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President Donald Trump’s envoy met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ahead of a visit to inspect aid distribution in Gaza, as a deadly food crisis drove mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.Steve Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader’s office said. On Friday, he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who visited Gaza in January, would inspect “distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground”.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also met Netanyahu in Jerusalem, and afterwards declared: “The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination.”Here, the Israeli government must act quickly, safely and effectively to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality,” he said.”I have the impression that this has been understood today.”In an example of the deadly problems facing aid efforts in Gaza, the territory’s civil defence agency said that at least 58 Palestinians were killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy.- Hostage video -The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad meanwhile released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski. In the six-minute video, Braslavski, speaking in Hebrew, is seen watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza. He identifies himself and pleads with the Israeli government to secure his release.Braslavski was a security guard at the Nova music festival, one of the sites targeted by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters in the October 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.”They managed to break Rom. Even the strongest person has a breaking point,” his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel.”Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now.”- Hungry crowd -The Israeli military said troops had fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks. An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after “people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some”.Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but talks in Doha broke down last week and Israel and the United States recalled their delegations.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.- International pressure -Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas.”The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” declared Trump, one of Israel’s staunchest international supporters.Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces “real starvation”.UN-backed experts have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage.The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — the core of any future Palestinian state.- ‘This is what death looks like’ -The October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people seized, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.”Enough!” cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.”We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?”Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that “this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives.””If the crossings were opened… food could reach us. But this is nonsense,” Zaqot said of the airdrops.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/rlp/sla

Global stocks mostly fell Thursday despite strong earnings from US tech giants Microsoft and Meta as markets girded for a key US tariff deadline.US President Donald Trump has set August 1 as the date when trading partners need to reach agreement with the United States in order to avert major tariffs. While Washington has reached tentative …

Global stocks mostly fall ahead of big Trump tariff deadline Read More »

President Donald Trump’s dream of a new world trade order faced a crucial test Thursday, with dozens of economies –- including key commercial partners like Canada — yet to secure US tariff deals ahead of a midnight deadline.The last-gasp scramble to strike bilateral accords came as an appeals court in Washington considered the legality behind …

Trump’s global trade policy faces test, hours from tariff deadline Read More »

President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Israel on Thursday ahead of a rare US visit to aid distribution sites in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire food shortages have sparked an international outcry.Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader’s office said. On Friday he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Witkoff, who previously visited Gaza in January, would “inspect the current distribution sites and secure a plan to deliver more food and meet with local Gazans to hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground”. Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 58 Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy — the latest in a spate of near-daily shootings of desperate aid seekers.The Israeli military said troops had fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks.An AFP correspondent saw stacks of bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after “people saw thieves stealing and dropping food and the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some”.Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood Gaza with food, with Canada and Portugal the latest Western governments to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.- International pressure -Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.”The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” declared Trump, one of Israel’s staunchest international supporters.Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces “real starvation”.UN-backed experts have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing international outrage.Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters.Germany’s top diplomat Johann Wadephul, who met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday, warned before setting off that: “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority”.Wadephul noted that Germany’s European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood, which Israel opposes.After the meeting, Saar’s office said he had told his German guest that countries queueing to recognise Palestinian statehood were merely rewarding Hamas.And he insisted “a Palestinian state will not be established for the simple reason that Israel will not be able to forfeit its own security.”The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — the core of any future Palestinian state.- ‘This is what death looks like’ -The Hamas attack that triggered that war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.”Enough!” cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.”We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?”Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that “this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives”.”If the crossings were opened… food could reach us. But this is nonsense,” Zaqot said of the airdrops.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/kir

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that he was determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy US pressure to take, despite the group’s protests that doing so would serve Israeli goals.Hezbollah and Israel fought a two-month war last year that left the militant group badly weakened, though it retains part of its arsenal.Israel has kept up its air strikes on Hezbollah targets despite a November ceasefire, and has threatened to continue them until the group has been disarmed.In a speech on Thursday, Aoun said Beirut was demanding “the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese army”.He added it was every politician’s duty “to seize this historic opportunity and push without hesitation towards affirming the army and security forces’ monopoly on weapons over all Lebanese territory… in order to regain the world’s confidence”.Under the November ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.Israel was meant to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon, but has kept them in five areas it deems strategic.The truce was based on a two-decade-old UN Security Council resolution that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers should possess weapons in the country’s south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.However, that resolution went unfulfilled for years, with Hezbollah’s arsenal before the latest war seen as far superior to the army’s, and the group wielding extensive political influence.Aoun took over the presidency in January ending a two-year vacancy — his election by lawmakers made possible in part by the shifting balance of power in the wake of the conflict.On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that “anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project”.He accused US envoy Tom Barrack, who has visited Lebanon several times in recent months, of using “intimidation and threats” in his talks with senior officials with the aim of “aiding Israel”.- Collapse or stability -Israel has carried out near daily strikes in Lebanon in recent months, targeting what it says are Hezbollah militants and infrastructure, but the group has refrained from striking back.Israel launched several strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east on Thursday, targeting what it said were sites used by Hezbollah to manufacture and store missiles.Defence Minister Israel Katz said the targets included “Hezbollah’s biggest precision missile manufacturing site”, and the military said it had hit “infrastructure that was used for producing and storing strategic weapons” in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.In his speech, Aoun said Lebanon was at “a crucial stage that does not tolerate any sort of provocation from any side”.”For the thousandth time, I assure you that my concern in having a (state) weapons monopoly comes from my concern to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and borders, to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories and build a state that welcomes all its citizens,” he said, addressing Hezbollah’s supporters as an “essential pillar” of society. Lebanon has proposed modifications to “ideas” submitted by the United States on Hezbollah’s disarmament, Aoun added, and a plan would be discussed at a cabinet meeting next week to “establish a timetable for implementation”.Aoun also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the release of Lebanese prisoners and “an immediate cessation of Israeli hostilities”.”Today, we must choose between collapse and stability,” he said.Hezbollah is the only group that held on to its weapons after Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, doing so in the name of “resistance” against Israel, which occupied south Lebanon until 2000.Lebanon has also committed to disarming Palestinian militant groups that control the country’s refugee camps.

US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Israel on Thursday on ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader’s office said.The envoy may also visit a US-backed group distributing food in Gaza, according to Israeli reports.Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 58 Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy — the latest in a spate of near-daily incidents of desperate aid seekers being shot.The Israeli military said troops had fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around the aid trucks.An AFP correspondent saw bullet-riddled corpses in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after “people saw thieves stealing and dropping food (and) the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some”.Witkoff has been the top US representative in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas but the discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood a hungry Gaza with food, with Canada the latest Western government to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.Prime Minister Mark Carney said the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace”.- International pressure -Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the crisis squarely on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.”The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” declared Trump, one of Israel’s staunchest international supporters.Earlier this week, however, the US president contradicted Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger in Gaza were exaggerated, warning that the territory faces “real starvation”.UN-backed experts have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing outrage and prompting first France, then Britain and now Canada to line up in support of Palestinian statehood.Portugal on Thursday said it was “considering recognition of the Palestinian state”.Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters.Germany’s top diplomat Johann Wadephul, who met Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Jerusalem on Thursday, warned before setting off that “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority”.Wadephul noted that Germany’s European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood, which Israeli leaders generally oppose.Reacting to Canada’s announcement, Israel decried a “distorted campaign of international pressure”.The US State Department said it would deny visas to officials from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — the core of any future Palestinian state.- ‘This is what death looks like’ -The Hamas attack that triggered that war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 people seized in the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.The civil defence agency said Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday killed at least 32 people.”Enough!” cried Najah Aish Umm Fadi, who lost relatives in a strike on a camp for the displaced in central Gaza.”We put up with being hungry, but now the death of children who had just been born?”Further north, Amir Zaqot told AFP after getting his hands on some of the aid parachuted from planes, that “this is what death looks like. People are fighting each other with knives”.”If the crossings were opened… food could reach us. But this is nonsense,” Zaqot said of the airdrops.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/ami/kir

The Palestinian Authority said Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in a West Bank village on Thursday, killing one man, in the latest attack in the occupied territory.”Forty-year-old Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad was martyred due to smoke inhalation caused by fires set by settlers in citizens’ homes and vehicles in the village of Silwad at dawn,” the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement. Witnesses provided corresponding accounts of the attack on Silwad, a village in the central West Bank near several Israeli settlements.Raafat Hussein Hamed, a resident of Silwad whose house was torched in Thursday’s attack, said that “a car dropped them (the settlers) off somewhere, they burned whatever they could and then ran away.”Hamed said the assailants “come from an outpost”, referring to wildcat settlements that are illegal under Israeli law, as opposed to formally recognised settlements.All settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are illegal under international law.The Palestinian Authority (PA) said some villages around Silwad also came under attack by settlers, with vehicles, homes and farmlands set ablaze.According to the PA’s government media office, “Israeli soldiers accompanying the settlers fired live bullets and tear gas at unarmed Palestinian civilians who tried to defend the communities.”Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said “several suspects… set fire to property and vehicles in the Silwad area”, but forces dispatched to the scene were unable to identify them.It added that Israeli police had launched an investigation.The West Bank is home to some three million Palestinians, who live alongside about 500,000 Israeli settlers.Violence in the territory has surged throughout the Gaza war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority and witnesses in the village of Taybeh — just southeast of Silwad — reported two arson attacks by Israeli settlers.In 2015, a Palestinian couple and their baby burned to death after settlers attacked their village of Duma, also in the central West Bank.According to an AFP tally based on PA figures, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 966 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.At least 36 Israelis, including civilians and troops, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period, according to official figures.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.Gaza’s civil defence agency reported dozens of Palestinians killed late Wednesday when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd attempting to block an aid convoy — the latest in a spate of near-daily incidents of desperate aid seekers being shot.The Israeli military confirmed having fired “warning shots” as Gazans gathered around aid trucks, but said it had no knowledge of casualties in the incident. An AFP correspondent saw the bullet-riddled corpses of Palestinians in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital.Jameel Ashour, who lost a relative in the shooting, told AFP at the overflowing morgue that Israeli troops opened fire after a crowd surged towards the convoy. “When people saw thieves stealing and dropping food, the hungry crowd rushed in hopes of getting some,” he said.With talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal at an impasse, Witkoff met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss humanitarian aid and the “next steps” on Gaza.He may also visit a US-backed humanitarian group distributing food in Gaza, according to Israeli reports. Footage released by Netanyahu’s office showed the Israeli leader smiling warmly and greeting a cheery Witkoff in his office.Witkoff has been the top US representative in the indirect Israel-Hamas talks, but discussions broke down last week when Israel and the United States recalled their delegations from Doha.Israel is under mounting international pressure to agree a ceasefire and allow the world to flood a hungry Gaza with food, with Canada the latest Western country to announce plans to recognise a Palestinian state.Trump criticised Canada’s decision and, in a post on his Truth Social network, placed the blame for the ongoing conflict squarely on Hamas.  “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” he declared.- Growing pressure -Trump has been Israel’s staunchest international defender, but the two leaders have occasionally found themselves at odds of late.Earlier this week Trump promised to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the territory faces “real starvation” — directly contradicting Netanyahu’s insistence that reports of hunger were exaggerated.UN-backed experts, meanwhile, have reported “famine is now unfolding” in Gaza, with images of sick and emaciated children drawing outrage and powers like France, Britain and now Canada lining up to support Palestinian statehood.Israel is also under pressure to resolve the crisis from other traditional supporters. Germany’s top diplomat Johann Wadephul was expected in Jerusalem on Thursday for talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority,” Wadephul warned before setting off, noting that Germany’s European allies increasingly favour recognising Palestinian statehood.In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace”.Israel blasted Canada’s announcement as part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure”, while Trump warned that trade negotiations with Ottawa could be hurt by what Washington regards as a premature bid to back Palestine.- ‘Warning shots’ -The fighting in Gaza has lasted for almost 22 months, triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which left 1,219 people dead, according to a tally based on official figures.Of the 251 Israelis kidnapped that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, 27 of them declared dead by the Israeli military.The Israeli campaign has since killed 60,249 Palestinians, according to a tally from the Hamas government’s health ministry, and this week UN aid agencies warned that deaths from starvation had begun.On Wednesday night, Gaza’s civil defence agency said gunfire killed at least 58 people in a crowd gathered around a humanitarian aid convoy in the north of the territory.According to an AFP correspondent and witnesses, the trucks had entered Gaza through the Israeli military checkpoint at Zikim, on their way to World Central Kitchen and the World Food Programme warehouses in Gaza City. Thousands of people rushed to stop the trucks before they continued to the warehouses, and shooting erupted.Separately, the Hamas-led Gaza government’s health ministry issued a statement Thursday begging Palestinians not to loot a new aid convoy, warning that it contained no food but instead medical supplies for the territory’s hard-pressed hospitals.Another 32 people were reported killed by the civil defence agency on Thursday in Israeli attacks across Gaza.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.burs-dc/jsa