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The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Netanyahu weighs Gaza takeover as war intensifies and hunger spreads
TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior security officials to finalise a new strategy for the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip, his office said on Tuesday, with media reporting he favoured a complete military takeover of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. Despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and appalling conditions in the besieged enclave, efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, have collapsed. Local health authorities said at least 20 people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they waited for United Nations aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip. In southern Gaza, 20 people were wounded by Israeli gunfire as they waited to get aid from U.N. aid trucks near Morag Square near Rafah, medics said. Eight more people died of starvation or malnutrition in the last day, Gaza's Health Ministry said, while at least 80 people were killed in the latest Israeli firing. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the prime minister had held a 'limited security discussion' lasting about three hours during which military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir 'presented the options for continuing the campaign in Gaza'. An Israeli official had earlier told Reuters that Defence Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu, would also attend the meeting to decide on a strategy to take to the cabinet this week. Israeli media reported on Tuesday that the cabinet would convene on Thursday at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT). Israel's Channel 12, citing an official from Netanyahu's office, had said the prime minister was leaning towards taking control of the entire territory. That would reverse a 2005 decision to withdraw Israeli citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while retaining control over its borders, airspace and utilities, a move right-wing parties blame for Hamas gaining power there in the 2006 election. It was unclear, however, whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged takeover or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages. The prime minister's office declined to comment on the Channel 12 report. 'It is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, release our hostages and ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,' Netanyahu told new recruits at a military base. 'We are not giving up on any of these missions.' The U.N. called reports about a possible decision to expand Israel's military operations throughout the Gaza Strip 'deeply alarming' if true. U.S. President Donald Trump declined to say whether the U.S., Israel's closest military ally, supported Netanyahu's plans. 'I know that we are there now trying to get people fed,' Trump told reporters. 'As far as the rest of it, I really can't say. That's going to be pretty much up to Israel.' On Saturday, Hamas released a video of the Israeli hostage Evyatar David, appearing emaciated in what seemed to be an underground tunnel. The images shocked Israelis and sparked international condemnation. Throughout the war, there has been sustained international pressure on Hamas to release the remaining 50 people taken hostage in 2023, of whom Israeli officials estimate 20 are still alive. Most hostages have been released during ceasefires following diplomatic negotiations. Israel broke the last ceasefire. A Palestinian official said the suggestion of a full Israeli military takeover of Gaza may be a tactic to pressure Hamas into concessions, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged foreign nations to take heed of the reports. 'The ministry urges countries and the international community to treat these leaks with utmost seriousness and to intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether these leaks are meant to exert pressure, test international reactions, or are genuine and serious,' it said. Israel's coalition government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, includes far-right politicians who advocate the annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank and encouraging Palestinians to leave their homeland. The International Court of Justice said in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and should end soon. Nearly two years of fighting in Gaza have strained Israel's military, which has a small standing army and has had to repeatedly mobilise reservists; some military leaders have warned against expanding the military occupation. In a sign of differences between some members of Israel's ruling coalition and the military, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir challenged military head Zamir to state he would comply with government directives even if a decision was made to take all of Gaza. The statement from Netanyahu's office said the Israeli Defence Forces were 'prepared to implement any decision that will be made by the Political-Security Cabinet.' The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel's campaign has forced nearly all of Gaza's more than 2 million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine. Some 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger since the war began, according to Gaza authorities. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza, but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive. Palestinians living in the last quarter of territory where Israel has not yet taken military control, via ground incursions or demands for civilians to leave, said any new push would be catastrophic. 'If the tanks pushed through, where would we go, into the sea?' said Abu Jehad, a Gaza wood merchant. 'This will be like a death sentence to the entire population.' - Reuters
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Hiroshima marks 80 years as US–Russia nuclear tensions rise
HIROSHIMA, Japan: Japan marks 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday with a ceremony reminding the world of the horrors unleashed, as sabre-rattling between the US and Russia keeps the nuclear "Doomsday Clock" close to midnight. A silent prayer was due to be held at 8.15am (2315 GMT), the moment when US aircraft Enola Gay dropped "Little Boy" over the western Japanese city on Aug 6, 1945. The final death toll would hit around 140,000 people, killed not just by the colossal blast and the ball of fire, but also later by the radiation. Three days after "Little Boy", on August 9, another atomic bomb killed 74,000 people in Nagasaki. Imperial Japan surrendered on Aug 15, bringing an end to World War II. Today, Hiroshima is a thriving metropolis of 1.2 million people, but the ruins of a domed building stand in the city centre as a stark reminder. Wednesday's ceremony was set to include a record of around 120 countries and regions, including, for the first time, Taiwanese and Palestinian representatives. The US – which has never formally apologised for the bombings – will be represented by its ambassador to Japan. Absent will be Russia and China, organisers said Monday. Nihon Hidankyo, the grassroots organisation that last year won the Nobel Peace Prize, will represent the dwindling number of survivors, known as hibakusha. As of March, there are 99,130 hibakusha, according to the Japanese health ministry, with the average age of 86. "I want foreign envoys to visit the peace memorial museum and understand what happened," the group's co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki told local media ahead of the commemorations. The attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui is expected at the ceremony to urge attendees to "never give up" on achieving a nuclear-free world. Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, who survived the blasts as a baby, told AFP he was hopeful. "I think the global trend of seeking a nuclear-free world will continue," he said. "The younger generation is working hard for that end," he said ahead of the ceremony. But in January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' "Doomsday Clock" shifted to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest in its 78-year history. The clock symbolising humanity's distance from destruction was last moved to 90 seconds to midnight over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia and the US account for around 90 per cent of the world's over 12,000 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI warned in June that "a dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging at a time when arms control regimes are severely weakened," with nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states modernising their arsenals. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said that he had ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines following an online spat with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Last month, Matsui urged Trump to visit Hiroshima after the US president likened the 1945 atomic bombings to air strikes on Iran in June. "It seems to me that he does not fully understand the reality of the atomic bombings, which, if used, take the lives of many innocent citizens, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, and threaten the survival of the human race," Matsui said at the time.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Gold falls from two-week highs as dollar ticks up
NEW YORK: Gold slipped from a near two-week high on Tuesday as the dollar firmed, though losses were capped by bolstered bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,354.56 per ounce, by 1220 GMT. Bullion hit its highest since July 24 on Monday at $3,385.29. US gold futures also fell 0.5% to $3,408.20. The dollar index rose 0.2% from a one-week low hit earlier in the session, reducing gold's appeal to other currency holders. Data on Friday showed employment growth in the US slowed more than anticipated in July, with payroll revisions for May and June slashing a hefty 258,000 jobs from previous tallies. The CME FedWatch tool now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 88%, up from 63% a week earlier, with markets largely pricing in at least two quarter-point reductions this year. 'What gold needs to move higher from here is probably (another) weaker US economic data... The other item gold is watching is who US President Trump names as next Fed Governor, potentially the successor of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell,' said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Trump's dismissal of the labour statistics chief following the weak payrolls report, coupled with news that he will appoint a new Fed governor, added to uncertainty. Trump also threatened to lift tariffs on Indian goods beyond last month's 25% hike, citing India's continued purchases of Russian oil. Gold, long seen as a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainty, typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment. 'I still do not see traders pushing up aggressively above the $3,450 level unless we have a very clear catalyst,' OANDA senior market analyst, Kelvin Wong, said. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 0.2% to $37.45 per ounce, platinum lost 1.1% to $1,314.50 and palladium shed 1.8% to $1,184.94. South Africa-based miner Sibanye-Stillwater has asked the United States to consider imposing a tariff on Russian palladium imports to support the long-term viability of US supplies.
