Iran gets support of US Arab ally after Israel's attack; Netanyahu gets warning
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The Hindu
28 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Netanyahu says Israel must complete defeat of Hamas to free hostages
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) that Israel must 'complete' the defeat of Hamas in Gaza to secure the release of the remaining hostages, days ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss an updated war plan. Recent footage of weak and emaciated captives has sparked outrage in Israel, while United Nations (U.N.) experts also warn of an unfolding famine for Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli media have said the premier is considering ordering the total occupation of Gaza, even as international pressure mounts for him to end the war, with a senior U.N. official warning on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) that expanding the fighting risked 'catastrophic consequences'. 'It is necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, to free all our hostages and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,' Mr. Netanyahu said during a visit to an army training facility. His office later said he had held a three-hour 'security discussion' with army chief Eyal Zamir but did not disclose any new war plans. The premier's office has said the security cabinet will convene later in the week to approve new instructions. Citing cabinet members, public broadcaster Kan said Mr. Netanyahu had 'decided to extend the fight to areas where hostages might be held'. But some major media outlets, such as Channel 12, have suggested that the rumoured expansion of operations might only be a negotiating tactic. While the reported plan has not been approved, it has already drawn angry reactions from the Palestinian Authority and Gaza's Hamas-run government. Hamas insisted such a move would not shift its position in ceasefire talks, demanding the withdrawal of all forces from Gaza. 'The ball is in the hands of... (Israel) and the Americans,' senior Hamas official Hossam Badran told AFP, adding that the militant group wanted to 'end the war and the famine'. U.N. assistant secretary-general Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) that a widening of the war 'would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages'. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was also in New York, attending a Security Council meeting on the plight of the hostages. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) expressed disgust over the videos released by Hamas, one of which showed an emaciated Israeli hostage purportedly digging his own grave. 'I hope a lot of people do get to see it, as bad as it is, because I think it's a horrible thing,' Mr. Trump told reporters. 'Agreement must be reached' Over the war's 22 months, Israeli forces have devastated large parts of the Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian crisis has taken hold. The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, 49 of whom remain held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Israeli offensive has killed at least 61,020 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Mr. Netanyahu has faced growing pressure on several fronts. Domestically, families of hostages are demanding a ceasefire to bring their loved one's home. And around the world, there are increasing calls for a truce to allow food into a starving Gaza. The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) said it was 'ready to bring in medicine, food and family news for the hostages in Gaza', and to 'scale up the delivery of life-saving aid safely to civilians'. But 'to do this, an agreement must be reached between Israel and Hamas'. Meanwhile, Mr. Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners demand to keep fighting and reoccupy Gaza for the long haul, after Israel withdrew settlers and troops stationed there two decades ago. Aid 'exploited' Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in early March, which it only began easing more than two months later to allow a U.S.-backed private agency, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to open food distribution centres. U.N. special rapporteurs called on Tuesday (August 5, 2025) for the GHF to be immediately dismantled, saying aid was being 'exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas'. COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said it would partially reopen private sector trade with Gaza to reduce its reliance on aid deliveries. On the ground in Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 56 Palestinians who were waiting near aid distribution sites on Tuesday (August 5, 2025). The Israeli military told AFP troops had 'fired warning shots' in the direction 'a gathering of Gazans advancing' towards them near one of those sites, in the territory's south, but that it was 'not aware of any casualties'. In northern Gaza, where the civil defence said 20 people were killed not far from an aid crossing, an AFP journalist saw bodies brought to Hamad Hospital. The army told AFP it was looking into the report.
Economic Times
28 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Israel says Hamas is starving hostages; Security Council members say Israel is starving Palestinians
Synopsis At a U.N. Security Council emergency meeting, Israel demanded the release of its hostages, highlighting their dire condition. However, many members criticized Israel's blockade of Gaza, citing widespread starvation among Palestinians. While some condemned Hamas's treatment of hostages, others pointed to Israel's restrictions on aid as contributing to a humanitarian catastrophe, with accusations of war crimes leveled against both sides. AP This screengrab from an undated video, released on July 31, 2025, by the Islamic Jihad militant group, shows Israeli hostage Rom Braslavsky while being filmed by his captors at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip. Braslavsky was abducted during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. Bottom left reads in Arabic "Al-Quds Brigades, war media."(Islamic Jihad via AP) Israel called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to demand the release of its emaciated hostages, including one seen digging his own grave. Their plight drew widespread sympathy - but the two million Palestinians starving in Gaza got even more. Not only the Palestinians but most council members blamed the Israeli government and military for the two-month blockade of Gaza and failure to allow enough food into the conflict-wracked territory, where its health ministry has reported over 100 deaths from starvation, including many children. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who flew to New York to attend the council meeting, accused Russia and other unnamed council members as well as the international media of perpetuating "so many lies." He pointed to Hamas and Islamic Jihad's starvation of hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel "while the terrorists enjoy meat, fish and vegetables." Saar insisted that Israel is facilitating "huge amounts of aid into Gaza," accusing Hamas of looting the food and other items and using it as "a financial tool" to sell and make money. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said there is no evidence of this. Israel's top diplomat also accused the Palestinians of inventing terrorism, and Hamas of wanting to continue the war against Israel instead of reaching a ceasefire. "The world has been turned upside down while Hamas runs its propaganda machine," Saar said. It's "a world in which Israel is put on a bench of the accused while it fights for its survival. There is a name for it. It's called antisemitism." Testimony came from Israeli hostages' relatives Itay David, the older brother of emaciated hostage Evyatar David, who was pictured over the weekend in a Gaza tunnel saying he was digging his own grave, urged the Security Council: "Do not let them die. We don't have time. Do not let them spend another minute in darkness." Calling his brother "a living skeleton," Itay urged the 15 council members in a video briefing to get humanitarian aid to the hostages, saying they are being broken psychologically and physically by Hamas and denied "the most basic necessities of life." British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward reiterated the country's support for the immediate release of all hostages and condemned parading them for propaganda purposes as a "depraved" act. "Hamas and its terrorist ideologies can have no place in the future governance of Gaza and should never again threaten Israel's security," she said. Woodward recalled the hopeful ceasefire earlier this year when hostages were released and the U.N. was able to send large amounts of aid into Gaza. "Since the ceasefire ended, the suffering of the hostages and Palestinian civilians has plumbed to new and shocking depths," she said. "Israel's aid restrictions have led to famine now unfolding in Gaza," as reported by international experts who monitor famine globally. Woodward said she spoke to doctors last week who had served in Gaza. "They had seen children so malnourished that their wounds festered for months without healing," she said, and saw baby formula confiscated by the Israeli military. "I call on Israel now to act to alleviate the horrendous suffering," she said. Discussion focused on both sides Sierra Leone's U.N. ambassador, Michael Imran Kanu, commended Itay David's advocacy for his brother and the hostages, condemned their "inhumane treatment," and said Hamas' hostage-taking is a war crime that must be prosecuted. But, said Kanu, "One atrocity cannot justify another." "While we express deep concern for the hostages, we cannot ignore the wider humanitarian catastrophe that has engulfed Gaza," he said. "The people of Gaza have been subjected to a blockade and siege that deprived them of food, water, fuel and medical supplies," which could also constitute a war crime. Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said President Donald Trump has recognized "real starvation" in Gaza and the United States is working to get assistance to civilians. She urged "those who have professed concern about the reported risk of famine" to support the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor, which she said reported delivering more than 1.5 million meals on Sunday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to get to its four food distribution sites. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, acknowledged "the distressing, unacceptable video" of 24-year-old Evyatar David, saying "We reject all inhumane and degrading treatment against anyone, especially persons held in captivity." But in a strong rebuke, he said, "Israel is demanding the world to take a stance against starvation when it is actually starving an entire civilian population, when it is shooting at them while they seek water and food."
Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump denies his own remark threatening 100% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil: 'Never said a percentage, but...'
United States President Donald Trump on August 5 denied his own earlier statement of imposing 100% tariffs on countries procuring Russian oil, stating "he never said a percentage" and would see what unfolds over the next period after holding a meeting with Russia. "I never said a percentage, but we'll be doing quite a bit of that. We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens..." Trump stated during a press conference at the White House, which was mainly organised to talk about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In July, Trump said 100% secondary tariffs would be imposed on countries that procure Russian exports unless Moscow decides for a major peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days, a deadline that would end in early September. Meanwhile, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has cautioned US President Donald Trump against burning 'a relationship with a strong ally like India' after him saying that the US will substantially hike tariffs over oil imports from Russia. She added he had given 'China a pass'. Haley pointed out that China is an opponent of the United States and 'number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil' and even then it has been provided with a 90-day tariff halt by the Trump government. "India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don't give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India," she mentioned. Haley was the final major contender to exit the Republican presidential primary race last year. Trump stated he would raise the tariff charged on imports from India from the existing rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours due to New Delhi's non-stop purchases of Russian oil, Reuters reported. "They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump informed CNBC in an interview, Reuters report noted.
