Israeli tanks push forward into north and south Gaza, six Palestinians killed

TEL AVIV, June 29: Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaia neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.

Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaia four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said.

The Israeli military said forces operating in Shejaia had over the past day killed several Palestinian gunmen, located weapons, and struck military infrastructure. On Saturday it announced the death of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.

The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shejaia and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.

More than eight months into Israel's air and ground war in Gaza, militants continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces, operating in areas that the Israeli army said it had gained control over months ago.

Arab mediators' efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to secure a ceasefire. Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks pushed deeper into several districts in the east, west and centre of the city, and medics said six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, in the heart of the city.

Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas.

The Israeli military said on Sunday its forces continued "targeted, intelligence-based" operations in Rafah, killing several gunmen in different encounters and dismantling tunnels.

North Korea says US, South Korea and Japan developing ‘Asian NATO’

PYONGYANG, June 30: North Korea has criticised a joint military exercise by the United States, South Korea and Japan, saying such drills show the relationship among the three countries has developed into “the Asian version of NATO”, state media reported.

“We strongly denounce… provocative military muscle-flexing against the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea],” Pyongyang’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency on Sunday.

“The US-Japan-ROK [South Korea] relations have taken on the full-fledged appearance of an Asian-version NATO,” it said, warning of “fatal consequences”.

“The DPRK will never overlook the moves of the US and its followers to strengthen the military bloc.”

On Thursday, the US, Japan and South Korea began large-scale joint military drills called “Freedom Edge” involving navy destroyers, fighter jets and the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, aimed at boosting defences against missiles, submarines and air attacks.

The exercise was devised at a three-way summit at Camp David in the US last year to strengthen military cooperation amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula stemming from North Korea’s weapons testing.

7 countries urge citizens to leave Lebanon amid fears of war with Israel

ISTANBUL, June 30: Seven countries have called on their nationals to leave Lebanon amid growing fears of a full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, while five more countries, including US, UK, Jordan, Russia, Ireland, have advised their citizens to refrain from traveling to Lebanon at this time.

The Saudi Embassy in Beirut urged Saturday its citizens currently in Lebanon “to depart the Lebanese territory immediately” and emphasized the necessity for them “to stay in touch with the embassy in case of any emergencies.”

Australia on Friday “strongly advised” its citizens against traveling to Lebanon, citing the extremely volatile security situation. Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Australians in Lebanon to leave immediately while commercial flights are still available.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry on X urged its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon and those who live there to leave as commercial flights are still operating.

German Foreign Ministry also issued a travel warning and asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country, emphasizing that “the situation at the border between Israel and Lebanon is very tense.”

The Canadian government also urged its nationals in Lebanon to leave the country amid an escalation of tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

"The safety and security of Canadians at home and abroad is Canada’s top priority," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement on Tuesday.

North Macedonia also asked its citizens on Sunday to leave Lebanon as soon as possible due to the worsening security situation there.

The warning came after Kuwait urged its citizens on June 22 to avoid travel to Lebanon and those inside the country to leave as soon as possible “in view of the security situation taking place in the region."

On June 5, the US Embassy in Beirut advised American citizens in Lebanon to avoid travel to areas along the borders with Israel and Syria.

The UK strongly advised its citizens Wednesday against all travel to Lebanon.

“FCDO advises against all travel to Lebanon due to risks associated with the conflict between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov urged Russians to wait until the situation in the country calms down, emphasizing that right now "there are no reasons for serious panic," adding that the diplomatic mission continues to operate normally and takes the necessary security measures for its employees.

The Irish Foreign Ministry also advised against all travel to certain areas of Lebanon and urged Irish citizens currently in the country to exercise extreme caution.

Jordan on Friday strongly advised its citizens not to travel to Lebanon, citing the ongoing developments in the region.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 37,800 people since October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.​​​​​​​

3 Hezbollah Members Killed In Israeli Airstrike On Lebanese Village: Report

BEIRUT, June 30: Three Hezbollah members were killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike in the southeast village of Houla, a media report said.

An Israeli drone targeted, with four air-to-surface missiles, a two-story building in Houla, killing three Hezbollah members and causing severe damage to neighbouring homes, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The Israeli army conducted five air attacks on the villages of Taybeh, Rab El Thalathine, and Houla, and targeted eight towns and villages in the eastern and central regions with approximately 40 artillery shells, the sources added.

For its part, Hezbollah announced that it attacked the Israeli sites of Misqav Am, al-Motella, and Al-Alam.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

Since the start of the confrontations on both sides of the border between Lebanon and Israel, 553 people have been killed, including 356 Hezbollah members and 100 civilians, according to Lebanese security and medical reports.

18 Killed, 42 Injured In Series Of Suicide Attacks In Nigeria

KANO (Nigeria), June 30: At least 18 people were killed and 19 seriously wounded in a string of suicide attacks in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, emergency services said.

In one of three blasts in the town of Gwoza, a female attacker with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to a police spokesman.

The other attacks in the border town across from Cameroon targeted a hospital and a funeral for victims of the earlier wedding blast, authorities said.

At least 18 people were killed and 42 others injured in the attacks, according to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

"So far, 18 deaths comprising children, men, females and pregnant women" have been reported, said Barkindo Saidu, the head of the agency, in a report.

Nineteen "seriously injured" people were taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, while 23 others were awaiting evacuation, Saidu said in the report.

A member of a militia assisting the military in Gwoza said two of his comrades and a soldier were also killed in another attack on a security post, though authorities did not immediately confirm this toll.

Boko Haram militants seized Gwoza in 2014 when the group took over swathes of territory in northern Borno.

The town was taken back by the Nigerian military with help from Chadian forces in 2015 but the group has since continued to launch attacks from mountains near the town.

Boko Haram has carried out raids, killing men and kidnapping women who venture outside the town in search of firewood and acacia fruits.

The violence has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million in Nigeria's northeast.

The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the militants.

Xi Jinping Lauds India's 'Panchsheel' Agreement, Nehru's Non-Alligned Movement

BEIJING, June 29: Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted the relevance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which gained traction with the Non-Aligned Movement, to end the present-day conflicts and sought to expand influence in the Global South amid its tussle with the West.

Xi Jinping, 71, invoked the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, termed as 'Panchsheel' by India, at a conference in Beijing to mark its 70th anniversary and also sought to juxtapose them with his new concept of Global Security Initiative envisaging a shared future for mankind.

The 'Panchsheel' pointers were first formally enunciated in the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet region of China and India signed on April 29, 1954, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

'Panchsheel' or The five principles formed part of the legacy of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in their unsuccessful quest to find a solution to the vexed boundary issue.

"The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence answered the call of the times, and its initiation was an inevitable historic development. The Chinese leadership in the past specified the Five Principles in their entirety for the first time, namely, 'mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity', 'mutual non-aggression', 'mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs', 'equality and mutual benefit', and 'peaceful coexistence'," Xi Jinping said.

"They included the Five Principles in the China-India and China-Myanmar joint statements which jointly called for making them basic norms for state-to-state relations," Xi said at the conference where the invitees included former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several political leaders and officials from various countries closely associated with China over the years.

'Panchsheel', the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were born in Asia (India) but quickly ascended to the world stage. In 1955, more than 20 Asian and African countries attended the Bandung Conference, Xi Jinping recalled in his address.

The Non-Aligned Movement, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, that rose in the 1960s adopted the 'Panchsheel' or Five Principles as its guiding principles.

"The Five Principles have set a historic benchmark for international relations and international rule of law," he said, highlighting their relevance to ending the present-day conflicts.

They fully conform with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, with the evolving trend of international relations of our times, and with the fundamental interests of all nations, Xi said and sought to juxtapose them with his new concepts of Global Security Initiative (GSI) which advocates for joint security of nations and the 'Vision of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind'.

Xi, who commenced his unprecedented third five-year term in power last year, has been advocating several initiatives, including his billion-dollar pet project the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to enhance China's global influence.

Under the BRI, Beijing has made huge investments in infrastructure projects in smaller countries which in subsequent years attracted allegations of debt diplomacy as many countries struggled to pay back loans taken from China.

Also, facing increasing strategic competition from the US and EU, China in recent years jostled with India and other developing countries to consolidate its influence in the Asian, African and Latin American countries, largely termed as Global South.

China will establish a Global South Research Centre to better support Global South-South cooperation, Xi said.

China will provide 1,000 'Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Scholarship of Excellence,' 1,00,000 training opportunities to Global South countries in the next five years, and also launch a 'Global South Youth Leaders' programme, he said.

In China vs Philippines, India backs Manila on tension over South China Sea

NEW DELHI, June 28: India on Friday backed the Philippines amid a flaring of tensions in the South China Sea over China’s aggressive actions in recent weeks, saying New Delhi opposes destabilising actions that seek to change the status quo by force.

China has ramped up actions targeting the Philippines in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, especially the use of “gray zone tactics”. A Philippines navy personnel was severely injured when China’s coast guard seized two Filipino ships on a resupply mission to an outpost on Second Thomas Shoal last week.

“We oppose destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion...and we underline the need for peaceful settlement of disputes,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media without directly referring to China.

India has clarified its position on developments in the South China Sea on several occasions, he said in response to a question on the tensions between China and the Philippines.

“We have always emphasised adherence to international law, respect for the rules-based order, and resolution of disputes in a peaceful manner. Other than that, we also believe that there should not be any incident or approach that destabilises the region,” he said.

The Philippines has emerged as a key strategic and defence partner for India in Southeast Asia. In April, India delivered the first battery of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and launchers to the Philippines, two years after the two sides signed a $375-million deal to equip the Philippine Marines with three batteries.

While India had earlier only acknowledged the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling of 2016 in favour of the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, it revised its position last year, when a joint statement emphasised the need to adhere to the arbitral award.

During a visit to Manila in March this year, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said India backs the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and seeks “staunch adherence” to a rules-based order.

These developments have come against the backdrop of India’s dragging military standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which recently entered its fifth year and has taken bilateral relations to an all-time low.

China's Communist Party expels two former defence ministers for corruption

BEIJING, June 27: China's Communist Party on Thursday expelled former defence minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe for "serious violations of discipline", a euphemism for corruption, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Li was suspected of receiving "huge sums of money" in bribes as well as bribing others, and an investigation found he "did not fulfill political responsibilities" and "sought personnel benefits for himself and others", the report said, citing the Communist Party's Central Committee which ordered the investigation.

"As a senior leading cadre of the party and the army, Li Shangfu betrayed his original mission ... betrayed the trust of the Party Central Committee and Central Military Commission... and caused great damage to the party cause and national defence," the report said.

It was reported last year that Li was under investigation for suspected corruption in military procurement. He was mysteriously ousted as defence minister without explanation last October, after disappearing for two months. This is the first time China has explicitly confirmed that Li was under investigation, as well as details of the nature of his crimes.

China's military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge since last year, with eleven PLA generals and a handful of aerospace defence industry executives removed from the national legislative body to date.

Wei Fenghe, Li's predecessor, had disappeared from public view since he was replaced last March during a planned cabinet reshuffle. Wei was head of the strategic People's Liberation Army Rocket Force from 2015-17.

President Xi Jinping, also the military's commander-in-chief, appointed a new head and political commissar of the Rocket Force last July, in a major shake-up of the unit that oversees China's conventional and nuclear missiles.

An investigation launched into Wei last September found that he had accepted "a huge amount of money and valuables" in bribes and "helped others gain improper benefits in personnel arrangements", Xinhua reported, adding that his actions were "extremely serious in nature, with a highly detrimental impact and tremendous harm".

Both officials were also found to have other unspecified violations, the reports said without elaborating.

The decisions to strip Li and Wei of their party membership were approved by the seven-member Politburo, the Communist Party's apex of power, on Thursday. The Politburo also transferred both their cases to military prosecutors.

The decision will be confirmed during the party's Third Plenum to be held 15-18 July, when removals from the Central Committee will be formally announced. Ousted former foreign minister Qin Gang still remains a member of the Central Committee.

Xi last week said the PLA faces "deep-seated" political problems and vowed there must be "no hiding place" for corrupt officers.

Li was also stripped of his membership of the national legislative body, Xinhua added, after being removed from the Central Military Commission, China's top military body, earlier this year. Wei was also removed from the legislative body.

Israel strikes reportedly creating 5-kilometer ‘dead zone’ in southern Lebanon

LONDON, June 27: Israel Defense Forces strikes in southern Lebanon, responding to near-daily attacks by the Hezbollah terror group, have created a “dead zone” around 5 kilometers (3 miles) deep along the border with Israel, The Financial Times reported Thursday, citing data gleaned from aerial photographs.

“Near-daily aerial bombardment, artillery shelling and the incendiary chemical white phosphorus have made much of the 5 kilometers north of the Blue Line uninhabitable,” the report claimed.

The Financial Times analyzed data from commercial satellites with research from the CUNY Graduate Center and Oregon State University to detect changes to buildings.

According to the report, only “handfuls” of Lebanese civilians remain in the area, with most buildings empty and many destroyed. The analysis identified 1,500 badly damaged structures, although this figure was considered a “conservative lower-bound estimate.” A Lebanese official, Hashem Haidar, told The Financial Times that 3,000 homes in the country’s south have been completely leveled, and 12,000 have incurred medium-level damage.

Haidar added that Israeli strikes have thoroughly damaged civilian infrastructure. “The type of weaponry that’s being used is different from what we saw in 2006,” he told The Financial Times. “Before, when a house was bombed, the damage would be confined to the house and its immediate surroundings. Now, there are entire neighborhoods that are being affected by one bombing.”

Haidar also said 12,000 square kilometers (7,456 square miles) of agricultural land have been destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces’s use of white phosphorus. The IDF denied the allegations, saying their use of the substance is consistent with international law and it is not used for incendiary purposes, but rather to create smokescreens.

In total, Haidar estimated the cost of damages exceeded $1.7 billion.

The report quoted Mohammad Srour, the mayor of Ayta ash-Shab, as saying that the strikes amount to “systematic destruction.” The analysis showed 292 buildings were damaged in the southern Lebanese village.

A senior IDF official denied the conclusions of the analysis, telling The Financial Times: “This is not a buffer zone.”

“We just want Hezbollah pushed back. We don’t have an issue with [UN peacekeeping troops], [Lebanese Armed Forces] or Lebanese civilians staying there… But we have to ‘clean out’ the area of Hezbollah’s presence,” the official added. “They pose a direct threat to Israeli homes via sniper fire, anti-tank guided missiles, cross-border attack and other means. This is a tactical need to provide security for Israeli residents.

“Every third home in south Lebanon is used by Hezbollah for weapons storage, training, firing positions and meeting points for a possible cross-border attack.”

The report quoted Hezbollah terrorists as saying that they use abandoned civilian homes to shelter and store weapons, and that these homes have been targeted by Israeli strikes.

The FT article did not mention the damage caused to homes in Israel from daily Hezbollah attacks or the thousands of Israelis who have had to evacuate their homes.

Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to bring an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists, UN peacekeepers were deployed to monitor a ceasefire along the 120-kilometer (75-mile) demarcation line, or Blue Line, between Israel and Lebanon.

The resolution also called for Hezbollah to withdraw its forces behind the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the border with Israel– a demand the terror group has ignored.

The report quotes an unnamed Hezbollah terrorist as saying, “Asking us to withdraw from the south is like asking a fish not to swim in the sea.”

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 15 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 349 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 64 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Israel Wipes Out Hamas Chief's Family

GAZA, June 27: The Ansarullah Political Bureau condoles the death of Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh’s sister and her family members in an IDF airstrike in northern Gaza. Ansarullah points out to the resilience and patience of Haniyeh.

The Iran proxies further slammed Israeli arrogance and said that the latest attack shows their confusion and failure due to the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and the resistance.

Bolivia's Army General Arrested For Coup Attempt

LA PAZ, June 27: Bolivian authorities arrested General Juan Jose Zuniga on Wednesday afternoon, a witness saw, hours after troops stormed into the presidential palace amid a military coup attempt.

Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday evening and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a "coup" attempt against the government and called for international support.

Earlier in the day, military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, recently stripped of his military command, had gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, home to the presidential palace and Congress. A witness saw an armored vehicle ram a door of the presidential palace and soldiers rush in.

"Today the country is facing an attempted coup d'état. Today the country faces once again interests so that democracy in Bolivia is cut short," Arce said in comments from the presidential palace, with armed soldiers outside.

"The Bolivian people are summoned today. We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d'état in favor of democracy."

A few hours later, a witness saw soldiers withdraw from the square and police take control of the plaza. Bolivian authorities arrested Zuniga and took him away, though their destination was unclear.

Inside the presidential palace, Arce swore in José Wilson Sanchez as the military commander, Zuniga's former role. He called for calm and order to be restored.

"I order that all personnel mobilized on the streets return to their units," Sanchez said. "We entreat that the blood of our soldiers not be spilled."

The United States said it was closely monitoring the situation and urged calm and restraint.

Tensions have been building in Bolivia ahead of general elections in 2025, with leftist ex-President Evo Morales planning to run against former ally Arce, creating a major rift in the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty.

Many do not want a return of Morales, who governed from 2006-2019 when he was ousted amid widespread protests and replaced by an interim conservative government. Arce then won election in 2020.

Zuniga said recently that Morales should not be able to return as president and threatened to block him if he attempted to, which led Arce to remove Zuniga from his post.

Ahead of the attack on the presidential palace, Zuniga had addressed reporters in the square and cited growing anger in the landlocked country, which has been battling an economic slump with depleted central bank reserves and pressure on the boliviano currency as gas exports have dried up.

India Asks Citizens In Kenya To Exercise 'Utmost Caution' Amid Violent Protests

NEW DELHI, June 25: The Indian high commission in Kenya on Tuesday advised Indian nationals to exercise "utmost caution" in view of prevailing "tense" situation arising out of violent protests in the African nation.

Kenya's capital Nairobi and other cities across the country witnessed violent clashes and demonstrations after Kenyan parliament passed a controversial bill that proposed to increase taxes.

"In view of the prevailing tense situation, all Indians in Kenya are advised to exercise utmost caution, restrict non-essential movement and avoid the areas affected by the protests and violence till the situation clears up," the Indian high commission said in an advisory.

Around 20,000 Indians are currently living in Kenya, according to an official estimate.

Israel-Hezbollah tensions: Countries prepare to evacuate citizens from Lebanon amid war fear

TEL AVIV, June 23: Amid, Hamas-Israel war, A major attack may occur in Lebanon in the next 24 hours. Canada and Kuwait have given instructions to leave Lebanon.

Canada is preparing to evacuate 45,000 of its citizens from Lebanon should a full-scale war break out between Israel and Hezbollah, Hebrew media reported on Friday.

The Channel 12 report quoted what it said was a tense conversation held earlier in the day between Foreign Minister Israel Katz and his Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly. The latter was said to have told Katz that Ottawa had already sent military forces to the region in preparation for “the largest evacuation we have ever undertaken,” amid fears of an escalation in violence between Israel and Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.

It was unclear if similar plans were being made for the roughly 35,000 Canadian citizens living in Israel.

Katz reportedly urged Joly to put pressure on Hezbollah’s Iranian backers to reign in the terror group.

“The window of opportunity is closing,” Katz was quoted as saying. “Israel will not put up with… the situation where residents of the north can’t return to their homes.”

Israel evacuated communities along its northern border following Hama’s October 7 terror onslaught, fearing Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack and amid daily rocket fire. Some 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain displaced.

On October 7, thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take over 250 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. Since then, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the northern border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Tensions have reached a fever pitch over the past two weeks, as explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah have caused fires to ravage much of Israel’s north. Amos Hochstein, the White House’s special envoy to the Middle East, reportedly warned Beirut this past week that if Hezbollah doesn’t cease its near-daily attacks on northern Israel, it could find itself the target of a limited Israeli operation backed by the United States.

Hochstein, who in 2020 brokered a maritime agreement between Israel and Lebanon, was in the region to hash out a deal to try get Hezbollah to retreat north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with Israel. The line is enshrined in United Nations Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Katz reportedly brought up the Litani in his conversation with Joly. According to Channel 12, Katz told his Canadian counterpart on Friday that if Ottawa wanted to avert an all-out war in Lebanon, it should pressure Tehran into forcing Hezbollah to retreat beyond the Litani.

There was no official readout of the conversation.

However, Katz later posted on X: “Israel cannot allow the Hezbollah terror organization to continue attacking its territory and citizens, and soon we will make the necessary decisions. The free world must unconditionally stand with Israel in its war against the axis of evil led by Iran and extremist Islam.”

The reportedly tense conversation between Katz and Joly came two days after the Israeli foreign minister congratulated Ottawa for declaring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terror group.

At Least 42 Killed In Fresh Israeli Strikes In Gaza

GAZA, June 22: At least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave on Saturday, the director of the Hamas-run government media office said.

One Israeli strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in a strike on houses in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood.

The Israeli military released a brief statement saying: "A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the area of Gaza City."

It said more details would be released soon.

Hamas did not comment on the Israeli claim to have hit its military infrastructure. It said in a statement the attacks targeted the civilian population and vowed in a statement "the occupation and its Nazi leaders will pay the price for their violations against our people."

Footage showed dozens of Palestinians rushing out to search for victims amid the destroyed houses. The footage showed wrecked homes, blasted walls, and debris and dust filling the street in Shati refugee camp.

Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The offensive has left Gaza in ruins, killed more than 37,400 people, of whom 101 were killed in the past 24 hours, according to Palestinian health authorities, and left nearly the entire population homeless and destitute.

More than eight months into the war, Israel's advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces had yet to seize: Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.

Residents said Israeli tanks deepened their incursion into western and northern Rafah areas in recent days. On Saturday Israeli forces bombed several areas from air and the ground, forcing many families living in areas described as humanitarian-designated zones to leave northwards.

The Israeli military said forces continued "precise, intelligence-based" targeted operations in Rafah, killing many Palestinian gunmen and dismantling military infrastructure.

On Friday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Mawasi in western Rafah and 50 wounded. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.

The Israeli military said that the incident was under review. "An initial inquiry conducted suggests that there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi," it said.

At least 25 killed, 50 injured after Israel strikes tent camps near Rafah

TEL AVIV, June 21: Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians north of Rafah on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50 according to Gaza’s Heath Ministry and emergency workers, in the latest deadly attack in the tiny Palestinian territory where hundreds of thousands have fled fighting between Israel and Hamas.

According to Ahmed Radwan, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense first responders in Rafah, witnesses told rescue workers about the shelling at two locations in a coastal area that has become filled with tents. The Health Ministry reported the number of people killed and wounded in the attacks.

The locations of the attacks provided by Civil Defense were just outside an Israeli-designated safe zone. The Israeli military said they were looking into the strikes at the reported coordinates.

Israel has previously bombed locations in the vicinity of the “humanitarian zone” in Muwasi, a rural area on the Mediterranean coast that has filled with sprawling tent camps in recent months.

The strikes came as Israel pushed ahead with its military operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Most have now fled Rafah, but the United Nations says no place in Gaza is safe and humanitarian conditions are dire as families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water, or medical supplies.

Friday’s strikes took place less than a month after an Israeli bombing triggered a deadly fire that tore through a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, drawing widespread international outrage — including from some of Israel’s closest allies — over the military’s expanding offensive into Rafah.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that it tries to minimize civilian deaths. It blames the large number of civilian casualties on militants and says it’s because they operate among the population.

With Israel’s war against Hamas now in its ninth month, international criticism is growing over Israel’s campaign of systematic destruction in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide ” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.

Hindujas Get Over 4 Years In Jail For Exploiting Staff At Swiss Mansion

GENEVA, June 21: A Swiss court handed jail sentences to four members of Britain's richest family on Friday for exploiting Indian staff at their Geneva mansion.

The Hindujas -- who were not present in court -- were acquitted of human trafficking, but convicted on other charges in a stunning verdict for the family whose fortune is estimated at 37 billion pounds ($47 billion).

Prakash Hinduja and his wife Kamal Hinduja each got four years and six months, while their son Ajay and his wife Namrata received four-year terms, the presiding judge in Geneva ruled.

The cases stem from the family's practice of bringing servants from their native India and included accusations of confiscating their passports once they were flown to Switzerland.

Prosecutors argued the Hindujas paid their staff a pittance and gave them little freedom to leave the house.

The family denied the allegations, claiming the prosecutors wanted to "do in the Hindujas".

The Hindujas reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with the three employees who made the accusations against them.

Despite this, the prosecution decided to pursue the case due to the gravity of the charges.

Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa had requested a custodial sentence of five and a half years against Prakash and Kamal Hinduja.

Aged 78 and 75 respectively, both had been absent since the start of the trial for health reasons.

In his closing address, the prosecutor accused the family of abusing the "asymmetrical situation" between a powerful employer and a vulnerable employee to save money.

Household staff were paid salaries between 220 and 400 francs ($250-450) a month, far below what they could expect to earn in Switzerland.

"They're profiting from the misery of the world," Bertossa told the court.

But the Hinduja family's defence lawyers argued that the three plaintiffs received ample benefits, were not kept in isolation and were free to leave the villa.

"We are not dealing with mistreated slaves," Nicolas Jeandin told the court.

Indeed, the employees "were grateful to the Hindujas for offering them a better life", his fellow lawyer Robert Assael argued.

Representing Ajay Hinduja, lawyer Yael Hayat had slammed the "excessive" indictment, arguing the trial should be a question of "justice, not social justice".

Namrata Hinduja's lawyer Romain Jordan also pleaded for acquittal, claiming the prosecutors were aiming to make an example of the family.

He argued the prosecution had failed to mention payments made to staff on top of their cash salaries.

"No employee was cheated out of his or her salary," Assael added.

Some staff even asked for raises, which they received.

With interests in oil and gas, banking and healthcare, the Hinduja Group is present in 38 countries and employs around 200,000 people.

Israel tanks further push into Rafah

TEL AVIV, June 20: Israeli tanks and drones push into Rafah’s western neighbourhoods as an attack on aid seekers kills at least nine Palestinians and injures 30.

An Israeli military spokesman says “Hamas is an ideology” and “we cannot eliminate an ideology” in contrast to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated comments that Israel will not end its war on Gaza until Hamas is destroyed.

Hamas fighters continue to put up fierce resistance in southern Rafah and northern Gaza City with a powerful roadside bomb destroying a Merkava tank and a mortar barrage hammering an Israeli command-and-control centre.

At Least 1,000, Including 68 Indians, Die In Scorching Heat During Hajj: Report

RIYADH, June 20: The death count from this year's hajj has exceeded 1,000, an agency tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 total dead from that country, 630 were unregistered.

All told around 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.

The figures have come via official statements or from diplomats working on their countries' responses.

The hajj, whose timing is determined by the lunar Islamic calendar, fell again this year during the oven-like Saudi summer.

The national meteorological centre reported a high of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area are rising 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.

Each year tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj through irregular channels as they cannot afford the often costly official permits.

Saudi authorities reported clearing hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca earlier this month, but it appears many still participated in the main rites which began last Friday.

This group was more vulnerable to the heat because, without official permits, they could not access air-conditioned spaces provided by Saudi authorities for the 1.8 million authorised pilgrims to cool down after hours of walking and praying outside.

"People were tired after being chased by security forces before Arafat day. They were exhausted," one Arab diplomat said on Thursday, referring to Saturday's day-long outdoor prayers that marked the hajj's climax.

The diplomat said the principal cause of death among Egyptian pilgrims was the heat, which triggered complications related to high blood pressure and other issues.

In addition to Egypt, fatalities have also been confirmed by Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, though in many cases authorities have not specified the cause.

Friends and family members have been searching for pilgrims who are still missing.

On Wednesday they scoured hospitals and pleaded online for news, fearing the worst during the scorching temperatures.

Saudi Arabia has not provided information on fatalities, though it reported more than 2,700 cases of "heat exhaustion" on Sunday alone.

Vladimir Putin signs pact with Kim Jong Un

PYONGYANG, June 19: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have signed a new agreement which includes a promise of mutual aid if one of their countries is attacked, amidst increasing tensions for both with the west.

There is no clarity on what kind of aid is referred to in the deal, which has only been described as a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’.

The deal was inked in Putin's first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. North Korea has allegedly been providing arms to Moscow in it's war against Ukraine, which has led several western countries to apply sanctions against the two countries. Russia has been offering North Korea with knowledge transfers and economic aid to develop its nuclear and missile weapons program.

Putin said, according to Russian news agency TASS, Russia would not rule out developing a military-technical cooperation with North Korea.

According to Ria Novosti, Kim Jong Un was quoted saying that the agreement was peaceful and meant for defence, “I have no doubt it will become a driving force accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world.”

The two countries also signed deals on cooperation in the fields of healthcare, medical education, and science, Russian state media reported.

The two day summit between Putin and Kim Jong Un was meant to consolidate their economic and mlilitary powers to resist what Putin termed as ‘illegal’ sanctions against the two countries.

Putin thanked Kim Jong Un for North Korea’s support of his war in Ukraine and also for being part of the “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”

68 Indians Among 645 Hajj Pilgrims Who Died In Mecca, Says Saudi Diplomat

RIYADH, June 19: A diplomat in Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that 68 Indian nationals died during the hajj pilgrimage this year marked by searing heath, bringing the overall tally to more than 600.

"We have confirmed around 68 dead... Some are because of natural causes and we had many old-age pilgrims. And some are due to the weather conditions, that's what we assume," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The new toll comes after two Arab diplomats said on Tuesday that 550 deaths had been recorded during the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with the means must perform at least once.

That figure included 323 Egyptians and 60 Jordanians, the Arab diplomats said, and one specified that nearly all the Egyptians died "because of heat".

Fatalities have also been confirmed by Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, though in many cases authorities have not specified the cause.

The total reported dead so far is 645, according to a tally.

Last year more than 200 pilgrims were reported dead, most of them from Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia has not provided information on fatalities, though it reported more than 2,700 cases of "heat exhaustion" on Sunday alone.

The diplomat who confirmed the Indian fatalities said there were also some Indian pilgrims missing, but he declined to provide an exact number.

"This happens every year... We can't say that it is abnormally high this year," he said.

"It's somewhat similar to last year but we will know more in the coming days."

For the past several years the hajj has fallen during the sweltering Saudi summer.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area where rituals are performed are rising 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade.

US warns ‘aggressive’ China over latest confrontation with Philippines in disputed sea

WASHINGTON, June 18: The United States renewed a warning Tuesday that it’s obligated to defend its close treaty ally a day after Filipino navy personnel were injured and their supply boats damaged in one of the most serious confrontations between the Philippines and China in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, officials said.

China and the Philippines blamed each other for instigating Monday’s hostilities in the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied by a small Filipino navy contingent aboard a grounded warship that's been closely watched by Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships in a yearslong territorial standoff. There is fear the disputes, long regarded as an Asian flashpoint, could escalate and pit the United States and China in a larger conflict.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell discussed China's actions with Philippine counterpart, Maria Theresa Lazaro, in a telephone call. Both agreed that China’s “dangerous actions threatened regional peace and stability,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Campbell reaffirmed that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates Washington and Manila to help defend the other in major conflicts, “extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea,” according to Miller.

A Philippine government task force overseeing the territorial disputes condemned what it said were “dangerous maneuvers, including ramming and towing,” which disrupted a routine effort to transport food, water and other supplies to the Filipinos manning the territorial outpost aboard the BRP Sierra Madre at the shoal.

“Despite the illegal, aggressive, and reckless actions by the Chinese maritime forces, our personnel showed restraint and professionalism, refrained from escalating the tension, and carried on with their mission,” the Philippine task force said without elaborating. “Their actions put at risk the lives of our personnel and damaged our boats in blatant violation of international law.”

The Chinese coast guard said the Philippines “is entirely responsible for this.” It said a Philippine vessel “ignored China’s repeated solemn warnings … and dangerously approached a Chinese vessel in normal navigation in an unprofessional manner, resulting in a collision."

Two speedboats — attempting to deliver construction materials and other supplies to a military vessel stationed at the shoal — accompanied the supply ship, according to China’s Foreign Ministry, which described its coast guard’s maneuver as “professional, restrained, reasonable and lawful."

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Monday night that his country’s armed forces would resist “China’s dangerous and reckless behavior,” which “contravenes their statements of good faith and decency."

“We will exert our utmost in order to fulfill our sworn mandate to protect our territorial integrity, sovereignty, and sovereign rights,” Teodoro said. “It should now be clear to the international community that China’s actions are the true obstacles to peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Several incidents have happened in recent months near the shoal which lies less than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the nearest Philippines coast and where it maintains the Sierra Madre, which had become encrusted with rust since it was deliberately grounded in 1999 but remains an actively commissioned military vessel, meaning an attack on it could be considered by the Philippines as an act of war.

China has increasingly become assertive in pressing its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, which has led to a rising number of direct conflicts with other countries in the region, most notably the Philippines and Vietnam.

A new law by China, which took effect Saturday, authorizes its coast guard to seize foreign ships “that illegally enter China’s territorial waters” and to detain foreign crews for up to 60 days. The law renewed a reference to 2021 legislation that says China’s coast guard can fire upon foreign ships if necessary.

At least three coastal governments with claims to the waters — the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan — have said they would not recognize the law. Malaysia and Brunei are also involved in the long-seething territorial disputes, which are regarded as a delicate fault line in the longstanding U.S.-China rivalry in the region.

China, Philippine naval ships collide in South China Sea as Beijing begins to enforce new law to act against foreign vessels

BEIJING/ MANILA, June 17: The China-Philippines confrontation to assert their claims in the disputed South China Sea took a violent turn on Monday as their naval ships collided in the first such incident after Beijing issued new rules to act against foreign vessels and detain foreigners “suspected of violating” regulations in the Chinese waters.

China claims most of the South China Sea , which is hotly disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.

A Philippines ship and a Chinese vessel collided after the former “illegally entered” the waters near the Second Thomas Shoal and “dangerously approached” the Chinese ship, China Coast Guard said.

The navies and the coast guards of the two countries were having face-offs in the last few months as the Philippines made a strong bid to assert its claims over the Second Thomas Shoal in the SCS claimed by China.

China alleges that the Philippines deliberately ran a naval ship aground in 1999 at the Second Thomas Shoal, which it calls Renai Jiao, and converted the damaged ship into a permanent installation manned by naval personnel.

According to the CCG, the Chinese vessel collided with the Philippines ship on Monday morning in a bid to prevent it from delivering construction materials.

The CCG statement said its vessel has taken regulatory measures to respond to an illegal intrusion by a Philippine vessel into waters near Ren'ai Jiao on Monday morning.

A Philippine supply vessel, in disregard of repeated stern warnings from the Chinese side, deliberately and dangerously approached Chinese vessels navigating normally in adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao, it said.

This violated the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea. The act led to a slight collision, for which the responsibility lies entirely with the Philippine side, the statement added.

However, the statement did not mention any damage or injuries on either side.

Also, the Chinese Navy has for the first time deployed an amphibious assault ship in Nansha Islands in the SCS, a move experts said on Sunday is a preparation for any emergency response amid repeated provocations by the Philippines, the state-run Global Times reported.

China's Type 075 landing helicopter dock, an amphibious assault ship, was spotted near Zhubi Jiao on Friday, marking its first deployment to the Nansha Qundao in the South China Sea, the report said.

Defending the CCG’s action, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: “China Coast Guard only took necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels in accordance with the law, and the on-site operation was conducted in a professional, restrained, reasonable and lawful manner.”

He said a Philippine supply and replenishment ship and two speedboats had attempted to deliver materials, including construction supplies, to troops stationed at Second Thomas Shoal.

The Philippines, backed by the US, is trying to assert its claims over the South China Sea based on a 2016 ruling by a tribunal of the UN Convention of Law of Seas endorsing its rights.

China had boycotted the tribunal and rejected its findings.

This is the first collision of ships after Beijing promulgated a new law on Saturday, authorising its coast guard to seize foreign ships that illegally enter China's territorial waters and to detain foreign crews for up to 60 days.

The law empowers China's coast guard to fire upon foreign ships if necessary.

At least three coastal governments with claims to the waters the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have said they would not recognise the law, according to a report by news agency.

China’s new law says its Coast Guard will from Saturday be able to detain foreigners “suspected of violating management of border entry and exit”.

A detention period of up to 60 days is allowed for “complicated cases”, and “if the nationality and identity is unclear, the period of detention for examination will be counted from the day their identity is determined”, the rules say.

Media reports from Manila quoted the Armed Forces of the Philippines saying China’s claims were “deceptive and misleading”.

"The main issue remains to be the illegal presence and actions of Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, which infringes on our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” it said.

The armed forces said it would not comment on the operational details of the legal humanitarian rotation and resupply mission.

The CCG in the past has been accused of ramming Philippine supply vessels and using water cannons against them, sometimes damaging the ship and injuring people on board.

The Philippines, strongly backed by the US, has stepped up efforts to assert its claims in SCS, much to the chagrin of Beijing.

Tensions have also been brewing at Sabina Shoal, known as Escoda Shoal in the Philippines, around 139 km west of Palawan, the westernmost island province of the Philippines, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The recently concluded G7 Summit in Italy criticised China saying that the “dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia” in the SCS and the “increasing use of dangerous manoeuvres and water cannons” against Philippines vessels.

Last week, the Philippines submitted a claim to a United Nations body for an extended continental shelf off the coast of western Palawan province in the SCS. This action challenges China’s sweeping territorial claims in the region, according to the Post report.

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state can secure exclusive rights to exploit resources in its continental shelf, which can extend up to 350 nautical miles, including the right to authorise and regulate drilling activities.

Putin to visit North Korea for the first time in 24 years

MOSCOW, June 17: Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea this week for the first time in 24 years, the two countries say, a rare trip that underscores Moscow’s burgeoning partnership with the nuclear-armed state.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended an invitation to Putin when Kim visited Russia’s Far East in September.

“At the invitation of the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on June 18-19,” the Kremlin said on Monday.

North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, also announced the visit but offered no further details.

Putin last visited Pyongyang in July 2000, four months after he was first elected president. He met with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, who ruled the country then.

Moscow has said it “highly appreciates” Pyongyang’s support for Russia’s military action in Ukraine and mentioned its “close and fruitful cooperation” at the United Nations and other international organisations.

There are growing concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

During a telephone call with South Korea’s vice foreign minister on Friday, United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell raised concerns that Putin’s visit to North Korea would result in further military cooperation between the two countries that would potentially undermine stability in the region, Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Military, economic and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased ever since Kim’s visit to the Russian Far East for a meeting with Putin, their first since 2019.

Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that Russia, a permanent council member, previously endorsed.

Besides North Korea, Putin will also visit Vietnam on Wednesday and Thursday.

India refrains from signing joint communique at Swiss Peace Summit; pushes for 'sincere' engagement between Russia, Ukraine

GENEVA, June 16: India on Sunday was among the countries that did not sign a joint communique at a Switzerland-hosted summit for peace in Ukraine even as New Delhi called for "sincere and practical engagement" between Moscow and Kyiv for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Pavan Kapoor, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs , represented India at the summit in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock that was attended by delegates from more than 100 countries and organisations, including several heads of state. Russia was not invited to the summit while China decided not to attend it.

India said it did not associate itself with any communique or document emerging from the summit, asserting only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace.

In a brief address, the senior Indian diplomat said New Delhi's participation in the summit and several earlier meetings of senior officials based on Ukraine's peace formula was in line with "our clear and consistent approach that enduring peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy."

"We continue to believe that such a peace requires bringing together all stakeholders and a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict," he said.

"Accordingly, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders as well as the two parties to the conflict to contribute to all earnest efforts to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine," Kapoor said.

The senior diplomat said India's participation in the summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is aimed at understanding different perspectives, approaches and options to find a way forward for a "sustainable resolution of the conflict."

"In our view, only those options acceptable to both the parties can lead to abiding peace. In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with the joint communique or any other document emerging from this summit," he noted.

The key objective of the 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' that concluded on Sunday was to inspire a future peace process.

The Indian delegation attended the opening and closing plenary sessions of the summit.

In his remarks, Kapoor said India deemed it "important to join the gathering that seeks to explore the way forward to a negotiated settlement of a very complex and pressing issue".

"India shares the global concern over the situation in Ukraine and supports any collective desire to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said.

"India's participation in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, as well as in the preceding NSA/Political-Director level meetings based on Ukraine's Peace Formula, is in line with our clear and consistent approach that enduring peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy," Kapoor added.

In the joint communique issued at the end of the Peace Summit, the signatories reaffirmed their commitment to "refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state" and the principles of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine, within their internationally recognised borders.

A Swiss foreign ministry statement said 83 states and organisations approved the joint communique at the end of the "High-Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine".

"We believe that reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties. We, therefore, decided to undertake concrete steps in the future in the above-mentioned areas with further engagement of the representatives of all parties," the joint communique said.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on multiple occasions.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

At the summit, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy sought support for his 10-point peace plan that he first outlined in 2022.

"The peace formula is inclusive, and we are happy to hear and work on all proposals, all ideas of what is really needed for peace and what is important to you dear friends," Zelenskyy said.

"I urge you to be as active as possible and I am proud all parts of the world, all continents are now represented at the peace summit," he said.

The peace summit was built on the previous discussions that have taken place based on Ukraine's Peace Formula and other peace proposals

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia.

In the talks, Modi conveyed to Zelenskyy that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict and that the way to peace is through "dialogue and diplomacy".

The prime minister also told the president that India believes in a "human-centric" approach.

"The prime minister conveyed that India continues to encourage peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and reiterated that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution," the MEA said after the meeting.

Modi's Mega Outreach At G7, Meets Zelensky, Meloni, Macron And Pope

BARI (Italy) June 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Pope Francis on the first day of his visit to Italy for the G7 Summit. He has met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and is scheduled to hold talks with her.

The summit is being held at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy's Apulia region. India has been invited to the G7 Summit as an Outreach country and this is Modi's first overseas visit since he took oath as Prime Minister for the third straight term.

Modi and the Pope shared a hug. The Prime Minister invited Pope Francis to visit India and said he admires his commitment to serving people and making the planet better.

After the meeting with Zelenskyy, the Prime Minister said it was a productive one and that India is eager to further cement bilateral relations with Ukraine. On the war with Russia, the PM reiterated that India believes in a human-centric approach and that the way to peace is through dialogue and diplomacy.

Giving details of the PM's meeting with Macron, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X: "Taking Strategic Partnership to new levels! PM @narendramodi met President @EmmanuelMacron of France on the sidelines of the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy,"

"The two leaders discussed ways to further strengthen the partnership including in areas of defence, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, critical technologies, connectivity and culture. They also exchanged views on key global and regional issues," he added.

Day one of the summit was dominated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the leaders agreed on a US proposal to back a $ 50-billion loan to Kyiv utilising frozen Russian assets, described by US President Joe Biden as a "significant outcome" and a strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In his departure statement, Modi had said he was "glad" that his first foreign visit in his third term as Prime Minister was to Italy for the G7 Summit.

"I warmly recall my visit to Italy for the G20 Summit in 2021. Prime Minister Meloni's two visits to India last year were instrumental in infusing momentum and depth in our bilateral agenda. We remain committed to consolidate the India-Italy strategic partnership, and bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean regions," his statement said.

In her opening address at the meeting of the G7 leaders, Ms Meloni said southern Italy was chosen as the venue to send a strong message to the Global South. "It is no coincidence that we are hosting the summit in Apulia. We did this because Apulia is a region of southern Italy and the message we want to launch is that the G7, under the Italian presidency, wishes to strengthen its dialogue with the nations of the Global South," she said.

Countries Of Global South Bearing Brunt Of Tensions Around The World: Modi

BARI (Italy), June 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for ending the monopoly in technology and said it must be made creative to lay the foundation of an inclusive society.

In an address at an Outreach session of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region, Prime Minister Modi said the countries of the Global South are bearing the brunt of uncertainties and tensions around the world. India has considered it its responsibility to put the priorities and concerns of countries of the Global South on the world stage, he said.

"In these efforts, we have given high priority to Africa. We are proud that the G-20, under the chairmanship of India, made the African Union a permanent member," he said.

"India has been contributing to the economic and social development, stability and security of all the countries of Africa, and will continue to do so in the future," Modi said.

The Prime Minister spoke extensively on the importance of ending monopoly in technology with a particular emphasis on artificial intelligence.

"We must make technology creative, not destructive. Only then will we be able to lay the foundation of an inclusive society. India is striving for a better future through this human-centric approach," he said.

Prime Minister Modi said India is among the first few countries to formulate a national strategy on artificial intelligence.

"Based on this strategy, we have launched the AI Mission this year. Its basic mantra is 'AI for All'. As a founding member and lead chair of the global partnership for AI, we are promoting cooperation among all countries," he said.

The Prime Minister said at the G-20 summit hosted by India last year, New Delhi stressed the importance of international governance in the field of AI.

"In the future too, we will continue to work together with all countries to make AI transparent, fair, secure, accessible and responsible," he said.

The Prime Minister said India's approach in the field of energy is also based on four principles -- availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability.

"We are making every possible effort to fulfill our commitment to achieve the target of Net Zero by 2070. Together we should make efforts to make the coming time a green era," he said.

40 Indians Among 49 Killed In Kuwait Building Fire

KUWAIT CITY, June 12: Forty Indians were among 49 killed after a fire broke out in a building housing workers in Kuwait's Mangaf city. The incident happened at 6 am local time (9 am IST). Kuwaiti officials said over 40 people have been hospitalised.

The fire started in a kitchen in the six-storey building, officials said, adding the building had nearly 160 people living in it, who are workers of the same company. Eyewitnesses said some people jumped from the fifth floor of the building to escape the fire and died.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a post on X offered condolences to the families of those killed in the fire.

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said the Indian ambassador has gone to the site of the incident.

The Indian embassy in Kuwait has issued a helpline number and earlier said the fire accident involved some Indian workers and the embassy will give all possible assistance. The emergency helpline number is +965-65505246.

The X handle of Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Adarsh Swaika said over 30 Indian workers injured in fire have been admitted to hospital. "Ambassador Adarsh Swaika visited the Al-Adan hospital where over 30 Indian workers injured in today's fire incident have been admitted... Met a number of patients and assured them of full assistance from the embassy. Almost all are reported to be stable by hospital authorities," the Indian Embassy to Kuwait said in the post.

Junior Foreign Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh will go to Kuwait to help Indians injured in the fire, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The Ambassador met the patients and assured them of full assistance from the Embassy. Indians constitute 21 per cent (1 million) of the total population of Kuwait, and 30 per cent of its workforce (approximately 9 lakh).

"The building in which the fire occurred was used to house workers, and there were many workers there. Dozens were rescued, but unfortunately there were many deaths as a result of inhaling smoke from the fire," a senior police officer told news agency Reuters.

"We always alert and warn against" cramming too many workers into housing accommodation, he said, without providing details on the workers' type of employment or place of origin. The fire was contained and authorities were investigating its cause.

Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad al-Yousuf al-Sabah visited the site and ordered the arrest of the building's owner. "Unfortunately, the greed of real estate owners is what leads to these matters," said Sheikh Fahad, who also runs the interior and defence ministries.

Snap polls in France, shock defeat in Germany as Far Right surges in European elections

PARIS, June 10: Early results from the elections to the European Parliament held over the weekend saw the humiliation of Germany’s ruling coalition as all three of its parties performed below expectations, and led to French President Emmanuel Macron calling a snap legislative election for later this month.

Although the final numbers are not yet out, the results across the continent are very good for Centre-Right and Far-Right political groupings, while the liberals and green parties are the main losers.

The Centre-Right European People’s Party (EPP) group is projected to gain seats, winning the most votes in Germany, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Croatia and Greece.

The EPP is predicted to win about 189 seats in the hemicycle (European Parliament). Similarly, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) will remain the second largest political grouping in the EU for the next five years, forecast to win about 135 seats, four down from 2019.

The Centre-Left finished a close second in Spain and Italy, while resurrecting itself in France with a third place finish.

In Germany, the Centre-Left Social Democratic Party (SPD) fell to its lowest results in national elections in nearly a century, finishing third with about 14 percent of total votes cast in its favour.

The Far-Right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), finished second with 16.2 percent of votes projected in its favour after shaking off numerous scandals, including suspected espionage and allegations of Russian influence.

The incumbent European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has a narrow path to a second term with results predicting that her EPP will remain the largest grouping in the hemicycle for the next five years.

France, US intensify efforts to prevent Middle East explosion, Macron says

PARIS, June 9: France and the United States will work harder to prevent a broader escalation in the Middle East with a key priority to calm the situation between Israel and Hezbollah, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

”We are redoubling efforts together to avoid a regional explosion, particularly in Lebanon,” Macron said in a joint statement with Joe Biden during the U.S. President’s state visit to France.

Macron added that the sides were working on ”advancing parameters” to reduce tensions and end an institutional vacuum in Lebanon.

France and the United States have in recent months worked to try to defuse tensions with Paris submitting written proposals to both sides aimed at stopping worsening exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah on the border.

The United States has also worked on the issue, but diplomats have said there have been problems in coordinating efforts.

Macron said the two countries had developed "a close coordination” in the discussions "with Israel on one side and with Lebanon and all the parties involved on the other side”.

Biden made no mention of Lebanon in the short statement and also did not mention Iran, which Macron said was adopting a strategy of escalation in the region, citing Tehran’s attack on Israel and the development of its nuclear programme.

"Our two countries are determined to exert the necessary pressures to stop this trend,” Macron said.

Despite U.S. reservations, France, Britain and Germany last week put forward a resolution against Iran that was passed over its nuclear programme at the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

While eventually backing the resolution, Washington had shown misgivings beforehand with diplomats saying the U.S. feared it could provoke Iran, something it wants to avoid before November’s presidential election.

Fresh from commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden’s state visit to France is marked by pomp as well as talks on trade, Israel and Ukraine.

China can attack Taiwan with little warning after giving up on ‘peaceful unification’, says former US Defence official

WASHINGTON, June 9: China can attack Taiwan with little or no warning as the Xi-Jinping-led government has given up on “peaceful unification”, according to former US Defence official Elbridge Colby. The former Donald Trump defence official stressed that the attack could happen with little warning, according to Taiwan News.

Elbridge Colby served as the deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development from 2017 to 2018. If Donald Trump is elected president in the US Presidential elections in November, he is likely to handle the national security office.

He has also been named a possible candidate for a national security office if Donald Trump is elected president in the November presidential elections.

As Chinese leader Xi Jinping has probably given up on ‘peaceful unification of Taiwan’, an attack could happen with little clear warning, Colby said in an interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, advising US to shift its support from Ukraine to Taiwan.

He also added that the military needed to be strengthened so that the nation could be ready to deliver any immediate response against Chinese aggression. An attack could happen with little clear warning, he added, according to Taiwan News.

He also hinted that the cross-strait war might involve the US, and US troops in the Asia Pacific, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, as reported by Taiwan News.

In addition to advising the US to change its focus, Colby also said that Washington should not abandon Europe. However, he maintained his opinion that Europe is much more able to handle Russia on its own than Asia in case of Chinese aggression in the region.

Earlier this month, China's Minister of National Defence Admiral Dong Jun warned "external forces" for emboldening Taiwan Independence separatists in an attempt to contain China with Taiwan and said that these malicious intentions are dragging Taiwan into a dangerous situation."

French preisdent Macron to dissolve parliament, call new elections after defeat by far-right party

PARIS, June 9: In a shock move, French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said he would dissolve parliament and call new legislative elections later this month after he was trounced in European elections by Marine Le Pen's far-right party.

Macron said the results were a disaster for his government, and one he could not pretend to ignore. In a high-risk political gamble, less than two months before Paris hosts the Olympics, he said lower house elections would be called for June 30, with a second-round vote on July 7.

Macron's widely unexpected decision could leave him in a nearly powerless position if Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party wins a parliamentary majority.

Led by telegenic 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, the RN won around 32% of the vote in Sunday's vote, more than double Macron ticket's 15%, according to the first exit polls. The Socialists came within a whisker of Macron, with 14%.

Israeli army rescues 4 hostages from Gaza

TEL AVIV, June 8: Israel said its forces rescued on Saturday four hostages alive from a Gaza refugee camp where the Hamas-run government media office reported attacks left 210 Palestinians dead and hundreds wounded.

The Israeli military said the four were in "good medical condition". They had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas's October 7 attack that sparked war with Israel, now in its ninth month.

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, had been rescued from two separate buildings "in the heart of Nuseirat" camp in a "complex daytime operation", the military said.

They were among 251 captives seized by the militants in their October attack on southern Israel. There are now 116 hostages remaining in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead.

Footage posted on social media showed Argamani emotionally reuniting with her father after her rescue, as well as beachgoers erupting into cheers in Tel Aviv when a lifeguard announced the four had been freed.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has pressed Israel's government to reach a deal that would free the captives, hailed the rescue as a "miraculous triumph".

The Hamas media office said "the number of victims from the Israeli occupation's massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded".

"The message this morning to Hamas is clear: we are determined to bring back home all the hostages," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

Danish PM Mette Frederiksen Attacked

COPENHAGEN, June 8: An assailant on Saturday attacked Danish PM Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen.

Local media reported that the assailant approached Frederiksen forcefully and pushed her hard while she was passing Kultorvet Square, a central piazza in Copenhagen. The police arrested a 39-year-old man in connection with the attack.

The Danish prime minister suffered minor whiplash but is otherwise fine after the incident, her office confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

33 killed as Israeli army strikes 'Hamas compound' inside UN school in Gaza

TEL AVIV, June 6: At least 33 people were killed after the Israeli army said it had carried out a deadly strike on a UN school in central Gaza on Thursday. The army claimed that the school housed a "Hamas compound".

The Israel Defense Forces posted on X, "several Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who embedded themselves inside of an @UNRWA school." It said, “IAF fighter jets conducted a precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside the school in the area of Nuseirat."

The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school. It further claimed that the terrorists belonged to the Nukhba Forces and participated in the October 7 massacre. It added that several terrorists were "eliminated" in the strike.

The IDF also clarified that a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike," including conducting aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information."

Israel, Hezbollah on brink of ‘full-scale war’

TEL AVIV, June 6: Israel and Hezbollah are edging closer to a full-scale war after months of escalating tensions with the Lebanese militant group, increasing the pressure on the Netanyahu government to secure its northern border, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization closely aligned with Iran, opened a battlefront with Israel on October 8, one day after the deadly Hamas-led raid inside Israel triggered the current war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was prepared for a “very intense operation" along the border with Lebanon. “One way or another, we will restore security to the north," he said as quoted by AFP.

Following this, Washington seemed to caution Israel against taking action, with the State Department stating that any "escalation" would jeopardize Israeli security.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “We don't want to see that escalation of the conflict which would just lead to further loss of life from both Israelis and the Lebanese people and would greatly harm Israel's overall security and stability in the region."

On June 5, a gunman who attacked the U.S. embassy near Beirut was shot and captured by Lebanese soldiers after a morning shootout that injured an embassy security guard, the military and embassy officials said as quoted by AP.

The attack took place as tensions simmered in the tiny Mediterranean country, where months of fighting between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops has displaced thousands along the border, following years of political deadlock and economic hardship.

The United Nations, meanwhile, expressed its concern about tensions along the border and called on all parties to de-escalate.

Canada says India second-biggest foreign threat to its democracy

MONTREAL, June 6: A recent special report from a high-level Canadian parliamentary committee has labelled India as the "second-biggest foreign threat" to Canada's democracy. The report named China as the number-one threat. India has been moved up from the third spot in 2019 ahead of Russia in the foreign threat perception index.

"India emerged as the second-most significant foreign interference threat to Canada’s democratic institutions and processes," said the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians report.

"While India’s foreign interference efforts have slowly increased, it became clear during the period of this review that its efforts had extended beyond countering what it perceived as pro-Khalistani efforts in Canada to include interfering in Canadian democratic processes and institutions, including through the targeting of Canadian politicians, ethnic media and Indo-Canadian ethnocultural communities," the report stated.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate.

Contrary to the 2019 report that identified Russia as the second most significant foreign interference threat, the recent committee report found Russia's engagement in foreign interference activities specifically targeting Canadian democratic institutions and processes to be less than initially assessed.

The committee's report also noted the involvement of Pakistan and Iran in foreign interference activities.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that the Canadian government took the threat of foreign political interference "very seriously" and stated that the country couldn't be "naive" about authoritarian governments attempting to undermine our democracy, reported the CBC news.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) report comes amid strained relations between India and Canada.

Israel signs $3 billion deal with US for 25 F-35 fighter jets

TEL AVIV, June 5: Israel said Tuesday it signed a $3 billion deal to buy a third squadron of 25 advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin, with the delivery to commence in 2028.

"At time when some of our adversaries aim to undermine our ties with our greatest ally, we only further strengthen our alliance," Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement announcing the deal.

"This sends a powerful message to our enemies across the region."

The defence ministry said the deal would bring to 75 the number of F-35s in Israel's fleet.

"The delivery of the aircrafts to the IDF (army) will commence in 2028 at a rate of three to five aircrafts per year," the ministry said in a statement.

Israel is the only Middle East nation with F-35s, the world's most advanced fighter which is stealth capable and can be used to gather intelligence, strike deep into enemy territory and engage in air duels.

In May 2018, Israel's military said it had become the first country to use F-35s in combat.

Even before the war with Hamas erupted on October 7, Israel had launched hundreds of raids on Syrian territory during that country's years of war, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

In April, Iran carried out its first ever direct attack on Israel using more than 300 drones and missiles as the war with Hamas in Gaza raged.

Iranian military adviser killed in Syria

ALEPPO, June 4: Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo early Monday killed an Iranian military adviser, Iranian media reported, two months after the Middle East came to the brink of a major war as Israel and Iran engaged in unprecedented direct attacks on each other’s soil.

Saeed Abiyar, an adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria, died in the attack, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the incident occurred around 12.20 a.m. local time on Monday after Israel launched an aerial attack with missiles, targeting “a number of points” in the vicinity of Aleppo, without providing information on fatalities.

Abiyar is the first member of the IRGC to be reported killed by Israel since April, when Israel is suspected to have bombed the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, killing several commanders, including the top IRGC commander in charge of relations with Syria and Lebanon.

The Islamic Republic retaliated to that attack by launching a barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel, most of which were intercepted. Israel fired back, a US official told CNN, targeting a major Iranian military airbase near the city of Isfahan.

Iran has deployed military advisers to Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since civil war broke out there in 2011. Israel is believed to have launched several strikes on Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent years, particularly since the start of its war with Hamas in Gaza. It has warned that Iran is turning it into “a base for aggression against Israel.”

In A First, Hezbollah Launches Drones Squadron Towards Israeli Military Targets

BEIRUT, June 3: The armed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Monday it had launched a squadron of drones towards the headquarters of the Israeli military's Galilee formation.

Such an attack would be the first by Hezbollah involving a squadron of drones since the start of its exchanges of fire with Israel, which have run in parallel with the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on the report, but sirens sounded in northern Israel three times on Monday to warn of attacks from Lebanon.

The Israeli military said in a statement it had on Monday killed Ali Hussein Sabra, a military operative in "Hezbollah's Force Build-up Unit".

It also said its forces had struck Hezbollah infrastructure consisting of several military compounds in the area of Qotrani in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said its squadron attack came in response to Israel's killing of one of its members in the southern village of Zrariyeh.

The Iran-aligned group also said it had launched drones on Sunday towards Liman in northern Israel.

Lebanon's southern border has seen an uptick in hostilities in recent days, with both the Israeli military and Hezbollah striking locations outside the border strip where the exchanges of fire have been concentrated, and with increased intensity.

On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed two civilian men from the town of Houla, where they had stayed throughout the conflict to herd their cattle, security sources and townspeople told Reuters. They were buried on Monday in their hometown.

Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut on Monday, according to residents.

Netanyahu Views Biden's Gaza Truce Plan As 'Partial', Says Israel

TEL AVIV, June 3: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views a plan outlined by US President Joe Biden for a truce in Gaza and hostage release deal as "partial", a government spokesman said Monday.

Biden on Friday presented what he labelled an Israeli three-phase plan that would eventually end the fighting, free all hostages held by Palestinian group and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Gaza Strip without Hamas in power.

"The outline that President Biden presented is partial," government spokesman David Mencer quoted Netanyahu as saying, adding in a press briefing that "the war will be stopped for the purpose of returning the hostages" after which discussions will follow on how to achieve Israel's goal of eliminating Hamas.

Netanyahu, according to a separate statement issued by his office, told a parliament committee that "claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect".

The prime minister's far-right coalition partners, party leaders National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both slammed the latest plan on Monday.

Ben Gvir said the proposal laid out by Biden would mean "the end of the war without achieving the objective that the cabinet clearly set: the destruction of Hamas".

If Netanyahu would "sign on an irresponsible deal", Ben Gvir said his party "will break up the government".

Smotrich said: "If, heaven forbid, the government decides to adopt this proposal of surrender, we will not be part of it and we will act to replace the failed leadership with new leadership."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, a centrist former premier, has said the government "cannot ignore Biden's important speech", vowing to back Netanyahu if his far-right coalition partners quit.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took some 250 hostages, 120 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

At least 36,479 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive since October 7, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.

US, Egyptian and Qatari mediation efforts have stalled since a one-week truce in November that saw dozens of hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries into besieged Gaza.

Lebanese Hamas ally Hezbollah meanwhile has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Gaza war began.

Smotrich on Monday said the Israeli military should invade Lebanon and push "hundreds of thousands of Lebanese" away from the border area.

He said Israel must establish a "security strip" in southern Lebanon -- as it had maintained for 15 years before withdrawing troops in 2000 -- including by launching "a ground invasion, occupation of the territory, and distancing Hezbollah terrorists and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese among whom Hezbollah hides to the other side of the Litani river", some 30 kilometres (almost 20 miles) away from the UN-patrolled border.

Israel accepts Biden's Gaza plan but 'not a good deal': Netanyahu's aide

TEL AVIV, June 2: Israel has accepted a framework deal for ending the Gaza war proposed by US President Joe Biden, said an aide to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

However, Netanyahu described it as "flawed" and in need of much more work, his aide stated.

Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, said in an interview with a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, that Biden's proposal was "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them".

"There are a lot of details to be worked out," including "the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organisation" have not changed, Falk stated.

The US President on May 31 announced that Israel proposed to Hamas a deal involving an initial six-week ceasefire with a partial Israeli military withdrawal and the release of some hostages while "a permanent end to hostilities".

The proposal, according to Biden, also "creates a better 'day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power". He said that the deal was being negotiated through mediators.

Netanyahu was facing growing pressure after Biden's three-stage proposal.

The six-week-long first phase would include a “full and complete ceasefire” and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza. Additionally, hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, will be released by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

In the second phase, all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, will be released, and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza, according to Biden's proposal.

A major reconstruction of Gaza is proposed in the third phase, which faces decades of rebuilding from the devastation caused by the war.

Ukraine can now use Western arms to strike inside Russia

KYIV, June 2: Denys, a serviceman in Kyiv on leave from Ukraine’s eastern front, is indignant about how long it takes for each round of Western arms supplies to reach the country.

“There’s always a ‘no’ first: No tanks. No missiles. No fighter jets,” he said, referring to multiple times that Western allies have either refused to provide certain types of weapons to Ukraine or have strictly regulated their use. Denys withheld his last name and the location of his military unit in accordance with wartime regulations.

“And each ‘no’ costs lives. Not just ours. We’re big boys, we’ve seen life a bit, but those of children, the little children burned alive or blown to pieces …” the 27-year-old said, close to yelling, as he stood between a blossoming linden tree and an ice-cream kiosk in central Kyiv. “And then there’s a ‘maybe, maybe,’ and it goes on for months, and then there’s a ‘yes,’ but it’s always too late.”

Eventually, Western nations did agree to supply tanks, missiles and fighter jets – but after agonisingly long deliberations that cost lives, he said.

The latest “yes” from the United States and nearly a dozen Western nations that follows Russia’s recent advance and the relentless bombing of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, grants their permission to use the advanced weaponry they have supplied – or will supply soon – to strike inside Russia.

Washington and its allies have been afraid of antagonising Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested that the use of nuclear weapons is on the table in the event that Ukraine or the West cross yet another “red line” such as the shelling of Crimea and Putin’s pet project, a bridge that links it to mainland Russia.

But Ukraine has already crossed many military and political Rubicons, including the expulsion of Russian troops from occupied areas and drone strikes on airfields, military bases, ports and oil depots deep in Russia. These acts have left Moscow fuming, but not enough to use nuclear weapons.

The latest Western “yes”, which came on Thursday and followed months of pleas from Kyiv, is more of a “yes, but”.

The White House said that Kyiv can start using US-supplied weapons for “limited strikes” within Russia – but only in areas adjacent to the northeastern Kharkiv region that sits along the Russian border.

Russian forces seized the region and its eponymous administrative capital in early 2022, but were pushed out months later following a manoeuvre masterminded by Ukraine’s current top general, Oleksandr Syrskii.

China ready to ‘forcefully’ stop Taiwan independence: Defence minister

SINGAPORE, June 2: Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun says his military is ready to “forcefully” stop Taiwan’s independence, but called for greater exchanges with the United States over the issue.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore on Sunday, Dong said Taiwan was the “core of core issues” for China, but Taiwan’s governing Democratic Progressive Party is incrementally pursuing separatism and bent on erasing Chinese identity.

China views Taiwan as its own territory despite strong objections from Taipei, and last month staged war games around the island in anger at the May 20 inauguration of President William Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing calls a “separatist”.

“Those separatists recently made fanatical statements that show their betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history,” Dong said, adding that China was committed to peaceful reunification with Taiwan.

“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defence of the unification of the motherland, and it will act resolutely and forcefully at all times to curb the independence of Taiwan and to ensure that it never succeeds in its attempts,” Dong told the forum on Sunday.

“Whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and suffer his own destruction.”

Reacting to the Chinese minister’s statements, Taiwan’s government said it deeply regretted the “provocative and irrational” remarks.