Author: Gulf News Week
Tom Barrack says he was attempting to tell Lebanese journalists to ‘be civilised’ but notes that they were ‘just doing their job’.United States diplomat Tom Barrack has expressed regret for calling Lebanese journalists “animalistic”, days after his comments stirred outrage across the Middle East.However, in a Thursday interview with social media personality Mario Nawfal, Barrack repeated his call for Lebanese reporters to be “civilised”.He nevertheless conceded he should have been more “tolerant” in his remarks to the reporters who shouted questions after he met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier this week.“‘Animalistic’ was a word that I didn’t use in a…
No immediate reports of casualties as Israel says it strikes military target. Houthis say civilians targeted.The Israeli military has attacked the Yemeni capital of Sanaa as tensions in the region continue to escalate amid Israel’s war on Gaza.The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces on Thursday struck a Houthi “terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa”. There were no immediate reports of casualties.Images verified by media’s Sanad fact-checking unit showed damage on Mount Attan, a prominent hill located southwest of Sanaa. The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV earlier posted on X: “Israeli aggression on the capital…
Amid US pressure, vote extends peacekeeping mission but then calls for ‘orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal’.The United Nations Security Council has voted to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon until the end of 2026 but to then terminate the mission in an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” over the following year.The unanimous vote on Thursday came just before the mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was due to expire on Sunday and as the United States and its close ally Israel have increasingly pushed for the mission’s termination.UNIFIL was initially created to oversee…
UN chief warns of ‘new and dangerous phase’ of war as Israeli forces target eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City.At least 61 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Thursday, including 19 aid seekers, medical sources told media, as residents report intensified military bombardment of the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City.The Israeli military has been preparing to take Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban centre, despite international calls to reconsider the move over fears that the operation would cause significant casualties and displace the roughly one million Palestinians sheltering there.United Nations Secretary-General…
Shujayea once held our homes, stories and lives. Now it has been erased and with it a part of who we are.My neighbourhood in east Gaza, Shujayea, is gone! Reduced to rubble, with not a single stone left upon another. The streets that once echoed with the laughter of children, the calls of vendors, and the familiar rhythms of daily life now lie in silence, smothered by dust and destruction. What was once a vibrant community, full of stories and memories, has been erased in a matter of moments.A few days ago, my brother Mohammed went back to Shujayea to…
E3 countries accuse Iran of failing to meet its 2015 nuclear pact commitments but say they are still open to diplomacy.France, Germany and the United Kingdom have triggered a mechanism to reimpose sanctions on Iran after a series of meetings failed to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme.The three European countries, known as the E3, have been warning Tehran for weeks that United Nations sanctions could be reimposed by October when a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers expires.The decision on Thursday opens a 30-day window before the sanctions are reimposed. It comes after a spokesman…
France, the United Kingdom and Germany are demanding Iran make tough concessions to avoid coming under more sanctions.Three European powers have triggered a process that would reimpose punishing United Nations sanctions on Iran for ostensibly not engaging with the international community to reach a deal on its nuclear programme.Known as the E3, France, Germany and the United Kingdom told Iran on Thursday that the ‘snapback’ mechanism had been triggered, and that Iran now had 30 days to negotiate a nuclear agreement.European officials have sought to emphasise that triggering the snapback mechanism does not mean an end to the road for…
Sudan Doctors Network says 24 killed, 55 wounded in attack on densely populated areas in North Darfur capital city.At least 24 people have been killed and dozens of others were wounded in a paramilitary attack on the besieged city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region, according to a medical group.The Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group fighting against Sudan’s military, shelled the densely populated areas of the central market and Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood in el-Fasher, the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s civil war, said on Thursday.The attack wounded 55 people, including five women, it said.There was no…
Advocacy groups, lawmakers and family members urge the Trump administration to push Israel to free the 16-year-old Floridian.Washington, DC – Mohammed Ibrahim is just a normal kid who loves his family and likes photography, his relatives say.But the Palestinian American teenager spent his 16th birthday this past March in an Israeli jail, despite protests pleading for his release.His father, Zaher Ibrahim, believes the United States government can free Mohammed and end his ordeal with a single phone call, given the billions of dollars in military aid it sends Israel each year.“But we’re nothing to them,” Zaher told media on Wednesday.Zaher…
Local sources report an Israeli operation in Kiswa, where six soldiers were killed by Israeli drones strikes a day before.Israeli forces have conducted a series of strikes on a former army barracks in Kiswa, southwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus, according to Syria’s state-run al-Ekhbariya TV.Video verified by media’s Sanad fact-checking agency showed Israeli aircraft attacking sites in the village on Wednesday.Meanwhile, a Syrian military source told media that the Israeli army carried out a landing operation in the barracks with the use of four helicopters.According to the source, the Israeli army brought in dozens of soldiers and an…