Latest news with #AlexanderCornwell
Ya Libnan
a day ago
- Business
- Ya Libnan
Pressure mounts on Netanyahu as opposition moves to dissolve parliament
By Alexander Cornwell A member of Israel's right-wing coalition threatened to quit the cabinet on Wednesday and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu's coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in Gaza prompted by the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October 2023. United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalising an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service. The opposition party Yesh Atid, led by former prime minister Yair Lapid, put forward a parliamentary vote for next week to topple the government, even as the Israeli army continues battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It would require the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the parliament to succeed. 'This Knesset (parliament) is finished. It has nowhere to go,' Lapid said. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has remained silent on the looming crisis. A spokesperson for United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf told Reuters the party would vote in favour of dissolving parliament unless exemption legislation was passed. With a week until the vote, Netanyahu and his allies still have time to negotiate over an issue that has dogged the coalition for months. A source close to the government said, on condition of anonymity, that negotiations within the coalition were continuing. Netanyahu's coalition of secular right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties holds an 8-seat majority in parliament. United Torah Judaism has 7 seats while its ally, Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party, has 11. BETTING ON A BLUFF The coalition is sharply divided over whether young ultra-Orthodox men who are studying in religious seminaries should be exempt from mandatory military service. Failing to pass an exemption risks a walkout by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, while approving it could trigger a protest exit by secular parties. Coalition member Ohad Tal of Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party criticized Goldknopf for threatening to trigger elections and called on the ultra-Orthodox lawmaker to resign. He urged others to negotiate a new arrangement but that a blanket exemption from military service could no longer stand. Former Knesset member Ofer Shelah said Netanyahu was likely betting the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were bluffing, given the polls suggested they faced defeat in any early election. In March, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threatened to bring down the government over the same issue, but time passed without any action. Resentment over the informal exemption given to religious seminary students is growing and lawmakers from the ruling coalition and opposition ranks say it is no longer tenable. Netanyahu won election in 2022 and does not have to return to the polls until 2026. Historically, few Israeli governments serve a full term. He has faced widespread criticism for failing to prevent the surprise October 2023 Hamas attack that killed roughly 1,200 people, and is facing growing calls from protesters and families of hostages still held in Gaza to end the war to secure their release. But some in his coalition say the war must continue until Hamas is eradicated. Political analysts say that the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers could simply quit the government to protest their failure to secure concessions, without toppling the ruling coalition
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pressure mounts on Netanyahu as opposition moves to dissolve parliament
By Alexander Cornwell TEL AVIV (Reuters) -A member of Israel's right-wing coalition threatened to quit the cabinet on Wednesday and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu's coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in Gaza prompted by the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October 2023. United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalising an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service. The opposition party Yesh Atid, led by former prime minister Yair Lapid, put forward a parliamentary vote for next week to topple the government, even as the Israeli army continues battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It would require the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the parliament to succeed. "This Knesset (parliament) is finished. It has nowhere to go," Lapid said. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has remained silent on the looming crisis. A spokesperson for United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf told Reuters the party would vote in favour of dissolving parliament unless exemption legislation was passed. With a week until the vote, Netanyahu and his allies still have time to negotiate over an issue that has dogged the coalition for months. A source close to the government said, on condition of anonymity, that negotiations within the coalition were continuing. Netanyahu's coalition of secular right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties holds an 8-seat majority in parliament. United Torah Judaism has 7 seats while its ally, Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party, has 11. BETTING ON A BLUFF The coalition is sharply divided over whether young ultra-Orthodox men who are studying in religious seminaries should be exempt from mandatory military service. Failing to pass an exemption risks a walkout by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, while approving it could trigger a protest exit by secular parties. Coalition member Ohad Tal of Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party criticized Goldknopf for threatening to trigger elections and called on the ultra-Orthodox lawmaker to resign. He urged others to negotiate a new arrangement but that a blanket exemption from military service could no longer stand. Former Knesset member Ofer Shelah said Netanyahu was likely betting the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were bluffing, given the polls suggested they faced defeat in any early election. In March, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threatened to bring down the government over the same issue, but time passed without any action. Resentment over the informal exemption given to religious seminary students is growing and lawmakers from the ruling coalition and opposition ranks say it is no longer tenable. Netanyahu won election in 2022 and does not have to return to the polls until 2026. Historically, few Israeli governments serve a full term. He has faced widespread criticism for failing to prevent the surprise October 2023 Hamas attack that killed roughly 1,200 people, and is facing growing calls from protesters and families of hostages still held in Gaza to end the war to secure their release. But some in his coalition say the war must continue until Hamas is eradicated. Political analysts say that the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers could simply quit the government to protest their failure to secure concessions, without toppling the ruling coalition.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
UAE seeks U.S. trade deal to roll back Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs
(Adds byline) By Alexander Cornwell (Reuters) -The United States and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to start negotiations for a potential bilateral trade agreement that could ease tariffs on the Gulf state's steel and aluminium industry, according to four people familiar with the matter. Emirati officials discussed the possibility of a trade agreement with U.S. counterparts during President Donald Trump's two-day visit to Abu Dhabi last month, the sources said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did Emirati officials. Like other nations, the UAE has been hit by Trump's 10% baseline tariff on its exports to the United States. But its steel and aluminium products have also been hit by a 25% tariff that the Trump administration is now doubling to 50%. While the UAE is a major oil producer, its steel and aluminium products are significant non-oil exports. In 2024, the UAE was the second-largest steel and aluminium exporter to the U.S., accounting for 8% of total U.S. consumption, data shows. In Abu Dhabi, Emirati officials highlighted to U.S. counterparts comprehensive trade deals that it had signed with other countries over the past three years, the sources said. The UAE was capable of moving quickly on trade talks, Emirati officials told their U.S. counterparts, they said. The Gulf state has signed bilateral trade deals, known as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, with several countries since 2022, including India, Turkey and Australia. The pact with India was negotiated in just 88 days. The sources said that U.S. officials had responded positively, although it was unclear when talks would start. Two of the sources said Washington was likely to negotiate a limited deal that would fall short of a comprehensive free trade pact. However, they said any agreement, if reached, would likely still be called a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the same branding as the UAE's other trade deals. The UAE is Washington's biggest trade partner in the Middle East, according to the Gulf state's foreign ministry. Bilateral trade in 2024 was valued at $34.4 billion, according to U.S. trade data, with the U.S. enjoying a $19.4 billion surplus. The Gulf state, which is reliant on the U.S. security umbrella, has pledged to invest $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade. Its sovereign wealth funds, including Abu Dhabi's $330-billion Mubadala, are already big U.S. investors, and Trump and his family have business interests in the UAE. The UAE is influential in the region and hosts American soldiers on its bases. It is also negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union. Gulf states Oman and Bahrain have bilateral free trade agreements with the U.S.
Japan Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Gaza aid plan makes faltering start as airstrikes kill dozens
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi A U.S.-backed foundation tasked with supplying aid to Gaza made a faltering start on Monday, with no clear sign that it had distributed promised supplies, a day after its chief unexpectedly stepped down. The aid plan, which has been endorsed by Israel but rejected by the U.N., is unfolding amid fierce Israeli attacks on the enclave, including on a school building where dozens of Palestinians sheltering inside were killed. With food still critically short after a nearly three-month blockade, Washington says it is working to restore a ceasefire more than 19 months into the war, but progress is elusive. A Palestinian official said Hamas had agreed to a U.S. proposal for a truce and the release of 10 Israeli hostages, but an Israeli official dismissed the proposal as unacceptable, denying it was Washington's. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff rejected reports that Hamas had agreed to his proposal, telling Reuters that what he has seen is "completely unacceptable." Israel has faced a mounting international outcry this month, including from Western allies, as it launched a new offensive in Gaza, already largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment and where the population of 2 million is at risk of famine. Close ally Germany said Israel's recent attacks in Gaza were inflicting a toll on civilians that could no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas, which ignited the war with its cross-border Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Israeli authorities last week allowed a trickle of aid into the Palestinian enclave for the first time since March. But the few hundred trucks carried only a tiny fraction of the food needed. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which intends to use private contractors working under a broad Israeli security umbrella, said it would begin deliveries on Monday, with the aim of reaching one million Palestinians by the end of the week. "We plan to scale up rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead," it said in a statement. Israeli media showed photos of aid pallets lined up in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah alongside empty tables which appeared to be set up to aid distribution. The foundation and the relevant Israeli officials did not answer requests for comment. Palestinians said they had seen no sign of any aid distribution on Monday by the new company. The foundation's executive director, Jake Wood, announced his resignation on Sunday, saying it could not adhere "to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence". The Switzerland-registered foundation has been heavily criticised by the United Nations, whose officials have said the private company's aid distribution plans are insufficient for reaching the more than two million Gazans. The new operation will rely on four major distribution centres in southern Gaza that will screen families for involvement with Hamas militants, potentially using facial recognition or biometric technology, according to aid officials. But many details of how the operation will work remain unexplained, and it was not immediately clear whether aid groups that have refused to cooperate with the foundation would still be able to send in trucks. Hamas condemned the new system, saying it would "replace order with chaos, enforce a policy of engineered starvation of Palestinian civilians, and use food as a weapon during wartime". Israel says the system is aimed at separating aid from Hamas, which it accuses of stealing and using food to impose control over the population, a charge rejected by Hamas, which says it protects aid convoys from gangs of armed looters. 'NO SECURITY OR SAFETY' Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people on Monday, local health authorities said. In Gaza City, medics said, 30 Palestinians, including displaced women and children who were seeking shelter in a school, were killed in an airstrike. Images shared widely on social media showed what appeared to be badly burned bodies being pulled from the rubble. Israel's military confirmed that it had targeted the school. It said that the building was being used as a centre by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants to plan and organise attacks. Farah Nussair, who survived the attack, said "just the tired ones" who needed food and water were in the school. She added, a child in her lap: "We fled to the south, they bombed us in the south. We returned to the north, they bombed us in the north. We came to schools .... There is no security or safety, neither at schools, nor hospitals - not anywhere." Israel's military said it used precise weapons, surveillance and other steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians. It did not provide evidence that the school was being used by militants. Another strike on a house in Jabalia, adjacent to Gaza City, killed at least 15 other people, medics said. Sweden said it would summon Israel's ambassador in Stockholm over the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza. Israel stepped up military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas' military and governing capabilities and bring back remaining hostages. The campaign, which Netanyahu has said will end with Israel in complete control of Gaza, has squeezed the population into an ever-narrowing zone in coastal areas and around the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli campaign, triggered after Hamas-led Islamist militants stormed Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its residents from their homes. The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, many of them civilians, according to its health authorities. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exclusive-U.S., Israel discuss possible U.S.-led administration for Gaza, sources say
By Alexander Cornwell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States and Israel have discussed the possibility of Washington leading a temporary post-war administration of Gaza, according to five people familiar with the matter. The "high-level" consultations have centered around a transitional government headed by a U.S. official that would oversee Gaza until it had been demilitarized and stabilized, and a viable Palestinian administration had emerged, the sources said. According to the discussions, which remain preliminary, there would be no fixed timeline for how long such a U.S.-led administration would last, which would depend on the situation on the ground, the five sources said. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly, compared the proposal to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq that Washington established in 2003, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The authority was perceived by many Iraqis as an occupying force and it transferred power to an interim Iraqi government in 2004 after failing to contain a growing insurgency. Other countries would be invited to take part in the U.S.-led authority in Gaza, the sources said, without identifying which ones. They said the administration would draw on Palestinian technocrats but would exclude Islamist group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, which holds limited authority in the occupied West Bank. Islamist group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, sparked the current war when its militants stormed into southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing another 251. The sources said it remained unclear whether any agreement could be reached. Discussions had not progressed to the point of considering who might take on core roles, they said. The sources did not specify which side had put forward the proposal nor provide further details of the talks. In response to Reuters questions, a State Department spokesperson did not comment directly on whether there had been discussions with Israel about a U.S.-led provisional authority in Gaza, saying they could not speak to ongoing negotiations. "We want peace, and the immediate release of the hostages," the spokesperson said, adding that: "The pillars of our approach remain resolute: stand with Israel, stand for peace." The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment. In an April interview with Emirati-owned Sky News Arabia, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he believed there would be a "transitional period" after the conflict in which an international board of trustees, including "moderate Arab countries", would oversee Gaza with Palestinians operating under their guidance. "We're not looking to control the civil life of the people in Gaza. Our sole interest in the Gaza Strip is security," he said, without naming which countries he believed would be involved. The foreign ministry did not respond to a request for further comment. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, rejected the idea of an administration led by the United States or any foreign government, saying the Palestinian people of Gaza should choose their own rulers. The Palestinian Authority did not respond to a request for comment. RISKS A U.S.-led provisional authority in Gaza would draw Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mark its biggest Middle East intervention since the Iraq invasion. Such a move would carry significant risks of a backlash from both allies and adversaries in the Middle East, if Washington were perceived as an occupying power in Gaza, two of the sources said. The United Arab Emirates - which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 - has proposed to the United States and Israel that an international coalition oversee Gaza's post-war governance. Abu Dhabi conditioned its involvement on the inclusion of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority and a credible path toward Palestinian statehood. The UAE foreign ministry did not respond to questions about whether it would support a U.S.-led administration that did not include the PA. Israel's leadership, including Netanyahu, firmly rejects any role in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority, which it accuses of being anti-Israeli. Netanyahu also opposes Palestinian sovereignty. Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would expand its attacks in Gaza and that more Gazans would be moved "for their own safety". Israel is still seeking to recover 59 hostages being held in the enclave. Its offensive has so far killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health ministry data. Some members of Netanyahu's right-coalition have called publicly for what they describe as the "voluntary" mass migration of Palestinians from Gaza and for the reconstruction of Jewish settlements inside the coastal enclave. But behind closed doors, some Israeli officials have also been weighing proposals over the future of Gaza that sources say assumes that there won't be a mass exodus of Palestinians from Gaza, such as the U.S.-led provisional administration. Among those include restricting reconstruction to designated security zones, dividing the territory and establishing permanent military bases, said four sources, who include foreign diplomats and former Israeli officials briefed on the proposals. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
