Trump says Israel will have to 'make a decision' on next steps in Gaza
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly "hardened" up on the issue.
"They don't want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision," Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.
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The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Keir Starmer to recall cabinet for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis
Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict. Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, he will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland on Monday. David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, is also preparing to attend a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York this week at which the pathway to formally recognising a Palestinian state will be under discussion. Government sources insisted that formal recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of 'when, not if', with the Labour government under intense domestic pressure to take further action as UK public opinion hardens. Downing Street sources said the government would set out its next steps to help resolve the situation in the Middle East in the coming days, but gave scant details, risking fuelling further criticism of Starmer over his response. Government sources insisted the prime minister was 'unequivocal' in his concern over the scenes in Gaza and was 'horrified' at images of starvation, desperation and suffering of children and babies, as he called his cabinet back to Westminster. During his talks with Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, Starmer is expected to press the US president to use his influence over the Israeli government to push for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and Hamas, after talks ground to a standstill. The deal under discussion was expected to include a 60-day ceasefire, with aid supplies ramped up as conditions for a lasting truce were brokered, but the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar on Thursday. Starmer is also coming under growing domestic pressure, including from his own cabinet and a third of Labour MPs, to formally recognise a Palestinian state. The government has disappointed many on its own side by saying this would only happen as part of a negotiated peace deal. In contrast, Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France would formally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly in September. UK government aides suggested France's move would be purely symbolic without a path towards peace, which diplomats are expected to discuss next week at the UN. Starmer is also expected to discuss progress in implementing the economic deal the UK has signed with the US, which slashes some of Trump's tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel, and which the UK hopes will be the first step towards a closer trading relationship. After meeting European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, Trump announced the US and the EU had struck a trade deal that would impose tariffs of 15% on most imports from the bloc, and will have a major impact on the UK economy. However, MPs from across the Commons underlined the urgency of Starmer's talks with the US president for the people of Gaza as they called on the prime minister to press Trump to take a more hardline stance towards Israel on aid and a ceasefire. Emily Thornberry, chair of the influential foreign affairs select committee, told the Guardian: 'Netanyahu only listens to Trump, and even then only sometimes. But somebody has to talk to the Israelis and nothing is going to move in this awful situation without him. 'Trump needs to hear that he has the strength of ten presidents, that only he can get a ceasefire. But it's high risk for Keir as it could anger him and it's not even clear whether it would work. But he has to try, this is the moment it has to be done. 'Trump also needs to hear that allies, including the UK, French and Saudis, are prepared to work together to put together peace proposals but they will only work if they result in two states: Israel and Palestine.' Conservative MP Kit Malthouse, a former cabinet minister, added: 'Every moment of inaction is a deliberate choice. These two leaders hold the power to end the starvation and killings in Gaza, to halt the violence in the West Bank, and to bring the hostages home with a permanent ceasefire. 'If they fail to act, history will not only remember the atrocities, it will remember that they had the means to stop them and chose not to.' Palestinians in Gaza have reacted with wariness after Israel began a limited, daily pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza to allow what Benjamin Netanyahu described as a 'minimal' amount of aid into the territory. Scores of Palestinians have died of starvation in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by humanitarian organisations and the UN to Israel's blockade of almost all aid into the territory. Israel also said it would establish humanitarian corridors to allow the UN to deliver food and medicine to Gaza, as well as turn on the power to a desalination plant to provide water. David Lammy welcomed the resumption of humanitarian corridors in the enclave but called for access to supplies to be 'urgently' widened over the coming hours and days, saying that military pauses promised by Israel would not alone be enough to ease suffering in Gaza. 'This announcement alone cannot alleviate the needs of those desperately suffering in Gaza,' the foreign secretary said. 'We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered. 'Whilst airdrops will help to alleviate the worst of the suffering, land routes serve as the only viable and sustainable means of providing aid into Gaza. These measures must be fully implemented and further barriers on aid removed. The world is watching.' Britain is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned that such efforts are 'a distraction' that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
US to release result of probe into chip imports in two weeks
TURNBERRY, Scotland/EDINBURGH, July 27 (Reuters) - The Trump administration will announce the results of a national security probe into imports of semiconductors in two weeks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday, as President Donald Trump suggested higher tariffs were on the horizon. Lutnick told reporters after a meeting between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the investigation was one of the "key reasons" the European Union sought to negotiate a broader trade agreement that would "resolve all things at one time." Trump said many companies would be investing in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, including some from Taiwan and other places, to avoid getting hit by new tariffs. He said von der Leyen had avoided the pending chips tariffs "in a much better way." Trump and von der Leyen announced a new framework trade agreement that includes across-the-board 15% tariffs on EU imports entering the United States. Trump said the agreement included autos, which face a higher 25% tariff under a separate sectoral tariff action. The Trump administration in April said it was investigating whether extensive reliance on foreign imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors posed a national security threat. The probe, being conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, could lay the groundwork for new tariffs on imports in both sectors. The Trump administration has begun separate investigations under the same law into imports of copper and lumber. Earlier probes completed during Trump's first term formed the basis for 25% tariffs rolled out since his return to the White House in January on steel and aluminum and on the auto industry. Trump has upended global trade with a series of aggressive levies against trading partners, including a 10% tariff that took effect in April, with that rate set to increase sharply for most larger trading partners from August 1. The U.S. relies heavily on chips imported from Taiwan, something Democratic former President Joe Biden sought to reverse during his term by granting billions of dollars in Chips Act awards to lure chipmakers to expand production in the United States.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
EU's von der Leyen: trade deal delivers certainty in uncertain times
PRESTWICK, Scotland, July 27 (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday said a U.S. baseline tariff rate of 15% on imported EU goods would apply to cars, semiconductors and pharmaceutical goods. She also said that a zero-for-zero tariff rate had been agreed for certain strategic products, including aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, and certain generic drugs. No decision had been taken on a rate for wine and spirits, she added. "Today's deal creates certainty in uncertain times, delivers stability and predictability," von der Leyen told reporters before leaving Scotland.
