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Tag: ceasefire

  • ‘We can no longer wait’: French foreign minister calls for ceasefire in Gaza

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    French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot gives a speech in Paris, France on February 13, 2025. [Ümit Dönmez – Anadolu Agency]

    French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza, stressing that they can “no longer wait”, Anadolu reports.

    “I believe we can no longer wait, and it seems to me that the conditions are now in place to finally achieve an immediate ceasefire,” Barrot said during a brief press interaction.

    He called for the “unhindered” release of all hostages and the “large-scale” access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, “where the Palestinian civilian population is suffering.”

    As the EU accelerates its efforts to strike a transatlantic trade deal with the US, Barrot said: “We support the negotiations being led by the European Commission. We want a balanced agreement.”

    READ: ‘Thousands of babies in Gaza lack proper nutrition’: UNICEF chief

    “We do not want an asymmetrical agreement that would place us in a position of vassalage.”

    He further voiced “hope” for reaching an agreement that “safeguards the interests of all parties,” stressing neither the US nor Europe wants a trade war.

    Barrot further reassured that the French Embassy in Tehran is “fully aware” and “mobilized” over the disappearance of an 18-year-old French citizen in Iran.

    Lennart Monterlos, who was cycling to Japan, has been reportedly missing since June 16, according to the broadcaster BFM TV.

    READ: No reports of Hamas stealing aid in Gaza: EU Commission

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    Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
    Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.

  • Israeli army controls 77% of Gaza: Media office

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    Palestinian residents flee the conflict zones by car, on donkey carts, and on foot, carrying their belongings to safer areas following intense Israeli military attacks on the Jabalia Refugee Camp in northern Gaza on May 21, 2025. [Saeed M. M. T. Jaras – Anadolu Agency

    The Israeli army controls over 77% of the Gaza Strip, local authorities said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

    “Field data and verified analysis indicate that the Israeli occupation forces now effectively control approximately 77% of Gaza’s total geographic area,” Gaza’s government media office said in a statement.

    The Israeli army gained control through “direct ground offensives, the deployment of its forces in residential and civilian areas, or preventing Palestinians from accessing their areas, lands, and properties via intensified fire, or forced evacuation,” it added.

    The office strongly condemned the Israeli plans of mass displacement, ethnic cleansing, systematic genocide, and settler colonialism by force, “under the cover of a siege and an open war targeting both people and infrastructure.”

    It held Israel and its supporters, including the US, UK, Germany, and France, fully responsible for the crime of genocide in Gaza.

    READ: Israel strikes 10 hospitals, clinics in Gaza in 1 week: Report

    On Thursday, Israel Hayom newspaper said that the army plans to control 70-75% of Gaza within nearly three months as part of an expanded military campaign in the enclave.

    Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,900 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against defenseless civilians in the enclave.

    OPINION: Once again, Netanyahu plays the victim card

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    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch explains her reality that the Earth is flat, the Moon is made of cheese and that she was born from Unicorn horn dust
    UK Conservative Party leader Kemi ‘‘not a genocide’‘ Badenoch explains her reality that the Earth is flat, the Moon is made of cheese and that she was born from
    Unicorn horn dust

  • British opposition leader claims Israel fighting ‘proxy war on behalf of the UK’ in Gaza

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    Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch gives a speech in London, England, on May 19, 2025. [Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images]

    UK opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed that Israel is fighting a “proxy war on behalf of the UK” in Gaza, drawing parallels between the conflict and Ukraine’s war against Russia, Anadolu reports.

    In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Badenoch made the controversial statement while defending Israel’s ongoing genocidal attacks on Gaza.

    The comments come amid mounting international criticism of Israel’s actions and a sharp diplomatic fallout.

    Badenoch was responding to a joint statement this week by France, the UK, and Canada, which called on Israel to halt the “intolerable” human suffering in Gaza. The trio warned that unless action is taken, “further concrete actions” would be implemented in response.

    Following the statement, the UK government suspended free trade negotiations with Israel on Tuesday.

    When asked whether she believed Netanyahu’s language was justified, Badenoch responded: “I’m not here to police the language of the prime minister of Israel. Who funds Hamas? Iran… an enemy of this country. Israel is fighting a proxy war on behalf of the UK, just like Ukraine is on behalf of Western Europe against Russia. We have to get serious!”

    READ: UK’s top mosques to PM: end the siege on Gaza, stop arming Israel, recognise Palestine

    Phillips pressed her on whether she was equating Israeli attacks on Gaza with Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

    “Israel is fighting a war. It is not for me to police exactly how they are doing that,” Badenoch said. “It is not a genocide, as people are saying.”

    Phillips challenged her again, suggesting, “This morning it doesn’t sound like you’re criticizing anything that the Israelis do.”

    “That’s not true,” she replied. “I have criticized things before, but right now there are 58 hostages who have not been returned home.”

    Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid since March 2, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

    Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,900 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against defenseless civilians in the enclave.

    READ: UK suspends trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive

    This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

    UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch explains her reality that the Earth is flat, the Moon is made of cheese and that she was born from Unicorn horn dust
    UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch explains her reality that the Earth is flat, the Moon is made of cheese and that she was born from Unicorn horn dust

  • Situation in Gaza drastically deteriorates amid Israeli siege: UNICEF

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    A Palestinian toddler hugs a woman as relatives of the deceased mourn as the bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli attack on Al-Saftawi region are taken out of Al-Shifa Hospital for burial in Gaza City, Gaza on May 18, 2025. [Khames Alrefi – Anadolu Agency]

    The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said Sunday that the situation in the Gaza Strip has drastically worsened due to Israel’s crippling siege on the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu reports.

    “The situation in Gaza has drastically deteriorated over the last two months due to the imposed siege and the prevention of humanitarian aid,” UNICEF said in a statement on X.

    It said Gaza’s children continue to endure relentless Israeli airstrikes and are being deprived of essential goods, services, and life-saving care.

    The organization called for the immediate resumption of a ceasefire and the urgent entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

    Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

    READ: ‘This must end’: EU commissioner slams latest Israeli attacks on Gaza

    Earlier this month, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved an aid delivery plan for the Palestinians in war-torn Gaza through private US security contractors based on handing over aid boxes to individuals.

    The Israeli plan, however, has been rejected by the UN and dozens of international aid groups, saying it runs against humanitarian principles, is logistically unworkable, and could put Palestinian civilians and staffers in harm’s way.

    The Palestinian resistance group Hamas also decried the Israeli plan as “political blackmail” and “a violation of international law.”

    Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.

    The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Tel Aviv is coordinating with a US firm to distribute humanitarian aid in Gaza, suggesting that the aid distribution may start on May 24.

    The Israeli army has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 53,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

    READ: At least 153 Palestinians killed as Israel intensifies air strikes across Gaza

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    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
    Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.

  • UN calls on Israel to lift its blockade of aid into Gaza and end the ‘cruel collective punishment’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/un-calls-israel-lift-its-blockade-aid-gaza-and-end-cruel-collective-punishment

     Palestinian children receive donated food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, April 21, 2025

    THE UNITED Nations emergency relief co-ordinator urged Israel today to lift its blockade of aid into the Gaza Strip, saying the halting of humanitarian aid amounts to “cruel collective punishment.”

    Israel has blocked any humanitarian aid from entering the territory since it broke the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in March, throwing Gaza into what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of bombings.

    Israel claims that the blockade and its renewed military campaign are intended to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds and to disarm.Israel’s latest destruction of Gaza followed Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack, in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.As Israel continued its strikes on the Palestinian enclave, another 18 people were killed and dozens more were wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said today.

    Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, said today that while the hostages should be released and should never have been taken in the first place, international law mandates that Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/un-calls-israel-lift-its-blockade-aid-gaza-and-end-cruel-collective-punishment

    UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
    UK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support.