World
UK, France and 23 other nations condemn Israel over ‘inhumane killing’ of civilians
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the statement “disgusting” and said blaming Israel was “irrational” because Hamas rejects every proposal to end the war.
A group of 25 Western countries including Britain, France, and Canada said on Monday Israel must immediately end its war in Gaza and criticised what they called the “inhumane killing” of Palestinians, including hundreds near food distribution sites, Reuters reported.
The countries in a joint statement condemned what they called the “drip feeding of aid” to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was “horrifying” that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid.
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the countries’ foreign ministers said in a joint statement. “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
The call by about 20 European countries, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for an end to the war in Gaza and the delivery of aid comes from many countries which are allied with Israel and its most important backer, the United States, read the report.
Among those calling for an end to the war are four out of five countries in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the U.S.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the statement was “disconnected from reality” and it would send the wrong message to Hamas.
“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation,” the Israeli statement said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar later said he spoke with his British counterpart David Lammy on Monday on regional issues, including Gaza. He blamed Hamas “for the suffering of the population and the continuation of the war”.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the statement “disgusting” and said blaming Israel was “irrational” because Hamas rejects every proposal to end the war.
The plea from the other Western nations came as Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday.
Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with the latest deaths reported on Monday as Israel began a new incursion in central Gaza.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation.
The U.N. has called the GHF’s model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies.
The countries behind the statement said Israel was denying essential humanitarian assistance and called on the country to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law, Reuters reported.
They urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions to allow the flow of aid and to enable humanitarian organisations and the United Nations to operate safely and effectively.
They added they were “prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace” for Israelis and Palestinians.
Separately, the British government also set out a 60-million-pound ($80.9 million) humanitarian aid package for Gaza.
World
White House AI czar says US should ‘declare victory and get out’ of Iran war
“This is a good time to declare victory and get out,” Sacks, Trump’s crypto and AI czar, said in an appearance on the “All-In Podcast.”
White House AI czar David Sacks said on Friday the U.S. should “declare victory and get out” of its war on Iran, a rare instance of a prominent figure in Donald Trump’s administration calling for an exit from the Iran conflict, Reuters reported.
Here are some details:
“This is a good time to declare victory and get out,” Sacks, Trump’s crypto and AI czar, said in an appearance on the “All-In Podcast.”
Sacks said the U.S. had degraded Iran’s military capabilities.
“I agree that we should try to find the off-ramp,” he added.
“If escalation doesn’t lead anywhere good, then you have to think about, well, how do you de-escalate? De-escalation, I think, involves reaching some sort of ceasefire agreement or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran,” he said.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, have responded with strikes on Israel and other countries in the Middle East.
The war has shaken global markets and raised oil prices.
Iran’s U.N. ambassador says over 1,300 people have been killed in Iran in U.S. and Israeli attacks. Israel says 12 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian attacks. The U.S. military says seven of its members have been killed.
World
US eases sanctions on Russian oil to ease energy prices inflated by Iran war
The U.S. has issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian petroleum products currently at sea, hoping to ease oil and gas prices driven up by the war the U.S. and Israel are waging on Iran.
However, the waiver appeared to have little effect, with benchmark Brent crude back up to $101 by 1000 GMT on Friday, with Asian shares also under pressure.
The Israeli military said it had launched strikes across Tehran and continued to carry out strikes on the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut, as Iranian media reported rallies for Quds (Jerusalem) Day beginning across Iran in support of the Palestinians.
The sounds of explosions and fighter jets were heard in the Iranian capital and in Karaj to the west of Tehran, Iranian media said.
World
Iran claims it targeted a US-linked oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that it carried out an attack on an oil tanker linked to a U.S. company in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel allegedly ignored repeated warnings from Iranian authorities.
In a statement, the IRGC said the tanker Safesea Vishnu, which it described as owned by a U.S. company and sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, was struck north of the strategic waterway early in the morning.
Iranian officials claimed the ship failed to comply with maritime instructions issued by Iranian forces operating in the area.
The IRGC warned that shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz faces increasing risks, placing responsibility for the heightened tensions on the United States. The IRGC urged commercial vessels transiting the region to follow Iranian maritime regulations in order to avoid potential attacks.
The incident comes amid a broader escalation of hostilities between Iran, the United States, and Israel.
On March 2, Tehran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. The strait is one of the world’s most critical energy corridors, carrying a significant share of global oil shipments.
Since the announcement, shipping and insurance costs in the region have surged, while global oil prices have risen amid fears of supply disruptions. Analysts warn that prolonged instability in the waterway could have major economic consequences worldwide.
The reported attack also follows continued U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets that began on February 28. Iranian authorities say the strikes have killed around 1,300 people and wounded more than 10,000 others.
In response, Tehran has launched drone and missile attacks targeting Israeli territory as well as locations in Iraq and several Gulf states that host U.S. military facilities, raising concerns about a widening regional conflict and threats to international shipping routes.
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