US envoy to discuss finalizing Gaza aid ‘corridor': State Dept
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's globe-trotting negotiator, is traveling to the region for new talks, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
Witkoff comes with 'a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to,' she said.
Bruce declined to give further details on his itinerary or the corridor, saying that he was traveling around Gaza.
She did not say how the diplomacy would relate to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial initiative backed by Israel and the United States that has seen chaotic scenes of troops firing on hungry Palestinians racing for food.
The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the GHF began its operations in late May, with most near the foundation's sites.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Trump says trade deal struck with Japan includes 15 percent tariff
WASHINGTON/TOKYO: President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US and Japan had struck a trade deal that includes a lower 15 percent tariff that will be levied on US imports from the country, including autos. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal would include $550 billion of Japanese investments in the United States. He also said that Japan would increase market access to American producers of cars, trucks, rice and certain agricultural products, among other items. Trump's post made no mention of easing tariffs on Japanese motor vehicles, which account for more than a quarter of all the country's exports to the United States and are subject to a 25 percent tariff. But NHK reported that the deal lowers the auto tariff to 15 percent, citing a Japanese government official. 'This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan,' Trump said on the social media platform. Japan is the most significant of the clutch of deals Trump has struck so far, with two-way trade in goods between the two superpowers totaling nearly $230 billion in 2024, and Japan running a trade surplus of nearly $70 billion. Japan is the fifth-largest US trading partner in goods, US Census Bureau data show. The announcement sent stocks in Japan higher, led by big gains in automakers as Honda, Toyota and Nissan all gained 6 percent or more, and US equity index futures gained ground. The yen strengthened against the dollar. Reuters could not immediately confirm the elements of the deal announced by Trump, and details were scant. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional details. Speaking early on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he had received an initial report from his trade negotiator in Washington but declined to comment on the specifics of the negotiation. Ishiba is under intense political pressure in Japan, where the ruling coalition was set back by losing control of the upper house in an election on Sunday. Ishiba said he couldn't say how a trade deal would affect his decision on whether to step down from office until he saw the details. 'MISSON COMPLETE' Trump's announcement followed a meeting with Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, at the White House on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. '#Mission Complete,' Akazawa wrote on X. Kazutaka Maeda, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute, said that 'with the 15 percent tariff rate, I expect the Japanese economy to avoid recession.' The deal was 'a better outcome' for Japan than it potentially could have been, given Trump's earlier tariff threats, said Kristina Clifton, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. 'Steel, aluminum, and also cars are important exports for Japan, so it'll be interesting to see if there's any specific carve-outs for those,' Clifton said. Autos are a huge part of US-Japan trade, but is almost all one way to the US from Japan, a fact that has long irked Trump. In 2024, the US imported more than $55 billion of vehicles and automotive parts while just over $2 billion were sold into the Japanese market from the US Speaking later at the White House, Trump also expressed fresh optimism that Japan would form a joint venture with Washington to support a gas pipeline in Alaska long sought by his administration. Japanese officials had initially doubted the practicality of the project but warmed to it — and a range of other investments dear to Trump — as a potential incentive to resolve trade disputes with Washington. Trump aides are feverishly working to close trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline that Trump has repeatedly pushed back under pressure from markets and intense lobbying by industry. By that date, countries are set to face steep new tariffs beyond those Trump has already imposed since taking office in January. While Trump has said that unilateral letters declaring what rate would be imposed are tantamount to a deal, his team has nonetheless raced to close agreements. Trump has announced framework agreements with Britain, Vietnam, Indonesia and paused a tit-for-tat tariff battle with China, though details are still to be worked out with all of those countries. At the White House, Trump said negotiators from the European Union would be in Washington on Wednesday. Trump's announcement on Tuesday was of a pattern with some previous agreements. He announced the deal on social media shortly after a meeting or a phone call with a foreign official, leaving many key details a mystery, and before the other country issued its own proclamations. Nearly three weeks after Trump announced an agreement with Vietnam — in similar fashion — no formal statement has been released by either country spelling out the particulars of the deal that was ostensibly reached.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza'
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to 'the horror show in Gaza' and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar. The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council. In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: 'Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law' as well as the UN Charter. It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where 'starvation is knocking on every door' as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said. Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. In conflicts worldwide, 'hunger and displacement are at record levels' and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said. 'Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,' Guterres said. 'But it still holds the power to stop them.' The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited 'the ongoing tragedies' in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully. 'At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,' he said. The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring 'equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.' Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations' founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully. Under President Donald Trump's leadership, she said, the US has delivered 'deescalation' between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda. The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China's 'unlawful claims' in the South China Sea. The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country. 'We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,' Shea said.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Israel condemned by 28 nations, plus special interview with Top Gear host Steve Berry
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Michael Prendergast, we cover a joint statement signed by 28 countries calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. The statement accuses Israel of blocking sufficient humanitarian aid and urges it to comply with international humanitarian law. We also feature an interview with Top Gear host Steve Berry.
