Britain warns Israel over Palestinian state recognition amid Gaza crisis
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's stance increases international pressure on Israel, echoing France's recent pledge to recognise Palestinian statehood. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the move, calling it a 'reward for terrorism.' Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, praised the decision as 'bold.'
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported severe malnutrition and disease in Gaza, with famine conditions worsening. Gaza health authorities state 147 people, including 88 children, have died from hunger-related causes in recent weeks. The UN World Food Programme says aid access remains insufficient despite Israel's announced humanitarian pauses.
Israel denies deliberately causing starvation, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissing claims as 'lies.' Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump refrained from endorsing Palestinian statehood, stating Hamas should not be rewarded.
The conflict, triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel, has become the deadliest in Israel's history. Gaza officials report thousands more bodies buried under rubble, suggesting the actual death toll is far higher. Recent Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza killed at least 30, including women and children.
As global outcry grows, Israel faces increasing isolation, with calls to allow unrestricted aid into Gaza. However, US support for Israel remains firm, with Trump's administration showing no signs of recognising Palestinian statehood. - Reuters
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The Sun
12 minutes ago
- The Sun
Friedman's pencil and lessons in international trade
AS the United States continues to impose tariffs on a broad spectrum of imported goods, Milton Friedman's timeless lesson about the lead pencil is more relevant than ever. In his influential television series Free to Choose, Friedman – recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences – used the seemingly mundane pencil to demonstrate the extraordinary complexity and global interdependence that underpin free markets. He explained that the wood used in a pencil might come from a tree harvested in the state of Washington, which requires a saw made of steel – steel that itself is derived from iron ore. The graphite might originate in South America while the eraser likely contains rubber from Malaya. Remarkably, Friedman noted, rubber trees are not even native to that region; they were imported from South America with the help of British colonial interests. Through this example, Friedman emphasised the intricate coordination required to produce even the simplest product – coordination made possible by the global market system, where countless individuals in different parts of the world contribute to production without ever knowing one another. This, he argued, is the genius of free markets: their ability to foster peaceful and productive cooperation among strangers, ultimately benefiting consumers and societies through efficiency and innovation. Friedman's metaphor extends beyond economics to convey fundamental principles such as comparative advantage – first articulated by David Ricardo in the 19th century, which holds that countries gain by specialising in what they produce most efficiently and trading for the rest. No single nation possesses all the resources, labour or infrastructure to produce complex goods independently. The pencil, or any modern product, like a smartphone, reflects this reality. Today's smartphones are produced through intricate global supply chains that span multiple continents: semiconductors from Taiwan or Malaysia, lithium batteries and rare earth elements from China, display panels from South Korea, software and chip design from the US and final assembly in Vietnam, India or China. These supply chains are highly sensitive to trade policies. When tariffs are imposed, especially on intermediate goods, they increase costs, complicate planning and introduce uncertainty across production stages. Supporters of tariffs often argue they protect domestic industries, reduce reliance on strategic competitors and promote national reindustrialisation. However, mounting empirical evidence shows that tariffs function as a tax on consumers and downstream industries, distorting prices and undermining the comparative advantages that drive global economic efficiency. In recent years, rising protectionism, exemplified by sweeping US tariffs under the banner of 'economic liberation', has triggered retaliatory measures, strained trade relationships and threatened the cooperative spirit upon which global commerce is built. This inward turn undermines not only economic efficiency but also geopolitical stability. In an era defined by VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), Friedman's pencil reminds us that the solution to global challenges – climate change, resource scarcity and technological disruption – lies not in isolation but in cooperation. Trade, anchored in fairness and multilateral rules, remains one of the most effective tools for fostering prosperity, peace and resilience. For small, open economies like Malaysia, which depend heavily on exports of electronics, palm oil, rubber gloves and machinery, the notion of decoupling from global supply chains is not only economically unfeasible but strategically unsound. Attempting to replicate entire supply chains domestically would erode competitiveness, stifle innovation and threaten employment. Ultimately, international trade must evolve to be more inclusive and sustainable but its foundational principle remains unchanged: mutual exchange is not a zero-sum game but a powerful engine for shared growth. As Friedman's pencil teaches us, the invisible hand of cooperation is what truly lifts all boats when the tide rises. Assoc Prof Dr Puan Yatim is from the School of Business at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Comments: letters@
Malay Mail
12 minutes ago
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Netanyahu to unveil updated Gaza war plan as UN Security Council meets on hostages
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Netanyahu is facing mounting domestic and international pressure to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home and allow much more aid into the starving territory. Israel—backed by the United States and Panama—is preparing to convene a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday to highlight the fate of the hostages. Netanyahu on Monday reiterated that Israel's three war goals remained 'the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel'. His statement came after hundreds of retired Israeli security chiefs wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge him to convince Netanyahu to end the war. Immediate mortal danger Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said ahead of the UN meeting that 'the world must put an end to the phenomenon of kidnapping civilians. It must be front and centre on the world stage'. Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The UN session was called after Palestinian militant groups last week published three videos showing hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing weak and emaciated, causing shock and distress in Israel. Netanyahu said he had asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide food and medical treatment to the Israeli captives. Hamas's armed wing said it was willing to allow access to the hostages in exchange for opening aid corridors into all of Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned famine is unfolding. Netanyahu's government has faced repeated accusations by relatives of hostages and other critics that it has not done enough to rescue the captives. 'Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to ruin,' said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group. 'For 22 months, the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back. 'The truth must be said: expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages, who are already in immediate mortal danger.' Only through a deal Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a truce. Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged US President Donald Trump to pressure their own government to end the war. 'It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,' the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media on Monday. The war 'is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity', said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service, in a video released to accompany the letter. 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He went to bring flour for his family,' she said. 'The flour is stained with blood. We don't want the flour anymore. Enough!' UN rights chief Volker Turk on Monday said 'the images of people starving in Gaza are heart-rending and intolerable. That we have reached this stage is an affront to our collective humanity.' He called on Israel to urgently allow aid into the territory, adding that denying it 'may amount to a war crime'. He also described the videos of hostages as 'shocking', calling for the ICRC to be allowed immediate access to them. — AFP
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
Canada airdrops aid to Gaza, accuses Israel of breaking international law
CANADA said on Monday it delivered humanitarian assistance through airdrops to Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli military assault for almost 22 months, with Ottawa again accusing Israel of violating international law. 'The (Canadian Armed Forces) employed a CC-130J Hercules aircraft to conduct an airdrop of critical humanitarian aid in support of Global Affairs Canada into the Gaza Strip. The air drop consisted of 21,600 pounds of aid,' the Canadian government said in a statement. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that it was Canadian Armed Forces' first humanitarian airdrop over Gaza using their own aircraft. The Israeli military said 120 food aid packages for Gaza's residents were airdropped by six countries, including Canada. The other five were Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany and Belgium. Canada said last week it plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza. Canada also said on Monday that Israeli restrictions have posed challenges for humanitarian agencies. 'This obstruction of aid is a violation of international humanitarian law and must end immediately,' Canada's government said. The Israeli embassy in Ottawa had no immediate comment. Israel denies accusations of violating international law and blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza. Israel cut off food supplies to Gaza in March and then lifted that blockade in May - but with restrictions that it said were needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. President Donald Trump also claimed Hamas militants were stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it. However, Reuters reported late last month that an internal U.S. government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian supplies. Israel says it is taking steps for more aid to reach Gaza's population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, allowing airdrops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 60,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations. - Reuters
