Trump and Netanyahu meet as Gaza ceasefire talks show progress
Netanyahu, during his US visit, emphasized Israel's ongoing military objectives in Gaza. 'We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities,' he told reporters after meeting House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, noted significant progress in ceasefire talks. 'We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released,' Witkoff said.
The conflict began after Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israeli figures indicate around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed alive. Gaza's health ministry reports over 57,000 Palestinian deaths, while UN estimates warn of famine risks for nearly half a million displaced civilians.
Trump has consistently backed Netanyahu, even commenting on Israel's domestic legal proceedings against the prime minister, who faces corruption charges he denies. Netanyahu praised Trump, calling US-Israel relations the strongest in history.
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New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
US, Israel diverge on Iran endgame after strikes
WHEN they met on Monday, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu basked in the glow of their triumph over Iran. But the show of unity masked a divergence over their endgames in Iran, Gaza and the wider Middle East. Both leaders have touted the success of last month's strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, declaring they had set back a programme they say is aimed at acquiring a nuclear bomb. Yet, with intelligence assessments suggesting that Iran retains a hidden stockpile of enriched uranium and the technical capacity to rebuild, both Trump and Netanyahu know that their victory is more short-term than strategic, two diplomats say. Where they diverge is on how to further pressure Iran, the diplomats say. Trump says his priority is to lean on diplomacy, pursuing a limited objective of ensuring Iran never develops a nuclear weapon — a goal Teheran has always denied pursuing. In contrast, Netanyahu wants to use more force, a source familiar with the Israeli leader's thinking said, compelling Teheran — to the point of government collapse if necessary — into fundamental concessions on quitting a nuclear enrichment programme seen by Israel as an existential threat. The divide over Iran echoes the situation in the Gaza Strip. Trump, eager to cast himself as a global peacemaker, is pushing for a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory, but the contours of any post-war deal remain undefined and the endgame uncertain. Netanyahu, while publicly endorsing ceasefire talks, says he is committed to the total dismantling of Hamas, a strategic ally of Iran. The Israeli prime minister wants the remaining Hamas leadership deported, possibly to Algeria — a demand Hamas flatly rejects. The gap between a temporary pause and a lasting resolution remains wide, two Middle East officials say. On Iran, Netanyahu was displeased to see Washington revive nuclear talks with Teheran expected in Norway this week, the first diplomatic overture since the strikes, said the person familiar with his thinking. He opposes any move that could give the Iranian authorities an economic and political lifeline. Netanyahu wants nothing less than the Libya model for Iran, the source said. That means Iran fully dismantling its nuclear and missile facilities under strict oversight, and renouncing uranium enrichment on its soil even for civilian needs. Israel is seeking not diplomacy but regime change, Western and regional officials have said. And Netanyahu knows he needs at least a green light from the White House — if not direct backing — to carry out further operations if Teheran refuses to relinquish its nuclear ambitions, they say. But Trump has different objectives, the diplomats say. After the June strikes, he sees an opportunity to press Iran to cut a deal and seize a grand diplomatic feat of restoring ties with Iran that has long eluded him. On Monday, Trump said he would like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point. And in an eye-catching post on X suggesting Teheran sees economic ties as a potential element in any deal, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei believed American investors can come to Iran with "no obstacles to their activities". Iranian rulers, however, face two unpalatable options: renewed strikes if they do not surrender their nuclear ambitions and humiliation at home if they do. That means they may try to make talks drag out, unwilling to fully quit their nuclear project and presenting a difficulty for a US president impatient for a deal and its economic benefits for the US, Western and regional officials say. For Israel, the fallback option is clear, the person familiar with Netanyahu's thinking said: a policy of sustained containment through periodic strikes to prevent any nuclear resurgence. Washington, meanwhile, is hedging its bets. While Israeli and US hawks still hope for regime change in Teheran, Trump appears unwilling to shoulder the huge military, political and economic costs that such a project would demand. His repeated declarations that Iran's programme has been "obliterated" are less triumph than warning: don't ask for more — a signal that he's done enough and won't be drawn further in, says Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute think-tank in Washington.
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Women's rights face 'full-on assault' due to UN and aid funding cuts
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The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
‘We don't want an emperor': Brazil's Lula speaks up as Brics silent on tariffs
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rebuked US President Donald Trump for his latest tariff threat against Brics nations on Monday, while the bloc as a whole offered no public response to what critics called an alarming act of economic intimidation. 'I don't think it's very responsible and serious for a president ... of a country the size of the US to threaten the world over the internet – it's not right,' Lula said during a news conference at the conclusion of the Brics leaders' summit in Rio de Janeiro. He said the members of the group of emerging economies were 'sovereign countries' and noted that other nations had the same right to levy taxes as Washington. 'The world has changed. We don't want an emperor,' Lula added. 'Frankly, there are other things and other ways for the president ... to talk to other countries. People need to understand that respect is good – we like to give it, and we like to get it in return,' he said. The Brazilian president was reacting to comments Trump made on Sunday that he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariffs on imports from Brics members and aligned countries that pursue what he called the group's 'anti-American policies'. Brics had earlier issued a leaders' declaration condemning tariffs, unilateralism and protectionism without naming the US. Lula said that Trump's threats were not discussed during the Brics meetings, but contended that some critics had been rattled by the bloc's growing success in uniting the Global South and amplifying its voice on the world stage. In Washington on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump was 'closely monitoring' the Brics summit. However, she said, he did not 'perceive these countries as growing stronger'. 'He just perceives them as trying to undermine the United States' interests. 'And that's not OK with him, no matter how strong or weak a country is,' Leavitt added. As an organisation, Brics did not issue any official response to Trump's comments. But some member nations acknowledged them. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Sunday that Trump's latest statement on Brics had been 'noticed', Russia's Tass reported. Beijing also reacted to Trump's comments, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying on Monday that Brics 'is not a bloc for confrontation, nor does it target any country'. 'As for the US tariff hikes, China has made its position clear more than once,' she added. 'Trade war and tariff war have no winners, and protectionism leads nowhere.' Trump did not specify which policy or language in the declaration he considered anti-American. In January, shortly after returning to the White House, he declared that Brics was 'dead' and claimed no one wanted to join the bloc. He also threatened 100 per cent tariffs against Brics members over the group's push for 'de-dollarisation' and use of local currencies in internal trade. On Sunday, the Brics leaders' declaration called for Israeli troops to withdraw from Gaza on the eve of Trump's scheduled meeting on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. Although the document condemned recent Israeli and US military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities as a 'violation of international law', it did not explicitly name either country. Iran became a full Brics member in January. Brics, an acronym denoting the earliest members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has since added Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to its group of emerging economies. Brics members including India, China and Indonesia are currently engaged in trade negotiations with the Trump administration. Last week, Vietnam, a Brics partner country, reached a trade deal with the US. On Monday, Lula participated in a new group photograph that, in addition to 10 Brics full members, included UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the presidents of Chile, Uruguay, Uganda and Bolivia. Gustavo de Carvalho of the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg did not expect any 'war of words' between Brics and Trump unless the US takes direct action toward bloc members and partner countries. He said that many Brics members preferred 'not to be seen as an anti-Western type of group, but rather as a representative of a non-Western group'. He contended that Trump's threats would not deter new countries from joining the bloc – unless those threats materialise. He argued that 'the US would have to be far more aggressive than it has been so far to really reduce that level of interest'. Such threats, he said, were part of 'seeking leverage between the US and other economies', providing the US with better terms when trading with countries that several Brics members also engage with. Farwa Aamer of Asia Society in New York, noting long-standing divisions within Brics, said that while existing members were unlikely to leave Brics, Trump's posture 'could deter some Global South countries from joining any time soon, especially those looking to maintain stable ties with the US'. 'Given those dynamics, we're more likely to see a muted or fragmented response, if any. Most will likely adopt a wait-and-see approach rather than escalate tensions, especially with uncertainty around the trade and economic landscape,' she said. Also on Monday, the US said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel to Malaysia, a Brics partner country, from Tuesday to Saturday, to take part in the Asean-United States Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the Asean Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Speaking at the Brics business forum last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Brics countries to learn from Asean on how to challenge Western dominance. Anwar said that the Global South should speak 'from a position of strength' in international matters and he encouraged the bloc to continue discussions on reducing its dependence on the US dollar as a reserve currency. 'Of course, we're not talking about de-dollarisation, because there's a long way to go, but at least we try – Malaysia with Indonesia, Malaysia with Thailand, and together with China – trying to use our own local currency,' he added. 'Even beginning with 10 or 20 per cent, it makes a difference.' - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
