Latest news with #ceasefireTalks
ABC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone strikes hours after failed ceasefire talks
A displaced Ukrainian family-of-three has died and two Russian women have been killed as Moscow and Kyiv exchanged drone strikes just hours after ceasefire talks concluded in Istanbul. Ukraine's regional officials announced on Thursday that the bodies of a woman, her husband and their adult son had been discovered under the rubble of a house in the border region of Kharkiv. They said the family killed in the village of Pidlyman had fled the settlement of Boguslavka which was captured by Russian forces when they invaded in early 2022, but was later retaken by Ukrainian forces. A later drone barrage on Kharkiv city wounded 33 people, including a 10-year-old girl and a month-old infant, the governor said. Meanwhile in Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike left two women dead and several others wounded in Sochi in Russia's south, regional authorities said. The Russian defence ministry said its air defence systems had downed 39 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles mainly over southern regions of the country. This latest exchange followed a brief third round of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, which failed to reach a ceasefire. A separate Russian drone and missile barrage wounded seven people including a child in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy, emergency services said. In the southern port city of Odesa, a Russian drone attack wounded four people and badly damaged the Pryvoz market. Ukraine's prime minister said some of the buildings targeted, including the famous market, were UNESCO protected. "Russia continues its terror and obstructs diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post. "[This] is why it deserves full-scale sanctions responses, as well as our strikes on their logistics, their military bases, and their military production facilities." He said Russia had launched 103 drones — mainly the Iranian-designed Shahed type of unmanned aerial vehicle — and four missiles. In a separate development in Ukraine's domestic politics, Mr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday he had approved a draft bill strengthening Ukraine's law enforcement system and the independence of its anti-corruption agencies. It comes after new laws to limit the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies passed this week in Ukraine, sparking large street protests and attracting rare rebukes from European allies. On Thursday, Mr Zelenskyy bowed to the mounting pressure. He said on X that the draft bill, which would be submitted to parliament later in the day, was well-balanced and "upholds the independence of anti-corruption agencies". The European Union earlier said a commitment to fight corruption is an important precondition both for EU financial aid as well as for potential EU membership. "We welcome the fact that the Ukrainian government is taking action," an EU spokesperson said. "We work with them to make sure that our concerns ... are indeed taken into account." ABC/AFP/Reuters
Al Arabiya
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel orders evacuations in Gaza as ceasefire talks stall and military offensive widens
The Israeli military published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas the military has rarely operated with ground troops. The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave. The order comes as Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks in the north of the Gaza Strip had risen to 67, after more bodies were brought into hospitals from the scene. Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas to negotiate, though negotiations have been stalled for months. The area of Gaza under the evacuation order is also where many international organizations attempting to distribute aid are located. The organizations did not immediately comment on the evacuation warnings. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that the military will attack 'with intensity' against militants. He called for residents, including those sheltering in tents, to head to the Muwasi area, a desolate tent camp on Gaza's southern shore that the Israeli military has designated a humanitarian zone. Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Hamas triggered the 21-month war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive that followed has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants are among the dead but says more than half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government but the UN and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many of the families of hostages, condemned the evacuation announcement and demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military explain what they hope to accomplish in the area of central Gaza, accusing Israel of operating without a clear war plan. 'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during the weekly protest, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tel Aviv, demonstrating for an end to the war.
Sky News
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
At least 66 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza - women and children among dead, medics say
At least 66 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, medics say. Women and children were among the dead, they added - as Israel launches an escalation of its war in Gaza. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes. It has previously said it has escalated its military action to ramp up pressure on Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire. It comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas take place in Qatar this weekend. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
