Latest news with #PeaceProcess
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
UAE condemns Israeli attacks on cities, villages in West Bank
The United Arab Emirates has expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the attacks by Israel on cities and villages in the West Bank, with the most recent attack being the killing and injuring of a number of Palestinians in Kafr Malik village near Ramallah. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) warned against the continuous attacks by them, and called on the Israeli government to assume full responsibility, condemn these hostile acts, and hold perpetrators accountable. The UAE reiterates that failure to act will be seen as tacit approval that will only further deepen the cycle of hatred, racism, and instability. The Ministry emphasised the necessity for concerted endeavours to halt the escalation and prevent further loss of life. The Ministry stressed the importance of providing full protection to civilians according to international law and treaties. The Ministry called on the international community to fulfill their responsibilities to end the continuous Israeli violations, and prevent fuelling the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory and the region. The Ministry stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East to reach comprehensive and just peace, as well as end illegal practices that undermine the two-state solution.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ceasefire, strikes and fury from Trump: chaotic 24 hours in Israel-Iran war
It has been a confusing and chaotic 24 hours for those following the war between Israel and Iran since Tehran struck a US military base in Qatar on Monday. That attack was seen by the US as being an attempt to respond to the US's weekend bombing of Iran's nuclear sites without escalating the situation, and received a positive response from Donald Trump. The US president called the Iranian attack 'very weak' and claimed to have intercepted 13 of 14 missiles fired. He added on his social media platform, Truth Social: 'I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done … I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.' This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. A few minutes later, he posted: 'I am pleased to report that, in addition to no Americans being killed or wounded, very importantly, there have also been no Qataris killed or wounded.' That was followed by a post that arguably seemed optimistic at the time: 'CONGRATULATIONS WORLD, IT'S TIME FOR PEACE!' But two hours after that, at about 6pm ET (11pm UK time), the US president announced 'a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE' between Israel and Iran. He gave a confusing timeline for the start of the ceasefire, which in some ways presaged the chaotic implementation of the suspension of hostilities the next morning. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Later that night, at around 10pm ET, he set out how he claimed the agreement had been reached: 'Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, 'PEACE!' I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS!' Pausing only to repost a clip claiming to show a 'deranged paid protester' and one that said 'Trump was right about everything', he praised the B2 pilots who bombed the Iranian sites, and then, just past midnight Washington time, declared: 'THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!' Iranian state television reported that the ceasefire went into effect at 7.30am, although the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote on X at about 2am UK time: 'As of now, there is NO 'agreement' on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.' As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way of now, there is NO "agreement" on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no… At about 7am UK time, Israel issued a statement agreeing to the ceasefire, reserving the right to respond 'forcefully' to any breaches by Iran. Despite this, there were reports of Israeli strikes killing nine people in the northern Iranian province of Gilan early on Tuesday morning local time, and five people killed in an Iranian strike on Beersheba in Israel. And Israel's military soon said it had detected another barrage of Iranian missiles. Around 9am UK time, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said: 'In light of Iran's blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States – through the launch of missiles toward Israel – and in accordance with the Israeli government's policy to respond forcefully to any breach, I have instructed the IDF … to continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran.' Iran denied firing missiles after the ceasefire had begun, and accused Israel of the same sort of breach. At this point, at around 7am Washington time, Trump returned to the fray, telling reporters as he prepared to board a helicopter to head to the Nato summit in the Netherlands: [Iran] violated it, but Israel violated it too. Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel … I'm not happy with Iran either. But I'm really unhappy if Israel's going out this morning because of one rocket that didn't land, that was shot perhaps by mistake … You know what, we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing. He expanded on the point on social media, posting: 'ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!' Following reports that he had got straight on the phone to Benjamin Netanyahu, he added: 'ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran … Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!' This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. But the well-informed Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted that Netanyahu had refused to completely cancel the planned strikes. Senior Israeli official: Trump called Netanyahu on Tuesday and asked him not to carry out an attack in Iran at all. Netanyahu told Trump that he could not cancel the strike and that some response was needed to Iran's violation of the ceasefire. In the end, it was decided to… And indeed there were soon reports of explosions in Tehran and in northern Iran, and Iranian media reports that the deputy head of intelligence of Iran's police had been killed. Netanyahu's office said that, in response to Iran's violations, the Israeli air force had attacked an Iranian radar near Tehran. After Netanyahu's conversation with Trump, his office said, Israel had refrained from further strikes. Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had taught Israel 'an unforgettable lesson' with a strike just before the ceasefire deal took hold, and on Air Force One on the way to the Nato summit Trump repeated that he did not seek regime change in Iran. It remains to be seen whether the ceasefire will hold as the day continues.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
U2 guitarist The Edge hails ‘monumental day' as he becomes Irish citizen
U2 veteran The Edge has described a 'monumental day' after becoming an Irish citizen. David Howell Evans, 63, was born in Essex in England to Welsh parents, but his family moved to Ireland when he was just a one-year-old. His Irish citizenship was conferred at a ceremony in Killarney, Co Kerry on Monday. Some 7,500 people will officially become Irish citizens across Monday and Tuesday. He described an 'amazingly joyful event'. 'For all of us, a monumental day,' he told RTE, wearing the distinctive hat he is known for, as well as an Irish flag badge on the lapel of his jacket. 'I'm a little tardy on the paperwork – I've been living in Ireland since I was one but the time was right and I couldn't be more proud of my country for all that it represents and all it's doing. 'It's showing real leadership right now in the world and this couldn't have come at a better moment for me.' The Edge, a guitarist in U2, has been involved with the band since its formation in Dublin in the late 1970s, going on to win scores of music awards. U2 is also noted for speaking out with songs such as Sunday Bloody Sunday about the shooting of unarmed protesters in Londonderry in 1972 by British soldiers, New Year's Day which became associated with the Polish Solidarity movement and Pride (In The Name Of Love) in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. They also strongly supported efforts to secure peace in Northern Ireland with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The band played Sunday Bloody Sunday last month with a call to 'stop war' at the Ivors award ceremony. The performance came as the group became the first Irish songwriters to be awarded an academy fellowship at the 70th year of the awards ceremony, hosted at London's Grosvenor House.
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Russia might try to take Ukrainian city of Sumy, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he did not "rule out" his forces attempting to seize the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, casting fresh doubt over the prospect of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine said Putin's comments showed "disdain" for the peace process. Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks and Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal to prolong its full-scale offensive on the country. Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its assault in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014. The Sumy region is not one of the regions Moscow has formally annexed, although Russian forces have recently made inroads there for the first time in three years. At Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg, Putin suggested Moscow could take Sumy as part of the creation of a "buffer zone" along the border and repeated his denial of Ukrainian statehood. "We have no objective to take Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out... They pose a constant threat to us, constantly shelling the border areas," Putin said. "I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people. In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours," he told attendees, when asked why his army was entering areas Moscow did not claim as its own. "There is a saying: wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga described Putin's comments as "deranged" and called for Kyiv's allies to slap "devastating sanctions" on Russia. "The only way to force Russia into peace is to deprive it of its sense of impunity," he wrote in a post on X. - 'They are creating problems' - Putin's widening territorial ambitions are likely to roil Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has accused Moscow of not wanting to end the fighting. The two sides held rounds of direct talks in Istanbul in May and in June, but Kyiv accused Moscow of sending "dummy" negotiators with no real power to enact a peace deal. Putin has declined to take part in the peace talks in person and on Thursday said he would only meet Zelensky during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the three-year conflict. He has also insisted Ukraine give up territory it already controls for peace. Kyiv says it cannot and will not accept Russian occupation of any part of its land. In his address Friday, Putin denied he was calling for Ukraine to "capitulate". "We are not seeking Ukraine's surrender. We insist on recognition of the realities that have developed on the ground," the Russian leader said. Putin repeated that Moscow was "advancing on all fronts" and that his troops had penetrated up to 12 kilometres (seven miles) into the Sumy region. He also accused Kyiv of "stupidity" by launching an incursion into Russia's Kursk region last August. "They are creating problems for themselves," he said.
Washington Post
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Putin says he's open to meeting Zelensky, even as he denies his legitimacy
Days after a Russian attack on Kyiv destroyed apartment blocks and killed 28 people, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied in remarks published Thursday that Moscow was targeting civilians and said he was open to meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, even while still questioning his legitimacy. Putin spoke to international news agencies late Wednesday on the margins of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum as the U.S.-sponsored peace process has been faltering, with little progress toward any kind of cessation of hostilities.
