Author: Gulf News Week
Ten years since JCPOA’s signing, Netanyahu’s fear of peace has fuelled chaos. West Asia must respond with unity.Ten years ago, on July 14, I joined my counterparts from China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union to announce the conclusion of a unique achievement of diplomacy, bringing a peaceful end to an unnecessary crisis founded on lies and a blatant policy of securitisation to divert global attention from the real nuclear threat to peace in West Asia. The entire world celebrated the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive…
The PKK began its first phase of disarmament last week, analysts say the process will be felt regionally.On Friday, 30 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) threw their weapons into a bonfire at a meeting in Sulaimaniyah, a city in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. After hiding out in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains for three decades, where they reportedly trained for combat and planned attacks against Turkiye, they were now renouncing their armed struggle. The symbolic gesture is the first phase of disarming the PKK as part of a rejuvenated peace process with Turkiye, which could end a…
The UN office reports 757 settler attacks on Palestinians since January, up 13 percent from 2024, as deaths since January near 1,000.Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in recent weeks in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the United Nations human rights office warns. The violence also includes the demolitions of hundreds of homes and forced mass displacement of Palestinians as well as annexations of more land in violation of international law, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva…
Resignation of United Torah Judaism lawmakers leaves Netanyahu with razor thin 61-seat majority in the 120 seat Knesset.Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism (UTJ), has announced it is quitting the country’s fractious right-wing coalition due to a long-running dispute over mandatory military service, threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power. Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation, Israeli media reported late on Monday. UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf had resigned a month ago. A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that, in all, seven UTJ Knesset…
Government forces announce ceasefire after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes kill dozens in the southern Syrian city.Israel has launched air strikes on Syria’s Suwayda after Syrian government forces entered the predominantly Druze city to end the deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed dozens of people. Shortly after the deployment of troops on Tuesday, Syria’s Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a ceasefire, saying an agreement has been reached with the city’s “notables and dignitaries”. “To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire,” Abu Qasra posted on X. A curfew was…
Emergency Lawyers says paramilitary force set fire to villages, killing dozens, including children and pregnant women.A group of human rights lawyers in Sudan have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of raiding and setting fire to villages in the state of North Kordofan and killing nearly 300 people, including children and pregnant women. The statement by Emergency Lawyers late on Monday came as fighting rages between the RSF and the Sudanese army in the western areas of the country. The two sides have been locked in a civil war since 2023, and the army has taken firm control of…
The attacks come amid a worsening hunger crisis as Israel severely restricts entry of food, fuel, water and medical supplies.Israeli forces have continued to pound the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 72 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, as ceasefire talks stall amid a deepening fuel and hunger crisis. An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least five people who were seeking aid on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The killings raised the death toll of Palestinians killed near aid sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza…
An expanded Club World Cup marked by empty seats, slashed ticket prices, searing heat, weather-delayed matches and a criticized field surface ended in a surprise victory by Chelsea, the fourth-best team in the Premier League.Among the lasting lessons was FIFA’s decision to dramatically drop ticket costs as some kickoff times approached, which could impact decisions by fans thinking of attending next year’s World Cup. FIFA lowered the cost to attend the Chelsea-Fluminense semifinal at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to $13.40 from $473.90, then dropped the Chelsea-Paris Saint-Germain final from $330 to $199.60.There will be 104 matches at…
LONDON (news agencies) — A BBC documentary about children’s lives in Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy because it failed to disclose that the program was narrated by the son of a Hamas official, according to a report published Monday.The broadcaster removed the program, “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone,” from its streaming service in February after it emerged that the 13-year-old narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.A review found that the independent production company that made the program did not share the background information regarding the narrator’s father…
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (news agencies) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Monday killed at least 30 people, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military meanwhile said it killed a senior Hamas militant last month who had held a hostage in his home.The 21-month war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is raging on after two days of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended last week with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including…