Latest news with #BinyaminNetanyahu
Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Netanyahu asks court to suspend corruption trial so he can focus on possible Gaza ceasefire
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said efforts are being made with the US to follow the military victory over Iran with a regional diplomatic initiative to end the war in Gaza and expand regional peace agreements. Mr Netanyahu said: 'We've been working on it energetically. Along with releasing our hostages and defeating Hamas , there is an opportunity, a window of opportunity has opened, and it can't be missed. Not even a single day can be wasted.' Mr Netanyahu asked the Tel Aviv district court to suspend proceedings in his corruption trial for two weeks so that he can devote more time to a possible ceasefire deal. The court rejected the request. US president Donald Trump , in a bizarre social media post, recently called for the trial to end, writing: 'Bibi Netanyahu's trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.' READ MORE Mr Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases. He has pleaded not guilty. Mr Trump's message appeared to be linked to a wider push for regional peace and an effort to prepare public opinion in Israel for a move to pardon Mr Netanyahu. There was speculation in the Israeli media that the initiative for Mr Trump's message may have come from the prime minister's office. Opposition politicians and legal experts have criticised Mr Trump's comments as a blatant interference in Israel's internal affairs, but coalition members are considering the promotion of a Bill to cancel the trial. US officials have spoken in recent days of progress in efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire, noting that the defeat of Iran, the main backer of Hamas, has put extra pressure on the militant group. Senior Trump administration officials have urged Israel to send its negotiation team to Cairo next week, but Israeli officials have indicated such a move was premature. [ Two tribes: How Israel and Iran became enemies Opens in new window ] Israel is not willing to commit to an end to the war and Hamas refuses to disarm and agree that its leaders will leave Gaza as part of any deal. According to the Yisrael Hayom newspaper, as part of the emerging US plan to end the war, new countries including Saudi Arabia and Syria would join the Abraham Accords – the series of normalisation that Mr Trump's administration negotiated between Israel and some Gulf countries during his first term. Oman, Qatar and Indonesia have also been mentioned as states that may join the Abraham Accords if the conflict ends. As part of the deal, Israel would be required to commit to supporting a future Palestinian state. According to the plan, after Hamas leaders are exiled, four Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would be tasked with jointly governing Gaza and supervising reconstruction efforts. Gazans wishing to emigrate would be absorbed by several unnamed countries, even though no country has expressed a willingness to absorb Gaza residents. Gazans reacted angrily in February when Mr Trump suggested the US could develop Gaza and force Palestinians to go elsewhere. The plan drew global condemnation with Palestinians, Arab nations and the UN saying it would amount to ethnic cleansing. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. [ Why have oil prices not soared in wake of Israel and US bombing Iran? ] In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza. A large majority of people in Israel want the conflict to end. In the last month 20 soldiers have been killed. A poll on Friday showed that 59 per cent of Israelis support ending the war in a deal that would bring back all 50 remaining hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland's jaw-jaw approach is ineffectual in a war-war world
Taoiseach Micheál Martin furrowed his brow and gave his best concerned priest look to the phalanx of cameras and microphones facing him as he entered the summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday . 'The people of Europe find it incomprehensible that Europe does not seem to be in a position to [put] pressure on Israel and leverage on Israel to stop this war in Gaza ,' he told reporters. The EU needs to 'support the Palestinians and put pressure on Israel' to stop the 'continuing slaughter of children and innocent civilians', he said. Ireland 'would be seeking some mechanisms to ensure that this war stops and that humanitarian aid gets into Gaza', Martin added. READ MORE Martin seemed genuinely exasperated at the EU's inability to agree a stronger position on Gaza and the blockade that has caused a humanitarian crisis in the enclave. (L-R) Michael Martin with Spain's foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares and Norway's foreign minister Espen Barth Eide join hands on the recognition of Palestinian statehood in Brussels in 2024. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/European Pressphoto Agency Ireland and several other EU countries want to take some action against Israel, such as suspending the free-trade agreement, in a bid to pressure the Israeli government of Binyamin Netanyahu to cease attacks and allow sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza. But Israel's supporters in the EU won't let that happen. [ Situation in Gaza is 'abhorrent and unbearable', Ursula von der Leyen says Opens in new window ] Later, inside the summit venue, EU leaders would continue the wrangling about Israel's trade agreement that had tied officials up in knots for days before the summit. As expected the conclusions spoke about the 'dire' humanitarian situation in Gaza; but no further action was agreed. The truth, as Martin surely knew on his way in, was that nothing the EU said or did was going to make much difference to the people of Gaza. It's not just that the EU is unable to find a common position, though that is noteworthy in itself. Rather, it's that the whole way that international relations are conducted is changing. An age in which the soft power of diplomacy, international law and cultural clout mattered is giving way to the hard reality that military might – and the will to use it – is what matters. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign holding a March to the US Embassy in Dublin to voice Irish opposition to US President Trump's plan for Alan Betson/The Irish Times The most consequential thing to happen this week was not the EU's painful deliberations about what it should or shouldn't say about Gaza. It was when seven US Air Force B-2 stealth bombers dropped 14 'bunker-buster' bombs, each weighing more than 13.5 tonnes, on Iran's nuclear facilities. This is the world that Donald Trump is remaking. The voice of the EU, and the voice of Ireland, is becoming harder to hear in it. Barely a hundred miles away, 24 hours before the EU leaders sat down together, the leaders of the world's most important military alliance were accommodating themselves to this new reality. After years of allowing their military strength and capacity to wither, Nato countries are embarking on the biggest build-up of forces that Europe has seen since before the second World War. [ Ireland backs €150bn defence plan as EU moves to rearm Opens in new window ] It is prompted by two things: the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US president's unwillingness to continue American security guarantees to Europe unless Europe pays more for its own defence. So on Wednesday, Nato leaders agreed to push annual spending on defence of 5 per cent of national income by 2035 – a collectively gargantuan sum that will mean most countries will more than double their defence budgets. What this will mean on the ground is not yet clear. But Nato chief Mark Rutte said it would amount to a five-fold increase in the alliance's air defences and would also add thousands more tanks and armoured vehicles to its arsenals. The EU has got to take on aspects of hard power. Some form of genuinely collective defence ... including a European army of a quarter of a million troops, mainly on the eastern borders — John O'Brennan All this will be paid for with money that could otherwise be spent on other things: public services, welfare, productivity-enhancing infrastructure, tax cuts. And politicians would prefer to be spending on those things; they are, after all, more popular with voters. But they are facing a changed world. It is a world to which the EU – and by extension Ireland – seem unsuited. We are more jaw-jaw than war-war, but the tide is firmly in the other direction. 'You could argue that we are seeing the complete breakdown of the rules-based international order that has been there since 1945,' says John O'Brennan, professor of European politics at Maynooth University. 'The EU was very comfortable with that world. In fact, for a long time, the world was becoming more like the EU – more co-operation, more agreement between countries, an emphasis on trade bringing countries together. Now that's in retreat. The US and China want a world dominated by great powers.' How does the EU respond to this? 'The EU has got to take on aspects of hard power,' says O'Brennan. 'Some form of genuinely collective defence ... including a European army of a quarter of a million troops, mainly on the eastern borders.' He stresses that this is likely to be on an opt-in basis, and Ireland will not or could not be forced to join. But he thinks it is evitable; a changed world makes it so. From one perspective, the EU's weakness when it comes to hard power has always been there. The union was, says the former diplomat Rory Montgomery – who served, among other posts, as Ireland's ambassador to the EU – 'built for legislating and making budgets'. The bloc's double standards on Ukraine and Gaza have destroyed its credibility — Aidan Regan On foreign policy, he says, the bloc's clout, despite recent reforms and initiatives, is 'not remotely on a par with its economic strength'. That weakness, he agrees, is much more glaring now. For Ireland, says Montgomery, our foreign policy 'has never really wanted or had to take account of the realities of hard power – what our President says reflects how many people feel. But, like it or not, it's a reality.' 'We talk about our closeness to the US. In some ways it's true. But what is the main vector of US engagement with Europe? It's Nato.' UCD professor of political economy Aidan Regan says that we are at a 'transformative point in history.' 'It's power politics now,' he says. For Regan, however, the EU is at fault for not using its soft power to work against Trump's transformation of the world. For example, he says, the EU's position on Gaza, where it has declined to use the power it has on trade by suspending ties with Israel, is 'shameful'. The bloc's 'double standards' on Ukraine and Gaza, he says, have destroyed its credibility. As a result, the idea of the EU as a champion of liberal values and the rules-based world order now faces a 'legitimacy crisis'. 'The EU is the author of its own weakening,' says Regan. Doesn't that mean that Ireland's voice in the world is also diminished? Not so, he says. 'I actually think that Ireland's credibility has increased,' Regan says, because of the country's outspoken position in support of the Palestinians. He references, approvingly, Martin's obvious frustration with the EU's position on Gaza in Brussels. 'In North Africa, in the global south, Ireland's position has been noticed and people appreciate it. These are the countries that will matter in the future. There is great disappointment about the EU. But Ireland's credibility has increased.' O'Brennan and several others who spoke privately in Brussels and Dublin this week have a less optimistic assessment of the future. 'We're going into terrain that is going to be uncomfortable for Ireland,' he says. 'We should start thinking about that now.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Middle East in maps: Key territories in the current conflict
Israel Area: 22,000 sq km. Population: 9.5m. Prime minister: Binyamin Netanyahu. The State of Israel, founded as a homeland for Jewish people in 1948, is the strongest military power in the Middle East. It has occupied the Palestinian West Bank since 1967 and the Gaza Strip for much of that time. It has fought several wars. Though a 'cold peace' exists with Jordan and Egypt, the Arab-Israeli conflict has profoundly shaped politics in the Middle East. Israel's current war on the Gaza Strip followed an attack on October 7th, 2023 by the Palestinian group Hamas that killed 1,195 Israeli citizens and captured more than 250. Since then, the Gaza health ministry says Israel has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has gone to war with Hizbullah in Lebanon, invaded Syria and bombed Iran. Though supported by the United States, Israel's actions in Gaza have been widely condemned, and the Irish Government has joined an International Court of Justice case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. READ MORE Gaza and West Bank Gaza – Area: 365 sq km. Population: 2.1m. West Bank – Area: 5,860 sq km. Population: 3.2m. A 1947 UN resolution proposed dividing the then British-administered land of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Arabs did not accept the plan, and war ensued as soon as the state of Israel was declared. After decades of wars and paramilitary activity, Gaza and the West Bank are the remnants of those designated Arab territories. Israel occupied both areas in 1967, and 670,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements that are deemed illegal under international law. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and Hamas – a Sunni Muslim political and paramilitary group – won an election the following year and took power. When Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, Israel declared war. That war has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, devastated Gaza and destabilised the Middle East. There has been a simultaneous crackdown in the West Bank, where Israel has extended its settlements and killed more than 900 Palestinians, according to the United Nations. Iran Area: 1.65m sq km. Population: 92m. Supreme leader: Ali Khamenei. Officially an Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution deposed its monarchy, Shia-Muslim-dominated Iran has in recent decades been the main agent of resistance to Israel's regional power. It supported Hamas in Gaza, Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Syria and Iraq. This so-called 'Axis of Resistance' has been hugely weakened by the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Israel's suppression of Hizbullah, and Israeli and US bombings of Iran's nuclear sites. Iran is not thought to have developed nuclear weapons yet. Iran is close to Russia and China and has diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and the European Union, though not the US. Its regime has faced international condemnation for its discrimination against woman and minorities, torture and arbitrary use of the death penalty. Qatar Area: 11,500 sq km. Population: 2.6m. Emir: Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The authoritarian regime has complicated relations with other countries in the region but is on speaking terms with most of them. Qatar has hosted (unsuccessful) peace talks between Israel and Hamas. Its state-owned media group Al Jazeera is influential across and beyond the Arab world. Qatar is home to the Middle East's largest US airbase, which Iran attacked this week in response to US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. Lebanon Area: 10,500 sq km. Population: 5.8m. President: Joseph Aoun. One of the Middle East's democracies, Lebanon is economically poor and militarily weak, and has a higher number of refugees per capita than any country in the world. The Shia-Muslim Hizbullah group, dedicated to the destruction of Israel, controls southern Lebanon through a quasi-army that has been funded and supported by Iran. After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, Hizbullah launched its own rocket assault on Israel. In response, Israel invaded Lebanon and bombed its capital, Beirut. In late 2024, Israel severely disabled Hizbullah as a fighting force, wiping out the group's leadership through targeted bombing and an audacious attack on thousands of individuals, 32 of whom died, using exploding pagers. It has dismantled much of Hizbullah's military infrastructure, and an uneasy ceasefire remains in place. Saudi Arabia Area: 2.1m sq km. Population: 33.3m. Crown prince: Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The largest country in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is also among the richest, wielding great power as the world's second biggest oil producer. A Sunni Muslim-majority country, Saudi Arabia is close to the US and has strained but peaceful relations with Shia-dominated Iran. The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, thwarted US-led talks that would have seen Saudi Arabia officially recognise Israel. Saudi Arabia has one of the world's worst human rights records. Syria Area: 185,000 sq km. Population: 24m. President: Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Assad family – backed by Iran and Russia – ruled Syria for half a century and fought a bloody civil war from 2011 to 2024. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, ceding the country to Islamist rebels. His fall has weakened not only Syria's own military heft, but also Iran's power in the Middle East (Syria is a Shia-majority country). Israel took immediate advantage by occupying a buffer zone around the Golan Heights. The regime change has disabled Syria as a regional power. Countries including the US, EU, Qatar and Iraq are lifting sanctions and engaging warily with the new regime. Yemen Area: 455,000 sq km. Population: 40m. Presidential leadership council chairman: Rashad al-Alimi. Ruined by civil war, poverty and a humanitarian crisis, Yemen is the opposite of a superpower. Yet it is influential due to its location and as the base of the Houthis – a Shia rebel group supported by Iran. The Houthis, who oppose both the Yemeni government and Israel's war on Gaza, control western Yemen near the mouth of the Red Sea. From there they have attacked ships bound for Israel, reducing use of the Suez Canal and dealing a blow to world trade. The Houthis in turn have been subject to missile attacks by the US. The two announced a ceasefire in May, but after the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites on June 22nd, the Houthis declared the ceasefire over.
Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times
US-Iran latest: White House claims bombing was ‘overwhelming success'
Binyamin Netanyahu, in a just released video, says Israel 'achieved a great victory' against Iran.'This victory opens up an opportunity for a dramatic expansion of the peace agreements. We are working hard on this,' he said. 'Along with the release of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity here that must not be missed. Not even a single day can be wasted.' The Israeli leader's comments come hours after a report claimed that he and Donald Trump had agreed to end the war in Gaza within a fortnight, and begin a process where some unnamed Arab states sign a peace deal with Israel. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has said following the US actions in Iran over the weekend, 'we look forward to sustaining a long and durable peace' in the Middle East. She was speaking during an ongoing press briefing in Washington. During his briefing, General Dan Caine lauded the American troops who remained at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which Iran attacked on Monday. He said just 44 soldiers stayed to operate the two Patriot missile batteries and protect the entire air base. 'You know that you're going to have approximately two minutes, 120 seconds, to either succeed or fail,' Caine said, adding: 'They absolutely crushed it.' President Trump not only enjoyed being referred to as 'Daddy' by Nato chief Mark Rutte, he is seeking to raise cash by selling 'the official TRUMP DADDY shirt'. A minimum donation of $35 will buy a bright orange T-shirt emblazoned with Trump's mugshot and the word 'daddy' in black capital letters. The shirt colour may have been chosen to reflect Rutte's native Netherlands where the Nato summit was held. 'When Biden was President, we were LAUGHED at on the world stage,' Trump wrote in an email to supporters. 'But thanks to your favourite President (ME!) we are respected once again,' he added. 'Moments ago, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called me DADDY on the world stage. How nice! So for a limited time, I want YOU to own the official TRUMP DADDY shirt!' Rutte used the word in a joint press conference with Trump on Wednesday as the president was describing Iran and Israel fighting 'like two kids in a schoolyard.' Rutte said: 'Daddy sometimes has to use strong language.' it was a reference to Trump's outburst on Tuesday that the two countries 'don't know what the f*** they're doing.' The t-shirt is only legally available to US citizens because it is being sold by a political campaign. The shirt is being offered by the Trump National Committee, a fundraising vehicle, which gives 77 per cent of the cash to Trump's Never Surrender campaign used for his legal, consulting, travel, staffing and other expenses and funding candidates. During Pete Hegseth's briefing, a senior US gave a video presentation, outlining the history of the bunker-busting bombs. General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, showed a video testing the bombs on a bunker like the ones used in Iran. He declined to provide his own assessment of the strike and deferred to the intelligence community. Caine also said he would not change his assessment due to politics. 'I've never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I'm thinking, and that's exactly what I've done,' he said. Binyamin Netanyahu has asked a court to postpone his upcoming testimony in his long-running corruption trial, after Donald Trump called for the case to be cancelled altogether. In a filing to the tribunal, Amit Hadad, Netanyahu's lawyer, said the premier's testimony should be delayed in light of 'regional and global developments'. 'The court is respectfully requested to order the cancellation of the hearings in which the prime minister was scheduled to testify in the coming two weeks,' the filing said. It said Netanyahu was 'compelled to devote all his time and energy to managing national, diplomatic and security issues of the utmost importance'. Trump on Wednesday described the case against Netanyahu as a 'witch hunt'. Binyamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump have agreed the conflict in Gaza would end within two weeks following the strikes in Iran, media in Israel have reported. The pair also spoke about expanding the Abraham Accords, Israel Hayom, the Hebrew-language newspaper, claimed. According to the outlet, Trump and Netanyahu agreed in a phone call that four Arab states, including the UAE and Egypt, would jointly govern the Gaza Strip in place of Hamas, whose leadership would be expelled. All remaining hostages would be released also, said the report. Arab countries have previously rejected taking any role in the post-war rehabilitation of Gaza and Hamas leaders have said they will not go into exile. The paper also reported that Israel would express its support for a future two-state solution and the US will recognise Israeli sovereignty in parts of the West Bank. Iran had enough material to produce 'a good ten' nuclear weapons, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, claimed during his interview with a French radio station. 'Iran had enough material to produce them, perhaps a good ten or a little less. And Iran had related technologies and developments,' he told RFI. The US attacks on Iran's nuclear programme inflicted 'enormous damage', the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has claimed. 'I think annihilated is too much, but it suffered enormous damage,' he told Radio France International. 'What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that there is very considerable damage.' Binyamin Netanyahu is to visit Trump in Washington as early as the second week of July, the Israeli news channel i24 reports. A Pentagon intelligence leak has sparked a war of words over Iran's nuclear programme, with conflicting assessments from US intelligence agencies and the White House fuelling heated debate. Former Pentagon official Jim Townsend joins us to unpack the challenges of intelligence and examine the fraught relationship between the White House and the intelligence community. President Trump's comparison of the Iran strikes to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 has stirred anger in Japan. Earlier this week, Trump said the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities helped end the recent war in the Middle East like the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan brought World War II to a close. 'It's scary that a person with such a view is serving as leader,' said Masao Tomonaga, a survivor from Nagasaki. Shiro Suzuki, the mayor of Nagasaki, said the 'use of atomic weapons should never be tolerated for any purpose'. Toshiyuki Mimaki, who was a child in Hiroshima when the bombing took place, said: 'How can the president of America say such a thing? I just don't understand. What he said is totally unacceptable.' Mimaki is a leader of Nihon Hidankyo, a group of survivors that won a Nobel Peace Prize last year. The Hiroshima city assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the peaceful settlement of all conflicts, saying Trump's remark apparently justifying the atomic bombing 'cannot be overlooked or accepted,' Japan's NHK national television reported. Israel wanted to eliminate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, according to its defence minister, Israel Katz. In a television interview due to be broadcast on Israeli television tonight, Katz says Israel could not find an operational opportunity to do so. The UN atomic energy watchdog said on Thursday that it had not received an official communication from Iran after media reports earlier in the day said a parliamentary bill to suspend co-operation with the organisation had received final approval. 'We are aware of these reports. As of now, the IAEA has not received an official communication from Iran on this matter,' the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. Despite President Trump and Pete Hegseth's assertions that Iran's nuclear capabilities had been 'obliterated', European capitals believe the country's enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact. The Financial Times quotes two people who have been briefed on preliminary intelligence assessments, who say that EU capitals believe Iran's stockpile of 408kg of weapons-grade enriched uranium was not concentrated in Fordow where US strikes hit. The assessments call into question Trump and Hegseth's claims that Iran's nuclear ambitions had been severely curtailed. Those quoted said EU governments were still awaiting full intelligence reports on the damage to Fordow, but that one initial report suggested 'extensive damage, but not full structural destruction'. A key missing element was evidence for President Trump's hasty conclusion in the immediate aftermath of the bombing that the Fordow facility was 'obliterated' (David Charter writes, in Washington). Several times Pete Hegseth urged caution as intelligence was collected and assessed, or attacked the media for jumping to conclusions in the other direction without waiting for better evidence. In other words, his presentation today only underlined that the president used exaggerated rhetoric — which may prove to be justified — but cannot yet be substantiated. Another key unknown element is the fate of Iran's uranium. Hegseth at first evaded a question on its whereabouts by saying: 'There's nothing that I've seen that suggests that we didn't hit exactly what we wanted to hit in those locations.' Pressed on evidence that trucks were seen at the site two days before the bombing, Hegseth then attacked the bona fides of one of the journalists from his former employer, Fox News, one of the most experienced in the room. Asked a third time about the fate of Iran's uranium he answered that he was 'not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise'. Pete Hegseth's job today was to come out and mop up the mess caused by the leak of a snippet of early intelligence suggesting the Iran bombing mission was less than the total 'obliteration' claimed by President Trump, (David Charter writes, in Washington). Since then several other assessments have been released by the US and Israel to suggest that extensive damage was caused by Saturday's raids. • Iran intel leak: who is the 'low-level loser' who exposed Trump? In the continued absence of conclusive intelligence, the US defence secretary and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, shared details of the development, testing, planning and deployment of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (Mop) bomb, known as the bunker-buster, which they said was developed with this very mission in mind. Caine gave insight into the Defence Threat Reduction Agency and how two of its staff had been dedicated for 15 years on studying Iran's deeply buried Fordow facility and working out its vulnerabilities. Trump has responded to suggestions that Iran had moved stocks of uranium in trucks from its Fordow site before the US strikes. Writing on Truth Social, the president said: 'The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of facility. Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!' Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has requested a two-week pause in his corruption trial testimony. Amit Hadad, for the defence, stated that Netanyahu must devote his time to 'diplomatic, national and security issues of the first order', in the wake of the recent war with Iran. His request came after President Trump said on Truth Social, that Netanyahu's trial 'should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY'. He also suggested a 'Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State'. The Israeli prime minister denies charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, for which he has been on trial since 2020. It had long been assumed that at least one of Iran's main nuclear facilities — the uranium enrichment plant at Fordow — was hidden so deeply beneath a mountain that it would prove extremely difficult for Israel to destroy it. Israel heavily attacked Natanz, the other enrichment site, Isfahan, where solid uranium was converted to gas for enrichment and then back again, and other sites. It left Fordow to the Americans. Israel's whole attack on Iran was, therefore, a gamble. If the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, did not persuade President Trump to join the assault with his B-2s and his GBU-57 'bunker busters', it might fail at the Fordow hurdle or, at best, only inflict a minor setback to the nuclear programme. • Read in full: Iran's setback after US strikes may only be temporary Asked whether he believes highly enriched uranium was moved out of the nuclear sites before Saturday's strikes, Hegseth said there was 'nothing to suggest' anything was moved out by the Iranians ahead of time. Dan Caine says that the 30,000lb bunker-busters behaved as the military expected, but that it will not provide a damage assessment due to it being a job for the intelligence community. 'We don't mark our own homework,' he said. Dan Caine, the air force general, says that two intelligence officials were investigating the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow for 15 years. They knew it 'wasn't being built for any peaceful purposes … they realised we didn't have a weapon [to take out the plant],' he said. 'Operation Midnight Hammer was the culmination of their work. 'The weapons were designed, planned and delivered to achieve the effects in the mission space.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. President Trump has said on Truth Social that there is rumour that the New York Times and CNN will fire reporters 'who made up the fake stories on the Iran nuclear sites'. Dan Caine, the air force general and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is now talking about the Iranian attacks on the US base in Qatar on Monday. Caine described the deployment of Patriot missiles to defend the base as 'the largest single Patriot engagement in US military history'. He would not say how many rounds were fired, saying it is classified. Hegseth says the press relied too much on a US preliminary intelligence report, which suggested little damage had been done to the sites. 'Specifically you the press corps to cheer against Trump so much, you have to hope the strikes weren't effective … [you think] 'let's take leaked information and spin it to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind'.' Pete Hegseth has started by attacking the press over its coverage of the damage inflicted on Iran's nuclear sites facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. 'Searching for scandals you miss historic moments,' he said. Iran had retaliated on Monday with a missile attack on a US base in nearby Qatar, but caused no casualties. In an apparent reference to the attack, Ayatollah Khamenei said 'such an action can be repeated in the future, too,' adding that Iran had 'access to key US centres in the region and can take action whenever it deems necessary'. 'Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,' he said. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, will hold a news conference shortly to offer a fresh assessment of strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. President Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed the 'war' secretary, would hold a news conference to 'fight for the dignity of our great American pilots'. Ayatollah Khamenei, 86, hasn't been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. After an American attack on June 22, that hit the nuclear sites with bunker-buster bombs, President Trump helped negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday. In his appearance on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei sat in front of plain brown curtains to give his address, similar to his June 19 message. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has said his country delivered a 'hand slap to the face of America' in his first televised address since the fragile ceasefire was declared in the war with Israel. Claiming victory over Israel, Ayatollah Khamenei said the US had only intervened because 'it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.' He warned the US 'will definitely pay a heavy price' should it attack Iran again. His comments came in the wake of an attack on Sunday in which American forces hit three Iranian nuclear facilities with bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israeli gunfire and air strikes kill at least 21 people in Gaza, local health officials say
Israeli gunfire and air strikes killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said, as mediators reached out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war . Local health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave. Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited United Nations aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of multiple fatalities at aid distribution points. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents. Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group. READ MORE The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources. Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu , who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war. Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza. While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament. Hamas-led militants killed close to 1,200 people and took 251 hostages when the group attacked Israel on Oct 7th, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response. [ Pro-Israel countries to block Irish efforts to sanction Israel at EU summit Opens in new window ] Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip. Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel. – Reuters
