Benjamin Netanyahu discusses whether a two-state solution will be possible
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ABC News
14 minutes ago
- ABC News
Five Israeli soldiers killed amid ongoing ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas
Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Tuesday, in one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory this year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented a "difficult morning" as he visited Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, who is pressing for a ceasefire in the more than 21-month-long war. "All of Israel bows its head and mourns the fall of our heroic soldiers, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages," Mr Netanyahu posted on X. The Israeli military said the five soldiers, aged between 20 and 28, "fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip". Two others were severely wounded and "evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment", it said, adding their families had been notified. Israeli military correspondents reported the deaths occurred when improvised explosive devices detonated in the area of Beit Hanun in the north of the territory. During attempts to evacuate the wounded, soldiers reportedly came under fire. Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said "the complex Beit Hanun operation is yet another blow delivered by our valiant fighters". "The war of attrition our fighters are waging against the enemy — from the north of the Strip to its south — will inflict additional losses on it every day," the spokesman of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. In a post on X, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said "the unbearable news of the fall of five heroic sons in Gaza — most of them fighters of the ultra-Orthodox 'Netzach Yehuda' battalion — pierces the heart". Opposition leader Yair Lapid meanwhile wrote: "For the sake of the fighters, for the sake of their families, for the sake of the hostages, for the sake of the State of Israel: this war must be ended." Qatar said on Tuesday more time was needed for negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after the US president voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough. Mr Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to join the talks in Doha this week. Israel and Hamas began the latest round of negotiations on Sunday, with representatives seated in separate rooms within the same building. Qatar, a mediator along with the United States and Egypt, said the meetings in Doha were focused on a framework for the talks, while a Palestinian official close to the negotiations said no breakthrough had been achieved so far. "We have to have a ceasefire in Gaza in coming weeks, if intolerable situation continues then the UK government will go further in taking measures against Israel," UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said. The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. AFP/ Reuters
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Japan and S.Korea seek to soften Trump tariff blow
Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea will try to negotiate with the US to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August. Trump ramped up his trade war again on Monday, telling 14 nations that they would face tariffs ranging from 25 per cent for countries including Japan and South Korea, to 40 per cent for Laos and Myanmar. However, with the start date pushed back to August 1, those countries are focusing on the new three-week window to press for an easier ride. Japan wanted concessions for its large automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in which the two agreed to actively continue negotiations. However, he said he would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector - a powerful political lobby domestically - for the sake of an early deal. South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks over the coming weeks "to reach a mutually beneficial result". Asked if the latest deadline was firm, Trump replied on Monday: "I would say firm but not 100 per cent firm. "If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that." Market reaction was muted as investors assessed the latest twist in the long-running trade saga. The European Union, which is the largest bilateral trade partner of the US, aimed to strike a deal before August 1 with negotiations focused on "rebalancing" and concessions for certain key export industries, a European source familiar with the negotiations said. Some EU sources had said late on Monday that the bloc was close to an agreement with the Trump administration. This could involve limited concessions to US baseline tariffs of 10 per cent for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and spirits. Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Washington and Beijing agreed to a trade framework in June, but with many details still unclear, traders and investors are watching to see if it unravels or leads to a lasting detente. Trump's trade tactics were making it hard for nations and businesses to plan with any certainty, the executive director of the United Nations trade agency said on Tuesday. "This move actually extends the period of uncertainty, undermining long-term investment and business contracts, and creating further uncertainty and instability," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre, told reporters in Geneva. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32 per cent on Indonesia, 35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said. The US is the main export market for Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of its export earnings and employs four million people. "This is absolutely shocking news for us," Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. "We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20 per cent. This will hurt our industry badly." Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea will try to negotiate with the US to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August. Trump ramped up his trade war again on Monday, telling 14 nations that they would face tariffs ranging from 25 per cent for countries including Japan and South Korea, to 40 per cent for Laos and Myanmar. However, with the start date pushed back to August 1, those countries are focusing on the new three-week window to press for an easier ride. Japan wanted concessions for its large automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in which the two agreed to actively continue negotiations. However, he said he would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector - a powerful political lobby domestically - for the sake of an early deal. South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks over the coming weeks "to reach a mutually beneficial result". Asked if the latest deadline was firm, Trump replied on Monday: "I would say firm but not 100 per cent firm. "If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that." Market reaction was muted as investors assessed the latest twist in the long-running trade saga. The European Union, which is the largest bilateral trade partner of the US, aimed to strike a deal before August 1 with negotiations focused on "rebalancing" and concessions for certain key export industries, a European source familiar with the negotiations said. Some EU sources had said late on Monday that the bloc was close to an agreement with the Trump administration. This could involve limited concessions to US baseline tariffs of 10 per cent for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and spirits. Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Washington and Beijing agreed to a trade framework in June, but with many details still unclear, traders and investors are watching to see if it unravels or leads to a lasting detente. Trump's trade tactics were making it hard for nations and businesses to plan with any certainty, the executive director of the United Nations trade agency said on Tuesday. "This move actually extends the period of uncertainty, undermining long-term investment and business contracts, and creating further uncertainty and instability," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre, told reporters in Geneva. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32 per cent on Indonesia, 35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said. The US is the main export market for Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of its export earnings and employs four million people. "This is absolutely shocking news for us," Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. "We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20 per cent. This will hurt our industry badly." Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea will try to negotiate with the US to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August. Trump ramped up his trade war again on Monday, telling 14 nations that they would face tariffs ranging from 25 per cent for countries including Japan and South Korea, to 40 per cent for Laos and Myanmar. However, with the start date pushed back to August 1, those countries are focusing on the new three-week window to press for an easier ride. Japan wanted concessions for its large automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in which the two agreed to actively continue negotiations. However, he said he would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector - a powerful political lobby domestically - for the sake of an early deal. South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks over the coming weeks "to reach a mutually beneficial result". Asked if the latest deadline was firm, Trump replied on Monday: "I would say firm but not 100 per cent firm. "If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that." Market reaction was muted as investors assessed the latest twist in the long-running trade saga. The European Union, which is the largest bilateral trade partner of the US, aimed to strike a deal before August 1 with negotiations focused on "rebalancing" and concessions for certain key export industries, a European source familiar with the negotiations said. Some EU sources had said late on Monday that the bloc was close to an agreement with the Trump administration. This could involve limited concessions to US baseline tariffs of 10 per cent for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and spirits. Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Washington and Beijing agreed to a trade framework in June, but with many details still unclear, traders and investors are watching to see if it unravels or leads to a lasting detente. Trump's trade tactics were making it hard for nations and businesses to plan with any certainty, the executive director of the United Nations trade agency said on Tuesday. "This move actually extends the period of uncertainty, undermining long-term investment and business contracts, and creating further uncertainty and instability," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre, told reporters in Geneva. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32 per cent on Indonesia, 35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said. The US is the main export market for Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of its export earnings and employs four million people. "This is absolutely shocking news for us," Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. "We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20 per cent. This will hurt our industry badly." Powerhouse Asian economies Japan and South Korea will try to negotiate with the US to soften the impact of sharply higher tariffs that President Donald Trump now plans to impose from the start of August. Trump ramped up his trade war again on Monday, telling 14 nations that they would face tariffs ranging from 25 per cent for countries including Japan and South Korea, to 40 per cent for Laos and Myanmar. However, with the start date pushed back to August 1, those countries are focusing on the new three-week window to press for an easier ride. Japan wanted concessions for its large automobile industry, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Akazawa said he held a 40-minute phone call with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in which the two agreed to actively continue negotiations. However, he said he would not sacrifice Japan's agriculture sector - a powerful political lobby domestically - for the sake of an early deal. South Korea said it planned to intensify trade talks over the coming weeks "to reach a mutually beneficial result". Asked if the latest deadline was firm, Trump replied on Monday: "I would say firm but not 100 per cent firm. "If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that." Market reaction was muted as investors assessed the latest twist in the long-running trade saga. The European Union, which is the largest bilateral trade partner of the US, aimed to strike a deal before August 1 with negotiations focused on "rebalancing" and concessions for certain key export industries, a European source familiar with the negotiations said. Some EU sources had said late on Monday that the bloc was close to an agreement with the Trump administration. This could involve limited concessions to US baseline tariffs of 10 per cent for aircraft and parts, some medical equipment and spirits. Only two deals have been struck so far, with Britain and Vietnam. Washington and Beijing agreed to a trade framework in June, but with many details still unclear, traders and investors are watching to see if it unravels or leads to a lasting detente. Trump's trade tactics were making it hard for nations and businesses to plan with any certainty, the executive director of the United Nations trade agency said on Tuesday. "This move actually extends the period of uncertainty, undermining long-term investment and business contracts, and creating further uncertainty and instability," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre, told reporters in Geneva. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on goods from Tunisia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, with levies of 30 per cent on South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing to 32 per cent on Indonesia, 35 per cent on Serbia and Bangladesh, 36 per cent on Cambodia and Thailand and 40 per cent on Laos and Myanmar. A Bangladesh team in Washington was scheduled to have further trade talks on Wednesday, an official said. The US is the main export market for Bangladesh's ready-made garments industry, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of its export earnings and employs four million people. "This is absolutely shocking news for us," Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Reuters on Tuesday. "We were really hoping the tariffs would be somewhere between 10-20 per cent. This will hurt our industry badly."
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass slams ‘outrageous' military presence, says city is ‘under siege'
Tensions continue to bubble in Los Angeles following the recent riots that broke out in response to Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. A senior border official said on Monday that federal agents would remain in the Californian capital 'until that mission is accomplished'. Their presence has been heavily criticised by the city's mayor, Karen Bass. The situation escalated again this week as heavily armed personnel from ICE, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and military units deployed by Mr Trump arrived in force at MacArthur Park. Officers were seen carrying rifles, patrolling the area on foot, horseback, and in armoured vehicles. Ms Bass boldly interrupted a scheduled meeting with California Governor Gavin Newsom to confront the agents in person, denouncing the show of force as a 'political stunt' by the Republicans. 'They need to leave and they need to leave right now!' she shouted, moments after speaking by phone with someone overseeing the operation. 'What I saw in the park today looked like a city under siege,' Ms Bass later told reporters. 'It's outrageous and un-American to have armed vehicles in our American parks.' She reportedly had a brief exchange with CBP Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim, who connected her 'directly to the head of customs'. She said the agents began to withdraw shortly afterwards. However, Border Patrol El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino made it clear that federal forces would not be stepping back. 'The federal government is not leaving LA. … The federal government does not work for Karen Bass. We're going to be here until that mission is accomplished,' Mr Bovino told Fox Los Angeles. 'Better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon,' he added. Ms Bass and members of the Los Angeles City Council criticised the raid for disrupting a children's summer camp, forcing the children to take shelter in a nearby basement while the operation unfolded. Health workers from the St. John's Community Health Center, who provide daily medical checks to homeless people in the park, were also forced to leave. Ms Bass later took to social media platform X to condemn the operation, posting a time-lapse video showing agents marching across an empty football pitch. 'Minutes before, there were more than 20 kids playing — then, the MILITARY comes through,' she wrote. 'The SECOND I heard about this, I went to the park to speak to the person in charge to tell them it needed to end NOW. Absolutely outrageous.' It remains unclear whether any arrests were made. According to the Los Angeles Times, local activists had warned people in the park in advance of the sweep. 'I think the goal is to spread fear,' Ms Bass said of the raid, reaffirming her commitment to keeping Los Angeles a sanctuary city for migrants. The Los Angeles Police Department said it had no knowledge of the federal operation at MacArthur Park. The US Department of Homeland Security stated that it does not comment on ongoing enforcement actions. Los Angeles has been a flashpoint for Trump-era immigration policy, with the city recently witnessing chaotic raids and public protests. The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the city, accusing it of obstructing immigration enforcement through its sanctuary city stance. Ms Bass said the city would challenge the former president's actions in court, including the use of military-style deployments in Los Angeles.
