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Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to “take control” of Gaza City, his office said in a statement Friday.Under the plan to “defeat” Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army “will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones”, it said.Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a truce to pull the Palestinian territory’s more than two million people back from the brink of famine and to spare hostages held by Palestinian militants.As he convened his security cabinet on Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel planned to take full control of Gaza but did not intend to govern it.Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu told US network Fox News that the government intended to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, where the military has been fighting Hamas since the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.He added that Israel did not want “to keep” the Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005.Netanyahu said Israel wanted a “security perimeter” and to hand the Palestinian territory to “Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.””That’s not possible with Hamas,” he added.His office on Friday said a majority of the security cabinet had adopted “five principles for concluding the war: the disarming of Hamas; the return of all hostages — living and dead; the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip; the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.”A decisive majority of security cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan that had been submitted to the security cabinet would neither achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages,” it added, without giving further details.An expanded Israeli offensive in Gaza could see ground troops operate in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, Israeli media reported.The reported plans to expand the war have sparked growing concern in Israel about what it means for the remaining hostages.As the cabinet meeting kicked off, hundreds rallied near the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, calling for a deal to free the hostages.”The only way to bring the hostages home is to halt the war and end the suffering of the hostages and all those living through this terrible conflict,” said protester Sharon Kangasa-Cohen.In Gaza, fears grew over what an expansion of Israeli operations would entail.”Ground operations mean more destruction and death,” said Ahmad Salem, 45.- ‘More destruction’ -Hamas in a statement said that “Netanyahu’s plans to escalate the aggression confirm beyond any doubt his desire to get rid of the captives and sacrifice them in pursuit of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda.”Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, rumours have been rife in the Israeli press about disagreements between the cabinet and Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir, who is said to oppose plans to fully reoccupy Gaza.Defence Minister Israel Katz weighed in on social media Wednesday, saying the military must ultimately respect any policies adopted by the government.In a statement released by the military Thursday, Zamir underscored his independence, vowing to “continue to express our position without fear”.- ‘Unrealistic costs’ -International concern has been growing over the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where a UN-backed assessment warned that famine was unfolding.The World Health Organization said at least 99 people have died from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip this year, with the figure likely an underestimate.Displaced Gazan Mahmoud Wafi said that the prices of available food remained high and erratic.”We hope that food will be made available again in normal quantities and at reasonable prices, because we can no longer afford these extremely high and unrealistic costs,” the 38-year-old told AFP.In late July, Israel partially eased restrictions on aid entering Gaza, but the United Nations says the amount allowed into the territory remains insufficient.Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network in the Gaza Strip, told AFP that lengthy inspection procedures at entry points meant few trucks could come in — “between 70 to 80 per day — carrying only specific types of goods”.The UN estimates that Gaza needs at least 600 trucks of aid per day to meet its residents’ basic needs.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,258 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.The 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

President Donald Trump’s steeper global tariffs came into effect Thursday, leaving dozens of US partners scrambling to secure relief from soaring levies that are rewriting global trade practice.Shortly before the new rates kicked in, Washington also announced it would double India tariffs to 50 percent and hit many semiconductor imports with a 100-percent duty.Trump’s trade …

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President Donald Trump’s steeper global tariffs came into effect Thursday, leaving dozens of US partners scrambling to secure relief from soaring levies that are rewriting global trade practice.Shortly before the new rates kicked in, Washington also announced it would double India tariffs to 50 percent and hit many semiconductor imports with a 100-percent duty.Trump’s trade policy is a demonstration of economic power that he hopes will revive domestic manufacturing, but many economists fear it could fuel inflation and lower growth.In his latest move, the president raised import duties from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for various trading partners.Many products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15-percent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies.But questions remain surrounding the implementation of these agreements.Others like India face a 25-percent duty — to be doubled in three weeks — while Syria, Myanmar and Laos face levels of 40 or 41 percent.Switzerland’s government, which failed to convince Trump not to impose a 39-percent tariff, said after an extraordinary meeting Thursday that it remains committed to talks aimed at lowering levies.Trump’s latest wave of “reciprocal” duties — a response to trade practices Washington deems unfair — broadens measures imposed since he returned to the presidency.Wall Street’s major indexes mostly dipped, while global markets largely shrugged off the higher tariffs Thursday.- ‘No charge’ -The steeper duties maintain exemptions on sectors that Trump separately targeted, like steel and autos.Categories that could be hit later, like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, are also spared for now.Trump said Wednesday that he plans an “approximately 100-percent tariff” on semiconductor imports, but with no charge for companies investing in his country or committed to doing so.Companies and industry groups warn Trump’s new levies will severely hurt smaller American businesses.But providing some reprieve from the “reciprocal” tariff hike is a clause saying that goods already en route to the United States before Thursday — and arriving before October 5 — will not face the new rates.With the dust settling, at least temporarily, Georgetown University professor Marc Busch expects US businesses to “pass along more of the tariff bill” to consumers.Inventories are depleting and it is unlikely firms will absorb costs indefinitely, he told AFP.Trump is using tariffs to pursue a variety of goals — such as doubling planned duties on India due to its purchase of Russian oil, a key revenue source in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.The order threatened penalties on countries that “directly or indirectly” import Russian oil too.The Federation of Indian Export Organisations called the move a “severe setback” impacting nearly 55 percent of shipments to the United States.- Discrepancies -Lingering questions remain for partners who have negotiated deals with Trump.Tokyo and Washington appear at odds over the terms of their pact, such as when levies on Japanese cars will be lowered from an existing 25 percent on US auto imports.Both countries also seem to differ on whether the new 15-percent toll on Japanese goods would be added to existing levies or — like the EU — be capped at that level for many products.Japan’s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa told reporters Thursday that Washington is expected to revise its order such that the new toll does not stack uniformly on existing ones. It would also lower vehicle tariffs on Japanese autos.Washington and Beijing meanwhile have a temporary truce in their tariff standoff expiring August 12. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox Business it is likely this will be extended another 90 days.Trump has separately targeted Brazil over the trial of his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of planning a coup.US tariffs on various Brazilian goods surged to 50 percent Wednesday with broad exemptions.Lutnick expects Trump’s duties could bring in $50 billion in monthly revenue.burs-bys/mlm

Lebanon’s cabinet met on Thursday for the second time in days to discuss disarming Hezbollah, after the Iran-backed group rejected the government’s decision to take away its weapons.The meeting considered a US proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah’s disarmament, with Washington pressing Beirut to take action.Information Minister Paul Morcos said the cabinet endorsed the introduction of the US text without discussing specific timelines. The government said on Tuesday that disarmament should happen by the end of this year.The introduction endorsed in Thursday’s meeting lists 11 “objectives” including “ensuring the sustainability” of a November ceasefire with Israel, and “the gradual end of the armed presence of all non-governmental entities, including Hezbollah, in all Lebanese territory”.It also calls for the the deployment of Lebanese troops in border areas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the five places in the south they have occupied since last year’s war with Hezbollah.The November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah stipulated that weapons in Lebanon be restricted to six military and security agencies.Following the cabinet decision on Tuesday, Morcos said the Lebanese government was waiting to review an “executive plan” on Hezbollah’s disarmament.The army was tasked with presenting a plan to restrict the possession of weapons to government forces by the end of August.Only then would the government review the full provisions of the US proposal, whose implementation “is dependent on the approval of each of the concerned countries”, the information minister said.- US support -Four Shiite Muslim ministers, including three directly affiliated with Hezbollah or its ally the Amal movement, walked out of Thursday’s meeting in protest at the government’s disarmament push, Hezbollah’s Al Manar television reported.They also refused to discuss the proposal submitted by US envoy Tom Barrack, the report said.Environment Minister Tamara Elzein, who is close to Amal, told Al Manar that the government “first hoped to consolidate the ceasefire and the Israeli withdrawal, before we could complete the remaining points” in Barrack’s proposal such as taking away Hezbollah’s weapons.In a post on X, Barrack hailed Lebanon’s “historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing” the November ceasefire.France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot in a message on X hailed Lebanon’s disarmament initiative as “a brave and historic decision” that would enable the country to rebuild and “protect all its communities”.Under Lebanon’s sect-based power-sharing system, the absence of the Shiite ministers from this week’s cabinet meetings could support the claim that the decisions taken lacked consensual legitimacy, however.Before last year’s war with Israel, Hezbollah had wielded sufficient political power to impose its will or disrupt government business.But the Shiite group has emerged from the war weakened, reducing its political influence.- ‘Correct the situation’ -Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc called on the government on Thursday to “correct the situation it has put itself and Lebanon in by slipping into accepting American demands that inevitably serve the interests of the Zionist enemy”.The group said on Wednesday that it would treat the government’s decision to disarm it “as if it did not exist”, accusing the cabinet of committing a “grave sin”.Late Thursday, hundreds of Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut’s southern suburbs to protest the government decision, AFP photographers reported.Lebanese media shared footage of similar rallies in other areas of the country where Hezbollah holds sway, while troops deployed to maintain order.Israel — which routinely carries out air strikes in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire — has already signalled it could launch military operations if Beirut failed to disarm the group.The Lebanese health ministry said Israel carried out several strikes on eastern Lebanon on Thursday, killing at least seven people.Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, said on Thursday that troops had “discovered a vast network of fortified tunnels” in the south.UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that peacekeepers and Lebanese troops found “three bunkers, artillery, rocket launchers, hundreds of explosive shells and rockets, anti-tank mines and about 250 ready-to-use improvised explosive devices”.Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in June that the Lebanese army had dismantled more than 500 Hezbollah military positions and weapons depots in the south.

Global stocks had a mixed session Thursday as US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on dozens of countries took effect, with investors eyeing exemptions from his threatened 100-percent levy on semiconductors.After a positive start, momentum on Wall Street faded, with both the Dow and S&P 500 finishing lower.”This tariff issue is still an overhang for …

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Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community pledged to resist government moves to call up seminary students for military service on Thursday, as demonstrators took to the streets to protest the arrest of two objectors.”The authorities will face a united global ultra-Orthodox Judaism fighting for its soul,” the spiritual leader of ultra-Orthodox Jews of European descent, Rabbi Dov Landau, told the community’s leading newspaper Yated Neeman under the front-page headline “War”.The exemption of many ultra-Orthodox men from the military service performed by other Jews has long been a contentious issue in Israel but it has become more so as the Gaza war has dragged on, putting a strain on army reservists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has depended on the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties for its majority in parliament.But its failure to pass new legislation to give full-time seminary students continued exemption from military service has tested that support.  Both ultra-Orthodox parties have withdrawn their ministers from the government, while one has also stopped supporting it in parliament.The ultra-Orthodox community represents 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, about 1.3 million people, and around 66,000 men of military age previously benefited each year from exemptions.The Israeli army announced in early July that tens of thousands of conscription orders would be sent out to ultra-Orthodox Jews.Earlier this week, authorities arrested two brothers, both full-time seminary students, after they failed to heed their call-up papers.In Jerusalem on Thursday evening, ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstrators gathered to protest the arrests, with police later using water canon to disperse the crowd.mib-hba-ds-glp/ami