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The White House said Thursday that Israel had accepted US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, while discussions were “continuing” with Hamas.The Palestinian militant group had earlier said it was examining a new deal proposed by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, while there was no immediate confirmation from Israel.”I can confirm that special envoy Witkoff and the president submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas, that Israel backed and supported. Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.”I can also confirm that those discussions are continuing, and we hope that a ceasefire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home,” Leavitt told reporters.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that there had not yet been a response from Hamas.”We are unaware of Hamas accepting it, but we do believe that it has some significant promise,” Bruce told reporters.”So there is some optimism — some important optimism,” Bruce said.Leavitt declined to confirm reports in Saudi and Israeli media that both sides had reached a 60-day ceasefire agreement and that Trump was poised to make an announcement.”If there is an announcement to be made, it will come from the White House — the president, myself, or special envoy Witkoff,” Leavitt said.

The White House said on Thursday that Israel had “signed off on” a new Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas, as the Palestinian militants confirmed they were studying the deal.Negotiations to end more than 19 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March after a brief truce.The White House said President Donald Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff had “submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed”.”Israel signed off on this proposal before it was sent to Hamas,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, adding discussions were “continuing” with the militants.Hamas said it had “received Witkoff’s new proposal from the mediators and is currently studying it responsibly”.The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite aid beginning to trickle back into the territory following a more than two-month Israeli blockade.Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.Israel has intensified its offensive in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.Gaza’s civil defence said 54 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday, including 23 in a strike on a home in Al-Bureij and two by Israeli gunfire near a US-backed aid centre in the Morag axis, in the south.The centre, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is part of a new aid distribution system designed to keep supplies from Hamas. It has drawn criticism from the United Nations and the European Union.”What is happening to us is degrading. The crowding is humiliating us,” said Gazan Sobhi Areef, who visited a GHF centre on Thursday.”We go there and risk our lives just to get a bag of flour to feed our children.”- ‘Starvation tactics’ -The Israeli military said it was not aware of the shooting near the aid centre. In Al-Bureij, it said it struck a “Hamas cell” and was reviewing reports that civilians were killed.It said its forces had struck “dozens of terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” over the past day.In a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of “systematic starvation tactics” that had “crossed all moral and legal boundaries”.On Wednesday, thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a World Food Programme warehouse in central Gaza, the UN agency said, with Israel and the United Nations trading blame over the deepening hunger crisis.The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid starvation fears and intense criticism of the GHF, which has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said aid trucks were entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing and accused the UN of “trying to block” GHF’s work.The United Nations said it was doing its utmost to distribute the limited aid allowed in.It said 47 people were wounded Tuesday when crowds rushed a GHF site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.- ‘Forced evacuation’ -GHF disputed that anyone had been killed or injured, saying “several inaccuracies” were circulating about its operations and that “there are many parties who wish to see GHF fail”.Medical facilities in Gaza have come under increasing strain and repeated attack.Al-Awda Hospital said Israeli troops were “carrying out a forced evacuation of patients and medical staff” from its premises, adding it was “the only hospital that was still operating in the northern Gaza Strip”.The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 3,986 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended the ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,249, mostly civilians.On Thursday, the military said an “employee of a contracting company that carries out engineering work” was killed in northern Gaza.

Israel announced Thursday the creation of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, drawing sharp condemnation from Britain, Jordan and others already at odds with the country over its Gaza war.London called the move a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood, while UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution “in the wrong direction”.Israeli settlements in the West Bank are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law and are seen as a major obstacle to lasting peace.The decision, taken by Israel’s security cabinet, was announced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, and Defence Minister Israel Katz, who oversees the communities.”We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel,” Smotrich said on X, using the Israeli terms for the southern and northern West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.”Next step: sovereignty!” he added.Katz said the initiative “changes the face of the region and shapes the future of settlement for years to come”.Not all of the 22 settlements are new. Some are existing outposts, while others are neighbourhoods of settlements that will become independent communities, according to the left-wing Israeli NGO Peace Now.Hamas accused Israel of “accelerating steps to Judaize Palestinian land within a clear annexation project”.”This is a blatant defiance of the international will and a grave violation of international law and United Nations resolutions,” Gaza’s Islamist rulers said.Britain’s minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said the plan imperils “the two-state solution” and does not protect Israel.Jordan called the decision illegal and said it “undermines prospects for peace by entrenching the occupation”.”We stand against any and all” expansion of the settlements, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, repeating calls for Israel to halt such activity, which he said blocks peace and economic development.On Telegram, the right-wing Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move a “once-in-a-generation decision” and said it “includes the establishment of four communities along the eastern border with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel’s eastern backbone”.A map posted by the party showed the 22 sites scattered across the territory.- ‘Heritage of our ancestors’ -Two of the settlements, Homesh and Sa-Nur, are particularly symbolic.Located in the north of the West Bank, they are resettlements, having been evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, promoted by then prime minister Ariel Sharon.Netanyahu’s government, formed in December 2022 with the support of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, is the most right-wing in Israel’s history.Human rights groups and anti-settlement NGOs say a slide towards at least de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank has gathered pace, particularly since the start of the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.”The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal,” Peace Now said in a statement.In his announcement, Smotrich offered a pre-emptive defence of the move, saying: “We have not taken a foreign land, but the heritage of our ancestors.”Some European governments have moved to sanction individual settlers, as did the United States under former president Joe Biden — though those measures were lifted under Donald Trump.The announcement comes ahead of an international conference led by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations next month aimed at reviving the two-state solution.

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Thursday said it was examining a new deal proposed by a US envoy, as rescuers said at least 44 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip.Negotiations on a ceasefire to end 18 months of devastating war have yet to yield a breakthrough since Israel resumed operations in the war-ravaged territory in March after a brief truce.But US envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism on Wednesday, saying he expected to propose a plan soon.Hamas later said it had “received Witkoff’s new proposal from the mediators and is currently studying it responsibly”.The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite aid finally beginning to trickle back into the territory after a more than two-month blockade by Israel. Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.The Israeli military has also recently stepped up its offensive in the territory in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.Gaza civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP “44 people have been killed in Israeli raids”, including 23 in a strike on home in Al-Bureij. “Two people were killed and several injured by Israeli forces’ gunfire this morning near the American aid centre in the Morag axis, southern Gaza Strip,” he added.The centre, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), is part of a new system for distributing aid that Israel says is meant to keep supplies out of the hands of Hamas, but which has drawn criticism from the United Nations and the European Union.”What is happening to us is degrading. The crowding is humiliating us,” said Gazan Sobhi Areef, who visited a GHF centre on Thursday.- ‘Hordes of hungry people’ -“We go there and risk our lives just to get a bag of flour to feed our children.”The Israeli military said it was not aware of the shooting incident, and that it was looking into the reported deaths in Al-Bureij.Separately, it said in a statement that its forces had struck “dozens of terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” over the past day.In a telephone call Thursday with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Israel’s “systematic starvation tactics have crossed all moral and legal boundaries”.On Wednesday, thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in central Gaza, with Israel and the UN trading blame over the deepening hunger crisis. AFP footage showed crowds of Palestinians breaking into the WFP facility in Deir al-Balah and taking bags of emergency food supplies as gunshots rang out.”Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” the UN agency said in a statement.The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid starvation fears and intense criticism of the GHF, which has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told the Security Council that aid was entering Gaza by truck — under limited authorisation by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing — and accused the UN of “trying to block” GHF’s work through “threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate”.The UN has said it is doing its utmost to facilitate distribution of the limited assistance allowed by Israel’s authoritiesThe world body said 47 people were wounded Tuesday when crowds of Palestinians rushed a GHF site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.- ‘Chaotic’ -GHF, however, disputed that anyone had died or been injured, saying in a statement that there had been “several inaccuracies” circulating about its operations, adding “there are many parties who wish to see GHF fail”.But 60-year-old Abu Fawzi Faroukh, who visited a GHF centre Thursday, said the situation there was “so chaotic”. “The young men are the ones who have received aid first, yesterday and today, because they are young and can carry loads, but the old people and women cannot enter due to the crowding,” he told AFP.On Thursday, the military said an “employee of a contracting company that carries out engineering work” was killed in northern Gaza.The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 3,986 people had been killed in the territory since Israel ended the ceasefire on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,249, mostly civilians.

Chinese exporters in one of the world’s busiest port cities spoke Thursday of murky horizons as they try to navigate the trade maelstrom unleashed by the ever-changing saga of US tariff policy.Suppliers in the eastern city of Ningbo — home to the world’s third biggest container port — have had a wild ride since US …

Chinese exporters “on hold” despite US tariff relief Read More »

Israel announced on Thursday the creation of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, putting further strain on relations with the international community already taxed by the war in Gaza.Both Britain and neighbouring Jordan slammed the move, with London calling it a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood.Israeli settlements in the West Bank are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and are seen as one of the main obstacles to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.The decision to establish more, taken by the country’s security cabinet, was announced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a settler, and Defence Minister Israel Katz, who is in charge of managing the communities.”We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel,” Smotrich said on X, using the Israeli terms for the southern and northern West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.”Next step: sovereignty!” he added.Katz said the initiative “changes the face of the region and shapes the future of settlement for years to come”.Not all the 22 settlements are new, however. Some are existing outposts, while others are neighbourhoods of settlements that will become independent communities, according to the left-wing Israeli NGO Peace Now.In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of “accelerating steps to Judaize Palestinian land within a clear annexation project”.”This is a blatant defiance of the international will and a grave violation of international law and United Nations resolutions,” said the Palestinian militant group, which rules Gaza.Western ally Jordan also condemned the move as illegal, and said it “undermines prospects for peace by entrenching the occupation”. The Jordanian foreign ministry warned that “such unilateral actions further erode the viability of a two-state solution by impeding the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state”.On Telegram, the right-wing Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move a “once-in-a-generation decision”, and said it “includes the establishment of four communities along the eastern border with Jordan, as part of strengthening Israel’s eastern backbone”. The party also published a map showing the 22 sites spread across the territory.- ‘Heritage of our ancestors’ -Two of the settlements, Homesh and Sa-Nur, are particularly symbolic.Located in the north of the West Bank, they are actually resettlements, having been evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, promoted by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.Netanyahu’s government, formed in December 2022 with the support of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, is the most right-wing in Israel’s history.Human rights groups and anti-settlement NGOs say a slide towards at least de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank has gathered pace, particularly since the start of the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.”The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal,” Peace Now said in a statement.In his announcement, Smotrich offered a preemptive defence of the move, saying: “We have not taken a foreign land, but the heritage of our ancestors.”Some European governments have moved to sanction individual settlers, as did the United States under former president Joe Biden, though those measures were lifted by Donald Trump.Britain’s minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, slammed the decision as a “deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood”, saying settlements “imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel”.Thursday’s announcement comes ahead of an international conference to be led by France and Saudi Arabia at UN headquarters in New York next month that is meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The United States’ new envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel in remarks to Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Thursday.Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948, with Israel taking the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967.Since the ouster in December of former president Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes and multiple incursions into Syria.Barrack, who inaugurated the US ambassador’s residence in Damascus on Thursday, said the conflict between the two countries was a “solvable problem”.To him, Syria and Israel could “start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders” to build a new relationship with its neighbour.Israel has said its strikes on Syria were aimed at preventing advanced weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers jihadists.It has also threatened further intervention should the new authorities fail to protect the Druze religious minority.Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said earlier this month that his administration was holding “indirect talks” with Israel to calm tensions between the two countries.- Restoring US ties -Sharaa, who led the rebel offensive that toppled Assad in December, was once a jihadist leader wanted in the United States.Since coming to power, he has repeatedly pledged inclusive governance that is open to the world, and restored Syria’s ties with global powers, ending decades of isolation under Assad.While on tour in the Gulf earlier this month, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, and said he hoped the country would normalise relations with Israel.”I told him, I hope you’re going to join once you’re straightened out and he said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,” he said of Sharaa. He also called Sharaa a “young, attractive guy” with a “very strong past. Fighter”.On May 8, Sharaa said in France that Syria was holding “indirect talks through mediators” with Israel to “try to contain the situation so it does not reach the point where it escapes the control of both sides.”The United States has in recent months started rebuilding ties with Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze.Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, US and Turkish companies as it seeks to rehabilitate its war-ravaged electricity sector.- US flag raised -The agreement, signed in the presence of interim Sharaa and Barrack, is expected to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity and cover half of the country’s needs.Barrack, who is also ambassador to Turkey, inaugurated the US ambassador’s residence in the Syrian capital with Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani, state media outlet SANA reported.AFP photographers saw the US flag raised at the ambassador’s residence, just a few hundred metres (yards) from the US embassy in the Abu Rummaneh neighbourhood, under tight security.”Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East,” Trump said, according to a post on the State Department’s X.The US embassy in Syria was closed after Assad’s repression of a peaceful uprising that began in 2011, which degenerated into civil war.Barrack met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul on 24 May, after the United States lifted sanctions on Syria.The meeting followed a meeting in Riyadh between Trump and Sharaa, who led the Islamist coalition that toppled Assad in December.The last US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was declared persona non grata in 2011 after defying the Syrian government by visiting a city that was under army siege and the site of a major anti-regime protests.In late December, a US delegation led by Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s Middle East representative, held an initial meeting with the new leadership in Damascus.