US’s Blinken says ‘every indication’ Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah

US’s Blinken says ‘every indication’ Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, attend their Extended Deterrence Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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US’s Blinken says ‘every indication’ Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah

US’s Blinken says ‘every indication’ Golan rocket fired by Hezbollah
  • Blinken said Washington in talks with Israel to avoid conflict escalation

TOKYO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that there was “every indication” that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was behind a rocket strike in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 young people.

“Every indication is that indeed the rocket was from Hezbollah. We stand by Israel’s right to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks,” Blinken told reporters in Japan.

The Israeli military said the young people were struck on Saturday by an Iranian-made rocket carrying a 50-kilogram warhead that Iran-backed Hezbollah fired at a football field in the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams.

Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the strike.

“We are determined to bring the Gaza conflict to a close. It’s gone on for far too long. It’s cost far too many lives. We want to see Israelis, we want to see Palestinians, we want to see Lebanese live free from the threat of conflict and violence,” Blinken said.

“We’re in conversations with the government of Israel. And again, I emphasize its right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they’re able to do that,” he said in Tokyo.

“But we also don’t want to see the conflict escalating. We don’t want to see a spread. That has been one of our goals from day one, from October 7 on, and we’ll continue to do that.

“But again, the best way to do that in a sustained way is to get the ceasefire in Gaza that we’re working so hard on virtually every minute of the day,” he said.


Jordan, EU sign security pact to tackle serious crime, terrorism

Jordan, EU sign security pact to tackle serious crime, terrorism
Updated 6 sec ago
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Jordan, EU sign security pact to tackle serious crime, terrorism

Jordan, EU sign security pact to tackle serious crime, terrorism
  • Joint action will target migrant and weapons smuggling as well as drug trafficking
  • Partnership ‘embodies mutual trust and understanding,’ says Europol executive director

AMMAN: Jordan and the EU have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at bolstering efforts to combat organized crime and terrorism across borders, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The working arrangements were signed between Jordan’s Public Security Directorate and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, on Thursday.

The agreement establishes a legal framework to support joint action in fighting serious and organized crime, as well as terrorism, by facilitating cooperation and the exchange of non-personal information between Europol and Jordanian law enforcement agencies.

According to a statement from the PSD, the agreement will allow both parties to coordinate on a range of issues, including migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons smuggling.

Under the deal, Jordan and the EU will share specialized expertise, overall situation reports, and the results of strategic analyzes.

he working arrangements were signed between Jordan’s Public Security Directorate and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, on Thursday. (Europol)

The agreement also enables participation in joint training initiatives, and includes provisions for advice and support in individual criminal investigations.

To streamline collaboration, the PSD will appoint a national contact point responsible for liaising with Europol and coordinating efforts between Jordanian agencies and their European counterparts.

The arrangements also allow for the potential appointment of a Europol liaison officer to be stationed in Jordan, joining a global network of law enforcement representatives from more than 50 countries.

With the agreement in force, the EU and Jordan are expected to significantly strengthen their cooperation in addressing pressing regional and international security challenges.

The arrangements represent “a pivotal step” in joint efforts to address the security threats affecting the EU, its member states, and Jordan, said Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol.

She said the partnership “embodies mutual trust and understanding in the law enforcement area,” paving the way for closer cooperation to achieve security within the EU and across the Middle East.


Fuel shortages in Gaza at ‘critical levels’, UN warns

Fuel shortages in Gaza at ‘critical levels’, UN warns
Updated 16 min 53 sec ago
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Fuel shortages in Gaza at ‘critical levels’, UN warns

Fuel shortages in Gaza at ‘critical levels’, UN warns
  • UN agencies: ‘When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation’

GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached “critical levels,” threatening to dramatically increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

“After almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity. When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation,” seven UN agencies cautioned in a joint statement.


28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
Updated 12 July 2025
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28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
  • Israeli military says that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on the civilian deaths.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.


Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources

Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources
Updated 12 July 2025
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Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources

Syria denies ‘escalatory intentions’ towards Lebanon: sources
  • A source said the Syrian government considers the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons a top priority
  • Syrian authorities have accused Lebanon of procrastination to repatriate its imprisoned nationals

DUBAI: The Syrian government has denied reports that Damascus intends to take escalatory measures against Beirut over the case of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon, sources said on Friday.

A source from Syria’s Ministry of Information said the Syrian government considers the issue of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons a top priority, adding that it is committed to resolving it swiftly through official channels between the two countries.

Sources close to the Syrian government were previously quoted by a television channel saying Damascus was considering diplomatic and economic escalation against Beirut.

The source claimed Damascus was considering the escalation over what it described as Lebanon’s disregard to the fate of Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons, which an unnamed official related to the Syrian information ministry also denied.

Syrian authorities have accused Lebanon of procrastination to repatriate about one third of more than 2,000 of its imprisoned nationals.

The fate of the Syrian prisoners has irritated Damascus given that Lebanon had announced in March that it was ready to repatriate them.


Turkish president hails the start of disarmament by militant Kurdish separatists

Turkish president hails the start of disarmament by militant Kurdish separatists
Updated 12 July 2025
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Turkish president hails the start of disarmament by militant Kurdish separatists

Turkish president hails the start of disarmament by militant Kurdish separatists
  • Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history, Erdogan said
  • Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed start of a disarmament process by militant Kurdish separatists as the end of a “painful chapter” in Turkey's troubled history.

Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AKP party in Ankara that the more than 40-year-old “scourge of terrorism” for which the Kurdistan Workers' Party - or PKK - was responsible is on its way to ending.

Erdogan's remarks came a day after male and female members of the PKK in northern Iraq cast rifles and machine guns into a large cauldron where they were set on fire. The symbolic move was seen as the first step toward a promised disarmament as part of a peace process aimed at ending four decades of hostilities.

The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm. In May the PKK announced that it would do so.

The PKK had waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984, initially with the aim of establishing a Kurdish state in the southeast of the country. Over time, the objective evolved into a campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkey.

The conflict, which spread beyond Turkey’s borders into Iraq and Syria, killed tens of thousands of people. The PKK is considered to be a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK have ended in failure — most recently in 2015.

“Today the doors of a great Turkey, a strong Turkey, a Turkish century have been opened wide,” Erdogan said.

In a statement issued on Friday, the PKK said the fighters who were laying down their weapons, saying that they had disarmed “as a gesture of goodwill and a commitment to the practical success” of the peace process.

“We will henceforth continue our struggle for freedom, democracy, and socialism through democratic politics and legal means,” the statement said.

But Erdogan insisted that there had been no bargaining with the PKK. “The terror-free Turkey project is not the result of negotiations, bargaining or transactions.” Turkish officials have not disclosed if any concessions have been given to the PKK in exchange for laying down their arms.

The Turkish president also said that a parliamentary commission would be established to oversee the peace process.