8 h. ago US senior officials warn Israeli political factions not to disrupt Gaza ceasefire

Marco Rubio says bill passed by rightwing MPs to establish Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over occupied territories ‘threatens’ peace dealThe parade of senior US officials traveling to the Middle East in recent weeks is a clear warning from the White House to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli political factions to not disrupt the recent Gaza ceasefire – including by an annexation of the West Bank – or face a serious rift in relations with the US.As the shaky ceasefire came into effect last week, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner quickly rushed to the region for consultations. Now they have been followed by secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice-president JD Vance as Trump deploys his top allies to tamp down on internal strife within Israel’s fractious Knesset. Continue reading...

Events

10 h. ago Trump threatens to cut all support for Israel in extraordinary escalation after JD Vance 'personal insult'

President Donald Trump revealed a red line that will force his administration to yank its support for Israel as it attempts to hold a fragile ceasefire with Hamas: annexation of the West Bank.

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10 h. ago What does the Israeli proposal to annex the West Bank involve after JD Vance hits out at ‘stupid political stunt’

Over 250 settlements, considered illegal, are spread across the West Bank, with nearly a million settlers

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10 h. ago Vance says Knesset votes on annexing West Bank are an ‘insult’ as Netanyahu halts progress

US vice-president suggests votes were ‘stupid political stunt’ as Israeli PM halts further work on billsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”.The bills applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which would be tantamount to the annexation of land Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, barely a week after Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli offensive in Gaza. Continue reading...

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13 h. ago Vance lashes out at ‘very stupid’ Israeli vote to annex West Bank

Move by parliament prompts heated exchanges between US, Arab allies and Israeli far right

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18 h. ago Annexing West Bank ‘would put Donald Trump’s Gaza plan at risk’, warns Marco Rubio

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank won initial approval from Israel's parliament on Wednesday

Events

47 h. ago The EU was complicit in the war in Gaza. Trump's plan can't be an excuse to dodge responsibility now | Nathalie Tocci

Tiptoeing around Israel has cost Europe its credibility. It must exert meaningful pressure to ensure the horrors we have seen never happen againThe first phase of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza has drawn a collective sigh of relief from European leaders. After two years of slaughter, the ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory offer hope – and unfortunately, an excuse for Europe to continue doing nothing.When it comes to the war in Gaza, unlike Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European governments have shown their worst colours. They are divided, and their political splits have led to policy paralysis. But worse than sitting on the sidelines hand-wringing, European governments and EU institutions in Brussels can be accused of complicity in Israel’s war crimes. They have been unwilling to exert any pressure on the perpetrators, while continuing economic, political and...

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57 h. ago Trump's meeting with Putin in Hungary is called off 'after bad phone call between US and Russian negotiators'

The decision to call the meeting off was made following discussions between US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

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61 h. ago MIKEY SMITH: 13 unhinged Donald Trump moments as he bulldozes White House and issues Gaza threat

Trump threatened to send troops into Gaza, demolished part of the White House, and nearly got in a scrap with an Ambassador. Here's everything you need to know

Events

64 h. ago Trump to host GOP senators at White House amid demolition work and government shutdown – US politics live

The president will host a lunch for Republicans in the Rose Garden as construction is carried out on the White House’s east wingPresident Donald Trump’s hopes for a quick summit in Budapest with Russian president Vladimir Putin stalled after a preparatory session between the leaders’ top foreign-policy aides this week was put on hold, CNN reported on Monday.Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNN said the reason for postponing the meeting between US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was unclear. One source cited differing expectations about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, CNN said. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago US envoys arrive in Israel to shore up the Gaza ceasefire after a major flareup

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy says that Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have arrived in Israel

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3 d. ago In Gaza, and now Ukraine, Donald Trump may be peace activists' greatest ally. That deserves our backing | Simon Jenkins

It’s a fool’s game trying to understand the president’s true motives, but do our misgivings matter if the outcome is a speedy end to war?Donald Trump is sensible and he is right. Basking in glory after his Gaza ceasefire, he was on Friday evening flying to Florida with his entourage of reporters. The drums of war were beating across Europe and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with him for Tomahawk missiles. What was his reply?Trump was clearly fed up. He had told Zelenskyy: go make a deal. He had said, “They should stop the war immediately. You go go by the battle line wherever it is and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it.” Matter closed. Tomahawks would merely mean escalation and more killing. Get a deal.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Marco Rubio betrayed drug gang informants to seal El Salvador prison deal, report says

Trump administration allegedly agreed to abandon confidential informants protected by US government in an effort to ink CECOT deal

Events

4 d. ago Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fillHolding court for the cameras in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, a manically self-congratulatory Donald Trump, Gaza’s make-believe saviour, hailed his fellow “tough guys” – tame tyrants, such as Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who helped fabricate his flimsy Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.Yet later this month, the American pharaoh-president is due to face a far less biddable tough guy: China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Bookmakers may withhold odds on the outcome. In the US-China race for 21st-century primacy, Xi is sprinting ahead, assisted by spur-heeled Trump’s many missteps.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

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5 d. ago US warns Hamas planning attack on Palestinian civilians in apparent violation of Gaza ceasefire

The U.S. State Department says it has “credible reports” that Hamas could violate the ceasefire with an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza

Events

6 d. ago Trump’s peace plan is just about holding together, but may be unravelled by two unresolved issues | Rajan Menon

The withdrawal of Israeli troops and the establishment of an international stabilisation force are key in securing long-term peace, but the plan is dangerously vague on these issuesTwo years of death and destruction in Gaza ended once Israel and Hamas signed off on Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. A ceasefire is in place. Humanitarian trucks have begun to roll in. Hostages and prisoners are being exchanged. Israel has begun a first-phase pullback from the territories it controls, and under Trump’s plan its troops will eventually be deployed in a buffer zone along Gaza’s land border.Given these developments – all part of the opening phase – dismissing the momentous changes in Gaza is to deny reality. There have already been disputes over the return of the bodies of Israeli hostages, but there are unresolved longer-term problems that could derail the ceasefire and imperil the rest of the Trump plan.Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College o...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump issues chilling threat to Hamas as Gaza descends into bloody civil war: 'We will have no choice'

President Donald Trump issued a stern warning Thursday to Hamas, as the Palestinian terror group has been caught executing fellow Palestinians amid the ceasefire with Israel.

Events

7 d. ago Donald Trump warns Hamas over Gaza ceasefire as he threatens to 'go in and kill them'

US President Donald Trump has warned that Hamas will face consequences should they not follow the Gaza ceasefire agreement as 'we will have no choice but to go in and kill them'

Events

7 d. ago Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire on brink as he threatens to 'go in and kill Hamas'

US President Donald Trump posted a furious message on Truth Social this evening as Hamas and Israel continue accusing each other of breaching the terms of the ceasefire

Events

7 d. ago While the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Israeli settlers in the West Bank still behave with impunity | Ofer Cassif

As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza ceasefire ring hollowLast Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to “Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force from the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed “only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious occupation?Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the...

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