hostages

Islamabad urges Somalia to free Pakistani sailors held off Somali coast

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar speak at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, on July 9, 2025. [Photo by Murat Gok/Anadolu via Getty Images] Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, spoke by phone on Tuesday with Somali Foreign Minister Abdisaalam Abdi Ali about ongoing efforts to release Pakistani hostages on board the tanker MT Honour 25, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. A spokesperson for Ishaq Dar said in a statement that Pakistan has been actively communicating with Somali authorities since the ship was hijacked off Somalia’s coast in April. Dar expressed Pakistan’s deep concern over the situation and stressed the need to ensure the hostages’ safety and secure their swift release and safe return. Somali Foreign Minister Abdisaalam Abdi Ali reassured him that his government is making serious, ongoing efforts to free the hostages as soon as possible. The tanker, MT Honour 25, has been held by Somali pirates since it was hijacked on 21 April, and currently ten Pakistani sailors remain on board near the Somali coast. READ: Pakistan pushes for stronger trade ties with Somalia This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/ Danantara and the Gulf could finally turn Indonesia’s renewable energy ambition into reality Christian leaders in Lebanon’s Tyre urge international intervention after Israeli evacuation warning Hamas warns of escalating Israeli demolitions across the occupied West Bank Israeli army says Hezbollah fighter crossed border as northern communities placed on high alert Kuwait in talks with Saudi Arabia and UAE on alternative oil export routes Israel kills 8 more Palestinians in Gaza attacks despite ceasefire Iran says enemy cannot achieve in talks what it failed to achieve militarily Islamabad urges Somalia to free Pakistani sailors held off Somali coast Israel plans wide Gaza operation amid ceasefires elsewhere B’Tselem releases video showing Israeli soldier shooting Palestinian baby in West Bank Iran says it targeted US bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, warns of stronger response Resistance security detains alleged collaborators in Gaza UN warns of ‘immense’ humanitarian needs as Israel allows only one crossing into Gaza Hamas says acceptable approaches reached on contentious Gaza ceasefire issues Amnesty says UK sanctions leave ‘architects’ of West Bank occupiers’ violence untouched The ghost that haunts the Caribbean Trump says US ‘must’ respond after alleged Iranian attack on helicopter Lebanese president says Israeli withdrawal would help end armed presence outside state control Turkiye, Saudi Arabia ink railway, transport agreements 6 nations impose sanctions on networks financing, enabling occupiers’ attacks in West Bank Israel obstructs travel of 17,000 Gazan patients for treatment: Health Ministry “May your problems always be so small”: Palestinian pain,…

Continue ReadingIslamabad urges Somalia to free Pakistani sailors held off Somali coast

Protests rock Israel in bid to stop suffering

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protests-rock-israel-bid-stop-suffering  Demonstrators block a road during a protest demanding the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas and calling for the Israeli government to reverse its decision to take over Gaza City and other areas in the Gaza Strip, near Jerusalem, Israel, Aug. 17 Thousands strike to ‘save hostages and stop military escalation’ in Gaza  POLICE in Israel blasted protesters with water cannon and made dozens of arrests today as they clamped down on a one-day nationwide strike that disrupted transport and businesses across Israel. The protests took place as Israel announced its intention to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a widely slammed military offensive in some of the territory’s most populated areas. The “day of stoppage” in Israel on Sunday was organised by two groups representing some of the families of hostages and the bereaved. About 90 municipalities — Tel Aviv Yaffo the largest — three universities, the entire Kibbutzim movement, the lawyers’ bar, numerous high-tech companies, several small unions in the medical, legal and journalism fields and countless private businesses joined the strike.  The police clampdown comes as protesters demand an end to fighting they believe endangers the 20 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 2023 believed to still be alive in captivity.  Protesters chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages” as they gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannon as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires.  Among the protesters in Tel Aviv was a woman carrying a photo of an emaciated child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations, but have now begun to appear more often. ... Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/protests-rock-israel-bid-stop-suffering Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel's mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA 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 Labour for Genocide.

Continue ReadingProtests rock Israel in bid to stop suffering

Netanyahu seeks to prolong Gaza war until elections: Israel’s ex-defense minister

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement during a visit to the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot on June 20, 2025. [Jack GUEZ / POOL / AFP/ Getty Images] Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of seeking to prolong the Gaza war until elections, Anadolu reports. Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party, said internal pressure will be directed at Netanyahu after the hostages taken by Hamas in October 2023 are returned and the war ends. “Netanyahu wants to prolong the war until the elections,” Lieberman told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN. The former minister did not specify whether he meant elections after Netanyahu’s term ends in December 2026 or early polls that might take place at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. “It is not possible to eliminate Hamas without first returning all the hostages (in Gaza) at once,” he added. Indirect negotiations started on July 6 in the Qatari capital, Doha, to reach an agreement that includes a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. A source close to Hamas told Anadolu that the group received updated maps from mediators showing areas across Gaza still under Israeli control and began internal consultations to evaluate the maps. The Israeli army has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave, making it uninhabitable. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for 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: Gaza is starving and the world looks away This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  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.

Continue ReadingNetanyahu seeks to prolong Gaza war until elections: Israel’s ex-defense minister

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

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

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