Iran has a 'very weak hand' at the moment, says Carnegie's Karim Sadjadpour
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump hosts Netanyahu, hopes for Israel-Hamas deal 'this week'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Monday US President Donald Trump, who expressed hope for a "deal this week" between Israel and Hamas that sees hostages released from the Gaza Strip. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday evening in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Trump said Sunday there was a "good chance" of reaching an agreement. "We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out," he told journalists. Netanyahu, speaking before boarding his flight to Washington on Sunday, said his meeting with Trump could "definitely help advance this" deal. The US president is pushing for a truce in the Gaza Strip, plunged into a humanitarian crisis after nearly two years of war. Netanyahu said he dispatched the team to Doha with "clear instructions" to reach an agreement "under the conditions that we have agreed to." He previously said Hamas's response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained "unacceptable" demands. - 'Important mission' - Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel. However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system. Netanyahu has an "important mission" in Washington, "advancing a deal to bring all our hostages home," said Israeli President Isaac Herzog after meeting him Sunday. Trump is not scheduled to meet the Israeli premier until 6:30 pm (2230 GMT) Monday, the White House said, without the usual presence of journalists. Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Since Hamas's October 2023 attack sparked the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in the fighting. They have seen hostages freed in exchange for some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel's rejection of Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire. - 'Enough blood' - In Gaza, the territory's civil defense agency reported 26 people killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, 10 of them in a strike in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. "We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now," Sheikh Radwan resident Osama al-Hanawi told AFP. "Enough blood has been shed." Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates. - Hundreds killed seeking aid - The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries. But its operations have had a chaotic rollout, with repeated reports of aid seekers killed near its facilities while awaiting rations. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. The UN human rights office said last week that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points. The Gaza health ministry on Sunday placed that toll even higher, at 751 killed. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable. burs/smw/tc/rsc
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump and Netanyahu to Meet as New Middle East Tests Loom
When President Trump meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, the Middle East will look far different from how it did only months ago. A region that was awash in conflict and risk seems to be ripe for diplomacy. At first glance, it appears to be a rare opportunity for Trump's brand of dealmaking.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
False posts share AI-generated news report about Iran 'surrendering' to Israel
"Breaking news, Iran has officially surrendered to Israel," says a supposed CNN anchor in a Facebook reel shared June 26, 2025. "A path to peace may finally be in sight between the two nations," he adds before the clip cuts to a group of protesters holding Iranian flags while appearing to apologise to Israel. The Middle East foes traded devastating missile attacks after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on June 13 targeting Iran's nuclear and military facilities. The strikes left more than 900 people dead in Iran and 28 people dead in Israel (archived link). A ceasefire between Iran and Israel took effect on June 24. The fabricated CNN video surfaced elsewhere on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, racking up more than a million views in total. Several users seemed to believe the report was genuine. "Very good Iran. Peace. God bless Iran and Israel," one commented. "Good job Iran. Better to be humble," another said. CNN's senior vice president of communications Emily Kuhn dismissed the posts. "This is a fake video and never aired on CNN," Kuhn told AFP on July 2. The footage also bears signs it was AI-generated. Compared to genuine CNN coverage of Iranians at a pro-government rally on June 25, the "live" label above the CNN logo is misspelled and the usual timestamp and name of the news programme are instead made up of jumbled characters. Additionally, the news anchor's mouth does not move in accordance with his speech, another hallmark of AI-altered footage. Despite the meteoric progress in Generative AI, errors still show up in AI-generated content. These defects are the best way to recognise a fabricated image. The overly smooth skin and hair of the protesters suggest the video was AI-generated, as AFP previously noted in its video tutorial on spotting inauthentic visuals. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video found the clip was earlier shared on TikTok on June 24. The post shows the video was taken from another user whose account is named "Ai VIDEOS". While the circulating clip does not appear on the user's profile, a review of the account shows similar AI-generated news reports (archived link). The clips bear an identical "AI VIDEO" text at the lower right corner of the frame. AFP has debunked a wave of AI-generated visuals being falsely linked to the Iran-Israel conflict (archived link).
