Tag: Israel

Trump says Israel has agreed to ‘necessary conditions’ to finalize 60-day ceasefire in Gaza

United States (US) President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” required to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.

Two administration officials said Hamas still had to agree to the deal. In a post on Truth social, President Trump wrote, “Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60-day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”

He further said that the Qataris and the Egyptians, “who have worked very hard to help bring Peace”, would deliver the final proposal.

“My Representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza,” the US president wrote, adding, “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better—IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The new proposal comes days after Qatar reportedly helped broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel after US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program last month.

The end of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, which followed a US bombing mission on Tehran’s nuclear sites has provided a window of opportunity for a deal, with Trump keen to add another peace agreement to a series of recent deals he has brokered.

Israel’s campaign, meanwhile, continued to rage on, with Gaza’s civil defense agency reporting Israeli forces killed at least 26 people on Tuesday.

Aid seekers killed

The Red Cross warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities were overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply alarmed by the intensifying hostilities in Gaza City and Jabaliya, which have reportedly caused dozens of deaths and injuries among civilians over the past 36 hours,” the ICRC said in a statement.

Gaza’s civil defense service said 16 people were killed near aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza on Tuesday, in the latest in a spate of deadly attacks on those seeking food, with 10 others killed in other Israeli operations.

Commenting on the incidents, the Israeli military told AFP its forces “fired warning shots to distance suspects who approached the troops”, adding it was not aware of any injuries but would review the incidents.

Referring to an incident in Rafah, it said the shots were fired “hundreds of meters (yards) away from the aid distribution site”, which was “not operating”.

Aid reform call

A group of 169 aid organizations called Monday for an end to Gaza’s “deadly” new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme which they said was leading to civilian deaths.

They urged a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during an impasse in truce talks with Hamas.

Netanyahu’s US visit

Netanyahu announced he would visit Trump and senior US security officials next week, amid mounting pressure to end the devastating genocide in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages home.

Trump, while visiting a migrant detention center in Florida, said Netanyahu “wants to end it too.”

Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP the group is “ready to agree to any proposal if it will lead to an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of occupation forces”.

“So far, there has been no breakthrough.”

July 2, 2025
US withdraws staff amid fears of Israeli strike on Iran

President Donald Trump said US personnel were being moved from the potentially “dangerous” Middle East on Wednesday as nuclear talks with Iran faltered and fears grew of a regional conflict.

Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Tehran’s facilities.

Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out.

A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain.

“Well they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place,” Trump told reporters in Washington when asked about the reports of personnel being moved.

“We’ve given notice to move out and we’ll see what happens.”

Trump then added: “They can’t have a nuclear weapon, very simple. We’re not going to allow that.”

Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

The two sides were due to meet again in coming days.

Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published Wednesday that he was “less confident” about reaching a nuclear deal.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails.

The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran’s nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signaled that he is losing patience.

Iran however warned it would respond to any attack.

“All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries,” Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail.

‘Suffer more losses’

“God willing, things won’t reach that point, and the talks will succeed,” the minister said, adding that the US side “will suffer more losses” if it came to conflict.

The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar.

In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the US strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at the Baghdad airport.

Dozens of US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Amid the escalating tensions, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, also advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution.

Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a “non-negotiable” right and Washington calling it a “red line.”

Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.

Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Last week, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is “key” to Iran’s nuclear program and that Washington “cannot have a say” on the issue.

During an interview with the New York Post’s podcast “Pod Force One,” which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached.

“I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that’s a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,” he said.

Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions — a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years.

June 12, 2025
Israel detains Greta Thunberg, 11 others as Gaza aid boat seized

Israel intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday morning, preventing the activists onboard, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Madleen, Freedom Flotilla Coalition aid ship, departed from Italy on June 1 aiming to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”. After 21 months of war, the UN has warned the territory’s entire population is at risk of famine.

AFP lost contact with the Madleen early Monday morning.

At around 3:02 am CET (0102 GMT), Israeli forces “forcibly intercepted” the vessel in international waters as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement.

“If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the coalition.

The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the diversion, saying in a statement the boat was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Israeli government had vowed to prevent the “unauthorised” ship from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-led genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.

After diverting the boat, Israel’s foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches.

“All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed,” the ministry wrote on social media, adding that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.

“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it added.

Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.

‘Risked their lives’ for food

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.

“After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.

The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.

The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.

Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.

“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body.

She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after the two-months Israeli blockade, despite the recent easing.

At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.

June 9, 2025
Two Israeli embassy staff shot dead in Washington

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine,” authorities said, with US and Israeli leaders expressing shock and outrage over the killings.

President Donald Trump quickly condemned the attack, saying “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!”

“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” he added on social media.

Gunfire broke out on the sidewalk outside the Capital Jewish Museum in the center of Washington as the venue held a social event for young professionals and diplomatic staff.

The victims were a young couple who planned to get married, the Israeli ambassador said.

A video clip circulating on social media showed a young bearded man in a jacket and white shirt shouting “free, free Palestine” as he was led away by police.

Police confirmed the suspected shooter walked into the museum after the shooting and had been detained.

“We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect who is now in custody,” Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters.

“Prior to the shooting the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum. He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun and opened fire.

“After the shooting, the suspect then entered the museum and was detained by event security.”

She said the handcuffed suspect identified where he had discarded the weapon and chanted “Free, free Palestine.”

Police identified him as Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago.

“I am devastated by the scenes in Washington,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. “This is a despicable act of hatred, of anti-Semitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy.

“America and Israel will stand united in defense of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us.”

‘Unspeakable act of violence’

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said “harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line.

“Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives — everywhere in the world.”

The targeted event appeared to be a reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) for Jewish young professionals and the Washington diplomatic community.

The evening was “dedicated to fostering unity and celebrating Jewish heritage,” with an invitation to the event saying the location would be “shared upon registration.”

“American Jewish Committee (AJC) can confirm that we hosted an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC this evening,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement.

“We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue… Our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

The museum is in downtown Washington, close to the US Capitol and just over one mile (1.6 kilometers) from the White House.

Police Chief Smith said officers responded to multiple calls of a shooting near the museum at around 9:00 pm on Wednesday evening (0100 GMT Thursday).

First responders found a man and a woman unconscious and not breathing. Despite life-saving efforts, both were pronounced dead.

Engagement

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told reporters the young staffers were a couple “about to be engaged.”

“The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” Leiter said.

He added that he spoke to Trump by telephone, with the president assuring that the United States will “do everything it can possibly do to fight and end anti-Semitism.”

“We’ll stand together tall and firm, and we will confront this moral depravity without fear and with determination,” Leiter said.

Emergency vehicles remained at the scene Thursday morning after police taped off the area.

“We’re going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send the clear message that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.

“The horrific incident is going to frighten a lot of people in our city, and in our country. I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate.”

May 22, 2025
Israel launches ‘initial stages’ of new Gaza operation: military

The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched “extensive strikes” in the Gaza Strip over the past day as part of the “initial stages” of a fresh offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory.

The strikes were part of “the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war’s objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas”, Israel’s army said in a statement in Arabic on Telegram.

Gaza’s civil defence agency earlier said Israeli strikes on Gaza had killed 100 people on Friday.

The offensive, known as “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, comes as Israel faces pressure to lift a sweeping aid blockade in return for a US-Israeli hostage released by Hamas.

Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce in its war against Hamas, which was triggered by an attack by the Palestinian group in October 2023.

That assault resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

The health ministry in Gaza said 2,985 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,119.

Israeli media reported on Friday that the military had stepped up its offensive in line with a plan approved by the government earlier this month, though there had not been any formal announcement of an expanded campaign.

The military said its forces had “struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip” in 24 hours.

The latest operation comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces increasing pressure to lift a sweeping aid blockade on Gaza, as NGOs warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

The return to fighting since March 18 has drawn international condemnation, with the UN’s rights chief on Friday denouncing the renewed attacks — and what he described as an apparent push to permanently displace the population.

‘People are starving’

US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that “a lot of people are starving” in the besieged Palestinian territory.

“We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of,” Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi, on a regional tour that excluded key ally Israel.

The Arab League is to meet in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss regional crises, with Gaza expected to be high on the agenda.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres will attend the summit, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez — who has sharply criticised Israel’s offensive in Gaza — is expected to address it as a guest.

May 17, 2025
Ben & Jerry’s cofounder removed from Senate after Gaza protest

Ben Cohen, co‑founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a longtime progressive activist, told AFP he was speaking for millions of Americans outraged by the “slaughter” in Gaza after his removal from a US  Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Cohen, 74, was among a group of protesters who startled Health Secretary  Robert F Kennedy Jr. by interrupting his testimony about his department’s budget proposal.

Shouting that “Congress pays for bombs to kill children in Gaza” while lawmakers move to slash Medicaid — the health insurance program for low‑income families — the businessman and philanthropist was placed in handcuffs by Capitol Police.

He urged senators to press Israel to let food reach “starving kids” as he was led away.

“It got to a point where we had to do something,” Cohen said in an interview after his release, calling it “scandalizing” that the US approved “$20 billion worth of bombs” for Israel even as social programs are squeezed back home.

“The majority of Americans hate what’s going on, what our country is doing with our money and in our name,” he said.

US public opinion toward Israel has become increasingly unfavorable, especially among Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center Poll last month.

Beyond the spending, Cohen framed the issue as a moral and “spiritual” breach.

“Condoning and being complicit in the slaughter of tens of thousands of people strikes at the core of us as far as human beings and what our country stands for,” he said, pointing to the fact that the United States pours roughly half its discretionary budget into war‑related spending.

“If you spent half of that money making lives better around the world, I think there’d be a whole lot less friction.”

Invoking a parenting analogy, he added: “You go to a three-year-old who goes around hitting people and you say ‘Use your words.’ There’s issues between countries but you can work them out without killing.”

A longtime critic of Israeli policy, Cohen last year joined prominent Jewish figures in an open letter opposing the pro‑Israel lobby AIPAC. “I understand that I have a higher profile than most people and so I raise my voice, it gets heard. But I need you and others to understand that I speak for millions of people who feel the same way.”

Israel intensified the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza after the October  7, 2023, attack by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israeli military aggression has killed at least 52,928 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Gaza is at “critical risk of famine,” with the entire population facing a food crisis after more than two months of an Israeli aid blockade, and 22 percent facing a humanitarian “catastrophe,” a UN-backed food security monitor warned this week.

May 15, 2025
Israel PM says army entering Gaza ‘with full force’ in coming days

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would enter Gaza “with full force” in the coming days, a statement from his office said Tuesday.

“In the very coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation. Completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with injured reserve soldiers in his office late Monday.

“There will be no situation where we stop the war. A temporary ceasefire might happen, but we are going all the way,” he added.

Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid a deadlock over how to proceed with a January 19 ceasefire that had largely halted the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Earlier this month, Israel’s government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.

Israel’s military said the planned broader operation, which has drawn international condemnation, would include displacing “most” residents of the Palestinian territory.

Nearly all of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.

Israel has pushed for Palestinians to leave Gaza, with a senior security official saying that a “voluntary transfer programme… will be part of the operation’s goals”.

Israeli ministers have seized on a proposal initially floated by US President Donald Trump for the voluntary departure of Gazans to neighbouring countries such as Jordan or Egypt.

Cairo and Amman, along with other Arab allies, governments around the world and the Palestinians themselves, have flatly rejected the proposal.

During the meeting with soldiers, Netanyahu said Israel was working to find countries that may be willing to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

“We’ve set up an administration that will allow them (Gaza residents) to leave but… we need countries willing to take them in. That’s what we’re working on right now,” he said, adding that he estimated “over 50 percent will leave” if given the option.

The intensified genocide against Palestinians in Gaza began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Since then, to date, Israel has killed at least 52,908 Palestinians and wounded 119,721, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

May 14, 2025
Gazans struggling to survive as Israel plans for ‘conquest’

Israel’s plan for the “conquest” of Gaza has sparked renewed fears, but for many of the territory’s residents, the most immediate threat to their lives remains the spectre of famine amid a months-long Israeli blockade.

The plan to expand military operations, approved by Israel’s security cabinet overnight, includes holding territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and moving the population south “for their protection”, an Israeli official said.

But Gaza residents told AFP that they did not expect the new offensive would make any significant changes to the already dire humanitarian situation in the small coastal territory.

“Israel has not stopped the war, the killing, the bombing, the destruction, the siege, and the starvation — every day — so how can they talk about expanding military operations?” Awni Awad, 39, told AFP.

Awad, who lives in a tent in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis after being displaced by Israeli evacuation orders, said that his situation was already “catastrophic and tragic”.

“I call on the world to witness the famine that grows and spreads every day,” he said.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in late April said it had depleted all its foods stocks in Gaza due to Israel’s blockade on all supplies since March 2.

Aya al-Skafy, a resident of Gaza City, told AFP her baby died because of malnutrition and medicine shortages last week.

“She was four months old and weighed 2.8 kilograms (6.2 pounds), which is very little. Medicine was not available,” she said.

“Due to severe malnutrition, she suffered from blood acidity, liver and kidney failure, and many other complications. Her hair and nails also fell out due to malnutrition.”

Umm Hashem al-Saqqa, another Gaza City resident, fears her five-year-old son might face a similar fate, but is powerless to do anything about it.

“Hashem suffers from iron deficiency anaemia. He is constantly pale and lacks balance, and is unable to walk due to malnutrition,” she told AFP.

“There is no food, no medicine, and no nutritional supplements. The markets are empty of food, and the government clinics and pharmacies have nothing.”

‘Distract the world’

Gaza City resident Mohammed al-Shawa, 65, said that Israel’s new military roadmap changes little as it already controls most of Gaza.

“The Israeli announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza is just talk for the media, because the entire Gaza Strip is occupied, and there is no safe area in Gaza,” he said.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 69 percent of Gaza has now been either incorporated into one of Israel’s buffer zones, or is subject to evacuation orders.

That number rises to 100 percent in the southern governorate of Rafah, where over 230,000 people lived before the genocide but which has now been entirely declared a no-go zone.

“There is no food, no medicine, and the announcement of an aid distribution plan is just to distract the world and mislead global public opinion,” Shawa said, referring to reports of a new Israeli plan for humanitarian aid delivery that has yet to be implemented.

“The reality is that Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza by bombing, shooting, or through starvation and denial of medical treatment,” he said.

Israel says that its renewed bombardments and the blockade of Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages held in the territory.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the new plan for Gaza on Monday and evoked a proposal previously floated by US President Donald Trump to displace the territory’s residents elsewhere.

The far-right firebrand said he would push for the plan’s completion, until “Hamas is defeated, Gaza is fully occupied, and Trump’s historical plan is implemented, with Gaza refugees resettled in other countries”.

May 6, 2025
Pope Francis leaves one final gift for the children of Gaza

The late Pope Francis Jorge Mario Bergoglio (late), one of the most staunch supporters of ending Israel’s genocide in Gaza, has left one last gift for the children of the besieged strip.

One of the late Pontiff’s popemobiles, open roof vehicles used by the head of the Church to mingle with followers, is being transformed into a mobile health unit for the children of Gaza, Vatican News reported on Sunday.

The repurposed popemobile is being outfitted with equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatment, including rapid tests for infections, diagnostic instruments, vaccines, suture kits, and other life-saving supplies, Vatican News reported while citing Caritas, a Catholic aid network in Jerusalem.

In one of his final wishes before his passing, Francis entrusted the popemobile used during his 2014 pilgrimage to the Holy Lands to Caritas, Vatican News said, to help respond to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Francis asked that the vehicle be used to help injured and malnourished children in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

“Children are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred,” Vatican News quoted Pope Francis as often claiming.

The mobile health unit will be staffed by doctors, medics and will reach children in the most isolated corners of Gaza once humanitarian access to the strip is restored.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to health care—children who are injured and malnourished,” Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, Peter Brune, said in a press release.

“This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed,” he further said.

“It’s not just a vehicle…It’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza,” Brune added.

Secretary General of Caritas Jerusalem, Anton Asfar, stated, “This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis.”

Meanwhile, welcoming the final gift of Pope Francis, the State of Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, said, “Palestine has lost a loyal friend and a steadfast supporter of our people’s rights and a true messenger of peace and justice.”

“He departed this world while calling for an end to the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation committed against our people at a time when the world failed to protect the children of Gaza,” the ministry added.

As of May 3, 2025, the Genocide in Gaza has claimed the lives of 52,495 Palestinians, while 1163 Israelis have been killed.

Read More: Hospitalised Pope Francis still makes nightly call to Gaza

In February 2024, despite being admitted at hospital and quite unwell, Pope Francis was still making his nightly call to Gaza from his hospital bed.

Sometimes the Pope uses a video call and sometimes a text message to stay in touch with a small Catholic parish in the Gaza strip. Reverend Gabriel Romanelli, the priest of the church in Gaza, confirmed to Vatican News that the Pope calls every night at 8 pm Palestine time, maintaining the almost daily contact he begun when Israel started its onslaught on the Gaza strip.

“Although we had a blackout in the whole area of Gaza City, he insisted and managed to contact us with a video call,” the Reverend told the Vatican media outlet, adding that the Pope inquires about the parishioners and gives blessings.

A video of the Pope saying “Asalam o Alaikum” to Muslims present at the church went viral a few weeks ago. Francis, the first Jesuit head of the Roman Catholic Church, has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s war on Gaza, going so far as to suggest that the occupying country must be investigated for war crimes.

He has also called Israel’s actions in the besieged strip “terrorism”, pleading for an end to the genocide multiple times.

The vocal opposition warned him the wrath of powerful Zionists, including the entire Israeli government, however, the Pope has not budged from his point of view.

In April 2025, Pope Francis delivered his last speech on Easter Sunday at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square.

Here is some text of his final public address, as released by the Vatican

“From the empty tomb in Jerusalem, we hear unexpected good news: Jesus, who was crucified, ‘is not here, he has risen’ (Lk 24:5). Jesus is not in the tomb, he is alive!

Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge. Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand; it no longer has power over those who accept the grace of this day.

I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. The growing climate of anti-Semitism throughout the world is worrisome. Yet at the same time, I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.

I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!

In the passion and death of Jesus, God has taken upon himself all the evil in this world and in his infinite mercy has defeated it. He has uprooted the diabolical pride that poisons the human heart and wreaks violence and corruption on every side. The Lamb of God is victorious! That is why, today, we can joyfully cry out: ‘Christ, my hope, has risen!’ (Easter Sequence).

The resurrection of Jesus is indeed the basis of our hope. For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion. Thanks to Christ — crucified and risen from the dead — hope does not disappoint! Spes non confundit! (cf. Rom 5:5). That hope is not an evasion, but a challenge; it does not delude, but empowers us.

Let us pray for the Christian communities in Lebanon and in Syria, presently experiencing a delicate transition in its history. They aspire to stability and to participation in the life of their respective nations. I urge the whole Church to keep the Christians of the beloved Middle East in its thoughts and prayers.

I also think in particular of the people of Yemen, who are experiencing one of the world’s most serious and prolonged humanitarian crises because of war, and I invite all to find solutions through a constructive dialogue.”

May 5, 2025
Israel brings fire near Jerusalem ‘under control’, reopens roads

Bushfires that erupted near Jerusalem were largely brought under control on Thursday, authorities said, with major roads reopened and firefighting teams still tackling lingering hotspots.

The blaze, which ignited along the main Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway on Wednesday, prompted widespread evacuations and road closures as firefighters battled through the night to contain what officials have called the largest fire in a decade.

“The fire is under control,” said Shlomi Harush, a senior official with the firefighting service.

“There are only hotspots left… all teams remain deployed across the affected areas,” he told AFP, warning that strong winds could still reignite the flames.

In Latrun, approximately 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) from Jerusalem, smoke continued to rise near a monastery as firefighters sprayed water on smouldering embers, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.

Civilians also came out to help douse the fire.

“We used water hoses connected to homes and municipal taps installed along the streets,” Ahmad Ibrahim, a resident of Abu Ghosh village, told AFP.

“We acted out of concern for the community, trying to stop the fire from spreading and endangering residents or their homes.”

Earlier, the fire service reported that 163 ground crews and 12 aircraft had been mobilised to fight the blaze, which has scorched an estimated 13,000 hectares of forest, according to police.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned late Wednesday that the flames could reach Jerusalem, declaring the situation a “national emergency”.

Police confirmed on Thursday that all major routes, including the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv corridor, had been reopened.

“All routes have been reopened to traffic,” they said in a statement, adding that residents of the evacuated Mavo Horon settlement had been allowed to return.

Authorities were also instructed to expedite the return of other displaced residents.

– Authorities ‘weren’t ready’ –

While several Independence Day events scheduled for Wednesday evening were cancelled, celebrations resumed on Thursday despite the ongoing firefighting operations.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has hinted that arson may be behind the fires.

The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu told a function in Jerusalem on Thursday that authorities were “holding 18 people at the moment who are suspected of arson, one of whom was caught in the act”.

While wildfires are not unheard of in Israel this time of year in the past, they are not considered a regular occurrence.

Rescue agency Magen David Adom said it treated 23 people on Wednesday, mostly for smoke inhalation and burns.

Seventeen firefighters were injured, according to public broadcaster Kan.

The Israeli military said its personnel were helping in Jerusalem and other central districts.

Engineering vehicles were deployed “to form lines to prevent the fire from spreading”, it said in a statement, with the air force also assisting and around 50 firetrucks dispatched.

Fanned by strong winds, the fires spread rapidly through wooded areas on Wednesday, prompting evacuations from at least five communities, police said.

“It’s just very sad because we knew the weather, we kind of knew that would happen, and still we feel like they weren’t ready enough with the big planes that can drop large amounts of water,” evacuee Yuval Aharoni, 40, told AFP on Wednesday.

“A lot of police arrived, a lot of firefighters, but it didn’t really help. The fire had already completely taken over the whole area here,” student Yosef Aaron said from the side of a highway, flames visible in the distance.

Late Wednesday, the foreign ministry said firefighting aircraft were expected to arrive from Croatia, France, Italy, Romania and Spain to join the operation.

Cyprus and Serbia also announced they were sending firefighting helicopters to Israel.

May 2, 2025