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China’s top diplomat visits Europe pitching closer ties in ‘volatile’ world

China’s top diplomat heads to Europe on Monday for a visit which Beijing said will highlight ties as an “anchor of stability” in a world in turmoil.Wang Yi’s tour will take him to the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels as well as France and Germany as China seeks to improve relations with the bloc as …

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Netanyahu eyes hostage breakthrough as Gaza families mourn victims

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s recent war with Iran had created “opportunities” for freeing hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, where witnesses and rescuers reported more than 30 people killed Sunday.His comments lifted hope for a new ceasefire in the devastating conflict in the Palestinian territory, after US President Donald Trump said he hoped a truce could be sealed within days.Israel is bombarding Gaza in a bid to destroy the militant group Hamas after its deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.Netanyahu said that after his country’s recent “victory” over Iran in their 12-day war, “many opportunities have opened up… first of all, to rescue the hostages.””Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals,” he said.Following the war between Israel and Iran that ended with a ceasefire on June 24, domestic and diplomatic pressure has risen on Netanyahu to also secure a halt to the fighting in Gaza.Posting on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump weighed in, writing: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”The US president had said on Friday that he was hoping for a new ceasefire there “within the next week”.- Gaza strikes -Devastating bombardments continued in Gaza on Sunday, witnesses and rescuers said.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that the day’s toll had risen to 34 people killed in various locations around the Gaza Strip, including at least four children.The Israeli military told AFP it was not able to comment on the reported strikes but said it was fighting “to dismantle Hamas military capabilities”.Bassal said two children were killed in an air strike on their home in Gaza City’s Zeitun district in the early morning.A family member, Abdel Rahman Azzam, 45, told AFP he was at home when he “heard a huge explosion at my relative’s house”.”I rushed out in panic and saw the house destroyed and on fire,” he added.”We evacuated more than 20 injured people, including two martyrs — two children from the family. The screams of children and women were non-stop,” Azzam said.”They bombed the house with a missile without any prior warning. This is a horrific crime. We sleep without knowing if we will wake up.”Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the full tolls and details provided by rescuers.Elsewhere, Bassal said a drone strike on a tent camp housing displaced people near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed five people, including two children.An AFP journalist filmed people carrying victims from that strike into the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and families mourning over five bodies.”We were sleeping and I woke up as if I was electrocuted and my children started screaming,” said one of the bereaved relatives at the hospital, Iman Abu Marouf, 35.She said two of her children, aged 10 and 13, were killed in the strike.- Israeli soldier killed -The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that a 20-year-old soldier was killed “during combat in the northern Gaza Strip”.The military had issued an evacuation order earlier in the day for parts of Gaza City and nearby areas in the territory’s north.The military “will operate with intense force in these areas, and these military operations will intensify and expand… to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations”, military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X.He told residents to “evacuate immediately” to the Al-Mawasi area on the southern coast.An AFP journalist filmed residents transporting their belongings on carts as they fled from the eastern Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj districts of Gaza City after the order.AFP video footage filmed from southern Israel showed large plumes of smoke rising from northern Gaza.Criticism has grown over mounting civilian deaths at US- and Israeli-backed food distribution centres in the territory.Bassal said four people were killed by Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday.Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 56,500 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.

Iran voices ‘serious doubts’ over Israel commitment to ceasefire

Iran warned Sunday that it had little faith in Israel’s commitment to a fragile ceasefire that ended the most intense and destructive confrontation between the two foes to date.The 12-day war erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its nuclear programme. Tehran responded with ballistic missile attacks on Israeli cities.Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing an atomic weapon — an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which later joined its ally Israel’s campaign with strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.”We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,” Iranian armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.”We have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force” if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire.- IAEA dispute -The conflict rattled the already shaky relationship between Iran and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.Iran has rejected the IAEA’s request to inspect its bombed nuclear sites, accusing its chief Rafael Grossi of “betraying his duties” by failing to condemn the Israeli and US attacks.Iranian lawmakers voted this week to suspend cooperation with the agency.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Grossi’s request to visit the targeted facilities “meaningless” and “possibly malign in intent”.Tehran also cited a June 12 IAEA resolution criticising Iran’s lack of nuclear transparency as a pretext used by Israel to justify launching its offensive the following day.The backlash drew a sharp rebuke from Germany and Argentina, Grossi’s home country.”I commend Director General Rafael Grossi and his team for their unrelenting professionalism. Threats against them from within Iran are deeply troubling and must stop,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X.Argentina’s foreign ministry said it “categorically condemns the threats against him coming from Iran”.Neither specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.Speaking to US broadcaster CBS on Sunday, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani denied there was any threat to nuclear inspectors in Iran, insisting they were “in safe conditions” but their work was suspended.- Damage questioned -The United States carried out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran’s atomic programme.In the days after, Trump said the United States would bomb Iran again “without question” if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.Speaking to CBS on Saturday, Grossi said Iran could “in a matter of months” return to enriching uranium.Questions remain as to how much damage the US strikes did to Iran’s nuclear programme, with Trump and his officials insisting it had been “obliterated”.On Sunday, however, The Washington Post reported that the United States had intercepted calls between Iranian officials who said the damage was less than expected.That followed an early “low confidence” US military intelligence report that said the nuclear programme had been set back months, not years.Israel has said Iran’s programme was delayed by years, while Tehran has downplayed the damage.The IAEA said Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, far above the levels needed for civilian nuclear power, although Grossi previously noted there had been no indication before the strikes that Iran was working to build an atomic weapon.Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own nuclear arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.- ‘A new road’-Iran’s health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the war with Israel.Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, Israeli authorities say.During the war, Iran arrested dozens of people it accused of spying for Israel.Iran’s parliament on Sunday voted to ban the unauthorised use of communications equipment, including tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, said the official news agency IRNA.On Sunday, Washington’s envoy to Turkey said the Iran-Israel war could pave the way for a new Middle East.”What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: ‘Time out. Let’s create a new road’,” Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is also the US special envoy to Syria, told the Anadolu state news agency.”The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story,” he added.