Ceasefire talks remain stalled as Hamas says Gaza mediation efforts intensify
In this episode of W News Extra, presented by Leigh-Ann Gerrans, we bring the latest on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. A senior Hamas official says mediators have stepped up efforts to broker a new ceasefire and hostage deal – but talks with Israel remain stalled.
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Gemma White – Correspondent and columnist
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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Partnering for prosperity: UK's industrial strategy and Saudi Vision 2030
The UK and Saudi Arabia stand at a pivotal moment in their bilateral relationship. As we witness the remarkable transformation underway across the Kingdom through Vision 2030, I am pleased to share how the UK's newly launched Modern Industrial Strategy creates an exceptional opportunity to further strengthen the partnership between the two nations. This week, the UK government unveiled its comprehensive, 10-year industrial strategy, establishing a clear roadmap for economic growth focused on eight high-value sectors in which Britain has international competitive advantage. This strategy represents our commitment to making the UK an even more attractive destination for international investment by creating a stable, open, and strategic business environment. What makes this moment particularly exciting is how closely our industrial strategy aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. Both national frameworks share remarkably similar objectives: economic diversification, technological innovation, human capability development, and the creation of environments that attract quality foreign investment. This alignment creates natural synergies that can accelerate mutual prosperity. As partners in economic transformation, we recognize that prosperity requires a strategic approach. The global landscape has changed fundamentally in recent years, presenting new challenges, from supply chain disruptions to energy-security concerns. Yet within these challenges lie tremendous opportunities for collaboration on frontier industries in which both nations can excel together. The eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy that will power Britain's economic future are: advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defense, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services. In each of these sectors, we see clear alignment with Vision 2030's priorities for economic diversification. The Great Futures campaign, launched last year, has already proven to be an exceptional vehicle for delivering on this shared vision. We brought more than 450 business leaders to the Kingdom in May 2024 — the largest and most senior UK business delegation to visit any country in over a decade — and witnessed the immense appetite for partnership between our business communities. That event catalyzed partnerships worth more than £7.7 billion ($10.6 billion) and delivered more than 50 agreements across priority sectors. Together, we can build a future of shared innovation, sustainable growth, and mutual success. Neil Crompton These are not merely commercial transactions; they represent transformative collaborations that advance the strategic interests of both nations. Take clean energy, for instance. UK firm HYCAP has partnered with leading Saudi companies to invest more than £750 million in hydrogen-powered transport, securing more than 1,000 jobs across both kingdoms. Meanwhile, Carbon Clean's collaboration with Saudi Aramco on modular carbon capture technology is accelerating sustainable development. In infrastructure development, British expertise is contributing significantly to projects that are reshaping the landscape of the Kingdom under Vision 2030. These include airports, aviation, rail transportation, and construction within Saudi giga-projects, with many more in the pipeline. Financial services represent another area of exceptional synergy. London's position as a world-leading financial hub has created natural partnerships with Saudi institutions. The UK is the main location for Saudi companies and investors who want to issue green and Islamic bonds outside the Kingdom, while the London Stock Exchange has 100 percent of Saudi market share across corporate and sovereign banks. Human capability development stands at the heart of both our strategies. The recent Great Futures UK-Saudi Skills Forum brought together our governments to accelerate their partnership on technical and vocational education. Working with Saudi ministries, the UK is identifying sustainable opportunities to develop the skills vital for the economy of tomorrow. As we look ahead, the announcement of the UK-Saudi Sustainable Infrastructure Assembly marks an important next step in our partnership. This initiative will boost collaboration between the UK's financial and professional services sectors and Saudi Arabia's sustainable infrastructure developers, ensuring that British expertise can contribute effectively to Vision 2030 projects. The Industrial Strategy has been international from the start, built on lessons learned from what works in other countries, and designed for the global context. This is evident in our diplomatic engagement approach, which prioritizes mutually beneficial partnerships rather than competition. We seek to deepen economic collaboration with partners such as Saudi Arabia to increase reciprocal investment and trade, foster innovation, and bolster the resilience of supply chains critical to our frontier industries. Later this year, Great Futures will mark a year of successful partnerships with a leadership summit in London. Bringing together senior UK and Saudi ministers, alongside representatives from key industries in both nations, this celebration will showcase the tangible achievements of our campaign while setting the agenda for future collaboration. I hope many Saudi business and government leaders will join us on this important occasion. The relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia has never been stronger, with bilateral trade exceeding £17 billion annually and more than 1,300 UK firms operating in the Kingdom. But I believe the opportunities before us are even greater. By aligning the ambitions of the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, we can create a model for international economic collaboration that delivers prosperity for both our nations. Together, we can build a future of shared innovation, sustainable growth, and mutual success. The UK stands ready as your committed partner on this journey.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Missile exchanges may have ended — but questions remain
As befits 21st century diplomacy, US President Donald Trump announced a complete and total ceasefire between Iran and Israel on social media, congratulating 'everyone' for this, especially himself. After regrettable violations within the first few hours of the truce, which needlessly caused more loss of life, the deal to end this 12-day war seems to be holding. It is probably the first good news for the region in months, as both sworn enemies have given way to pressure exerted by Washington and are holding fire, at least for now. Until the ceasefire was agreed there was a danger the region might become embroiled in a long war of attrition. Now that the missile and drone exchanges have ended, one inevitable question is whether this costly affair could have been prevented — not just as a hypothetical exercise, but as a lesson in how to avoid another military confrontation between two of the most powerful militaries in the region. Could diplomacy have achieved the same, or even better, results, without inflicting death, destruction, and psychological scars on both combatants? The build-up to these 12 days of hostilities began more than a quarter of the century ago, and some might argue as far back as 1979 when the Iranian revolution rather artificially marked Israel, for its close relations with both the toppled shah and the US, as an enemy. History will look back at this deep enmity and might struggle to find objective reasons for it. Initially this hostility served the revolution as a tool for consolidating its hold on power at home and suppressing opposition. In turn, it also helped to propel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power as Israel's defender against the Iranian threat, both conventional and potentially nuclear. Time will possibly reveal how close Iran was to assembling a nuclear bomb, and most analysts agree that the US decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018, during Trump's first term, removed the shackles from Iran's uranium enrichment program, bringing it closer to weapons grade. It is hardly believable that the Tehran regime should have invested such huge resources only for civilian use. It is also the case that in forming and leading the so-called axis of resistance, Iran, through its proxies in the region, posed a threat to stability sufficient to eventually merit a response. Ultimately, despite being a source of major disruption, even a lethal one in the case of Hamas, and to a lesser extent Hezbollah, it could not match Israel's military capabilities, especially when the latter was backed by the US and other allies. On this occasion, Netanyahu managed also to lure Trump to act against his instincts and use military force. For the US leader the dilemma was between maintaining his posture as a president who brings an end to wars, and the temptation to deliver an almost risk-free strike against Iran's main nuclear sites after Israel's air force had eliminated the country's air defense capabilities. Could diplomacy have achieved the same, or even better, results? Yossi Mekelberg The latter then gained the upper hand, enabling Trump, in a matter of days, to potentially inflict a decisive blow against Iran's nuclear program, especially in Fordow, where it is believed more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent was stored, and then lean on both sides to stop the hostilities. When both violated the ceasefire, Trump was furious, telling the media in no uncertain terms that 'we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what ... they're doing.' Yet, his criticism of Israel was far more robust, including a demand that Netanyahu order its pilots to return from another mission immediately. Allowing Iran a symbolic attack on US military bases in Qatar without any loss of life permitted an act of theater that allowed Tehran to save face after weeks of humiliation during which it lost many of its military chiefs and top scientists, exposing the level of Israel's penetration to nearly every government department, scientific institution, and military command. Nevertheless, Israel's vulnerability was also exposed by its failure to sufficiently protect its civilian population, revealing a severe shortage of adequate shelters as their enemy hit hospitals, the main international airport, and even oil refineries in Haifa. What emerged quickly was the difference between the open-ended conflict that Israel embarked on and Washington's priorities. Israel had many far-reaching objectives beyond Iran's nuclear program, including degrading its conventional military power, and instigating regime change. For Trump, however, it was simply about setting back the nuclear program and returning to the negotiating table. The war with Iran gave Netanyahu a new lease of life. A man who had barely talked to the Israeli media or mixed with people in public, especially since Oct. 7, suddenly could not stop himself from doing both, including visiting sites that were hit by Iranian missiles. But 21 months after the massacre, incapable and unwilling to take responsibility, he still has not visited the communities that were destroyed there. Yet the destruction caused by Iran gave him much-needed justification to continue the war before Trump put a stop to the conflict, and the photo-ops were exactly what he needed considering his high level of disapproval among voters. After this brief bout of fighting, Netanyahu's Likud party is doing slightly better in the polls, which might tempt him to call a snap election, but in the meantime, he will have to convince Israel's voters that the outcome of this war justified the unprecedented terrifying 12 days that they endured. Can he, together with Trump, also translate military achievements into a diplomatic success, one that ensures both that future uranium enrichment is limited to what is needed for civil use, and that Tehran ceases its meddling in the affairs of other countries? This remains an open question, but the next task for Israel's prime minister is to explain to the electorate why the war in Gaza is still raging and 50 hostages are still in captivity.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 72 People in Gaza
Israeli strikes killed at least 72 people across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, health workers said, as ceasefire prospects were said to be improving after 21 months of war. Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp in Muwasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. They were struck while sleeping, relatives said. 'What did these children do to them? What is their fault?' said the children's grandmother, Suad Abu Teima, as others knelt to kiss their bloodied faces and wept. Some placed red flowers into the body bags. Also among the dead were 12 people near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, and eight more in apartments, according to staff at Shifa Hospital. More than 20 bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, according to health officials. A midday strike killed 11 people on a street in eastern Gaza City, and their bodies were taken to Al-Ahli Hospital. Another strike on a gathering in eastern Gaza City killed eight including five children, the hospital said. A strike on a gathering at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two, according to Al-Awda Hospital. US President Donald Trump says there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters on Friday, he said, 'We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.' An official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will arrive in Washington next week for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other subjects. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been on again, off again since Israel broke the latest ceasefire in March, continuing its military campaign in Gaza and furthering the territory's dire humanitarian crisis. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, fewer than half believed to still be alive. They were among 251 hostages taken when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the war.
