed sources, who said the main reason for picking Sulaimani was 'security.' A group of PKK fighters will disarm in early July in Sulaimani's Raparin administration, launching the practical steps of implementing the group's decision to dissolve and end its armed struggle against the Turkish state. The PKK announced its dissolution in May, in response to a February call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to end the conflict that has claimed around 40,000 lives and pursue a political path to securing Kurdish political and cultural rights. Rudaw has learned from three well-informed sources that previous discussions were held between Ankara and the PKK regarding the location of the first disarmament ceremony, and while Turkey had preferred Erbil province to be the site, the PKK rejected the request after several internal meetings. Turkey eventually approved the request after deliberations. 'What the PKK is doing is a gesture of goodwill for peace, and the choice of the disarmament ceremony's location was purely a consideration of the security situation,' a source said. Kamaran Osman, a member of the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based human rights organization monitoring Ankara's operations in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw on Sunday that Sulaimani, where the PKK's headquarters is located in the Qandil Mountains, 'has not been bombarded by Turkey since the PKK's declaration of a ceasefire.' Turkey in May did not carry out any attacks in Sulaimani and Erbil, but its attacks in Duhok continued, according to CPT statistics, but Ankara bombarded Erbil nine times in June. The complete lack of attacks in Sulaimani is seen as key to the PKK's decision to hold its first disarmament ceremony in the province. 'Due to the peace process and the calmness of the situation, the movement of [PKK] guerrillas in various parts of Sulaimani province has returned to normal. The situation has reverted to how it was before 2018,' a well-informed source in Sulaimani told Rudaw on Sunday. While Turkey has welcomed the PKK's decision to dissolve and end its armed struggle, it has emphasized the need for taking concrete steps towards total disarmament. Meanwhile, the PKK expects Ankara to introduce democratic reforms. At the disarmament ceremony in Sulaimani, PKK fighters will destroy their weapons rather than hand them over to any other authority, Rudaw has learned. A delegation from Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) will also attend the ceremony. The DEM Party is mediating peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state. Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its focus toward achieving broader political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The group has been labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara and its allies.
Shafaq News
2 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Israel pounds Yemeni targets in Red Sea strikes
Shafaq News – Sanaa On Sunday, Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on Yemen's key Hudaydah province infrastructure in the Red Sea. The strikes targeted the ports of Hudaydah, Ras Isa, As-Salif, and the central power station in Ras Katheeb, according to Al-Masirah Yemen's Ansarallah-affiliated TV. 🟥 مراسلنا في الحديدة: العدو الإسرائيلي يستهدف موانئ الحديدة ورأس عيسى والصليف ومحطة الكهرباء المركزية رأس الكثيب — قناة المسيرة (@TvAlmasirah) July 6, 2025 Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the Ansarallah (Houthis) armed forces, said the group's air defenses responded with a large salvo of locally made surface-to-air missiles, 'forcing much of the Israeli formation to withdraw and disrupting their operations.' 🟥 متحدث القوات المسلحة العميد يحيى سريع: ♦️ الدفاعات الجوية اليمنية تصدت بفاعلية للعدوان الإسرائيلي وأجبرت جزءاً كبيراً من تشكيلاته على المغادرة♦️ دفاعاتنا تصدت للعدوان الإسرائيلي بدفعة كبيرة من صواريخ أرض جو محلية الصنع♦️ التصدي للعدوان الإسرائيلي تسبب في حالة كبيرة من… — قناة المسيرة (@TvAlmasirah) July 6, 2025 No official reports of casualties or damage have yet been released. Meanwhile, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced in a post on X that the army struck 'infrastructure used by the Houthi movement to transfer weapons from Iran and carry out maritime attacks against Israel and its allies.' He also claimed hitting the commercial vessel Galaxy Leader, which the Houthis seized in November 2023. #عاجل 🔴 جيش الدفاع هاجم أهدافًا تابعة لنظام الحوثي الارهابي في موانئ الحديدة ورأس عيسى والصليف إلى جانب محطة الكهرباء رأس كتنيب⭕️أغارت عشرات الطائرات الحربية بتوجيه استخباري من هيئة الاستخبارات وسلاح البحرية على بنى تحتية تابعة لنظام الحوثي الارهابي ودمرتها. من بين البنى… — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 6, 2025 Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that several small boats attacked a commercial ship with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The vessel's onboard security team returned fire.
Iraqi News
2 hours ago
- Iraqi News
Hezbollah chief says won't surrender under Israeli threats
Beirut – Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm. His speech came ahead of a visit expected Monday by US envoy Thomas Barrack during which Lebanese authorities are due to respond to a request to disarm Hezbollah by year's end, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'This (Israeli) threat will not make us accept surrender,' Qassem said in a televised speech to thousands of his supporters in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, during the Shiite Muslim religious commemoration of Ashura. Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between Israel and Hezbollah last year that left the Iran-backed group severely weakened have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire that sought to end the hostilities. Qassem, who succeeded longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah after an Israeli strike killed him in September, said the group's fighters would not abandon their arms and asserted that Israel's 'aggression' must first stop. Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group. Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the south, near the Israeli border. – 'Not now, not later' – Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier. Israel was to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five areas that it deemed strategic. Qassem said Israel must abide by the ceasefire agreement, 'withdraw from the occupied territories, stop its aggression… release the prisoners' detained during last year's war, and that reconstruction in Lebanon must begin. Only then 'will we be ready for the second stage, which is to discuss the national security and defence strategy' which includes the issue of group's disarmament, he added. Supporters dressed in black for Ashura marched through Beirut's southern suburbs before his speech, waving Hezbollah banners as well as the Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian flags. Some also carried posters of the slain leader Nasrallah. Hussein Jaber, 28, originally from south Lebanon, said the group's weapons 'can't be handed over, not now, not later. Those who think Hezbollah will turn in its arms are ignorant.' In his speech, Qassem also said his movement 'will not accept normalisation… with the Israeli enemy', after Israel's top diplomat said his government was 'interested' in such a move. Lebanon, which is technically still at war with Israel, did not comment. Syria, also mentioned by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, said it was 'premature' to discuss normalisation. – 'No pilgrims' – Shiites in other countries around the region were also marking Ashura, which commemorates the death of the Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in a seventh century battle in modern-day Iraq. Iraq saw the largest commemorations on Sunday, particularly in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. In south Lebanon, hundreds of people participated in commemorations in Nabatiyeh, an area regularly targeted by Israeli strikes. Local resident Ali Mazraani told AFP that there were fewer people than usual 'because of the situation in the south and the Israeli strikes that destroyed the market and several areas of the city'. In Sunni Muslim majority Syria, several hundred faithful marked Ashura under the protection of security forces at the Sayyida Zeinab shrine south of Damascus, an AFP correspondent said. Syria's Shiite minority has been worried since Sunni Islamists in December toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who was backed by Iran. Unlike in previous years, there were no processions in the Sayyida Zeinab area, where pro-Iran groups used to be heavily entrenched before Assad's ouster. 'The Syrian state has bolstered its protection at this time,' said Jaafar al-Amine, an official at the holy site. 'This year, there have been no pilgrims from other countries' like Iran, Iraq or Lebanon, he added.
