military headquarters in Damascus Photograph: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
Israel’s military said a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi militant group in Yemen has been intercepted by air defences.
Sirens sounded in the Dead Sea area following the launch, according to reports. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
US calls on Syria to withdraw troops
The US is calling on Syria to withdraw its troops to allow for deescalation, a state department spokesperson said.
Tammy Bruce spoke to Fox News after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern city of Sweida hours after a ceasefire agreement.
“We are calling on the Syrian government to withdraw their military in order to allow all sides to be able to de-escalate,” she said.
The day so far
The blog is taking a pause but here is a round-up of the day’s headlines so far:
Syria’s Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday. An earlier ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after only a few hours.
The Trump administration is close to an agreement to de-escalate the situation between Israel and Syria, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official. US secretary of state Marco Rubio earlier on Wednesday told reporters at the White House that he expected progress towards de-escalation in the next few hours, after Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the situation in Syria is “complicated” but looks like a “misunderstanding” and he thinks progress towards de-escalation will be made in the next few hours.
Israel will not let the Syrian army establish a military presence on their shared border and will protect the Druze population in southern Syria from attack, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday. The official said Israel was in close contact with the United States over the situation in Syria, adding that Israel was prepared for any eventuality after launching numerous airstrikes over the past 24 hours on Syrian targets.
The EU on Wednesday said it was “alarmed” by the continued clashes in Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida, calling on all sides to implement a ceasefire and protect civilians, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. A statement by the EU’s diplomatic arm also urged “all external actors” to “fully respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” after Israel carried out strikes in support of the Druze.
Damage from apparent massive strikes on Syria’s defence ministry in Damascus were shown in live footage on Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday. The Syrian state news agency said the airstrikes were by Israel.
Washington’s ambassador to Turkey on Wednesday called for a “step back” and negotiations to get to a ceasefire in Syria’s city of Sweida and condemned violence against civilians. “We unequivocally condemn violence against civilians in Suwayda. Full stop. All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire. Perpetrators need to be held accountable,” Tom Barrack wrote in a post on X.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Druze citizens in Israel not to cross the border into Syria, saying on Wednesday the situation there was “very grave” and they could be kidnapped or killed.
At least 248 people have been killed in the Sweida province after several days of clashes, a war monitor said on Wednesday. At least 20 people were killed in an incident in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has claimed. The Israeli-backed logistics group, which uses private US security and logistics companies to get aid supplies into Gaza, claimed that 19 victims were trampled and one was stabbed during what it described as a “chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd”. Palestinian health officials told Reuters that the number of people who were killed at the site had since risen to 21.
Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 87 people across the territory in the past 24 hours.
US president Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since 6 July, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.
Explosive-laden drones hit three oilfields in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Wednesday, Kurdish authorities said, a day after a similar attack halted operations at a US-run field. Production in the Peshkabir and Tawke oilfields operated by the Norwegian group DNO ASA, has been temporarily suspended, the company said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel’s attacks during last month’s 12-day war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic’s system and spark unrest to topple it. Khamenei also said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday that Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack.Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Syrian forces should withdraw from the country’s south. He added that there would be no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened, saying Israel would “raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood”.
Updated
US close to deal to de-escalate Israel-Syria, Axios reports
The Trump administration is close to an agreement to de-escalate the situation between Israel and Syria, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio earlier on Wednesday told reporters at the White House that he expected progress towards de-escalation in the next few hours, after Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the situation in Syria is “complicated” but looks like a “misunderstanding” and he thinks progress towards de-escalation will be made in the next few hours.
Syrian state media has announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority province in Syria, which if successful, would end four days of fighting that has claimed at least 200 lives, according to a war monitor.
The announcement of a ceasefire was accompanied by a statement by sheikh Yousef Jarbooua, one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community, which endorsed the ceasefire and said institutions in the Syrian Druze-majority of Suweida would soon come under state control.
It was unclear if the ceasefire would hold, as a second spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, rejecting the announced ceasefire and calling upon Druze militiamen to continue fighting.
“We assure local and international public opinion that there is no agreement, negotiation or authorization with these armed gangs that falsely call themselves a government,” the spiritual leader said in a statement.
A similar ceasefire announced on Tuesday broke down in similar circumstances after a split emerged between the spiritual leaders of the Druze community in Syria.
The four days of fighting in Suweida initially started as a local dispute between Bedouin Arab tribes and Druze fighters, but after government forces intervened, fighting began between security forces and Druze militia men.
Israel soon got involved as well, bombing Syrian government forces in southern Syria and the military headquarters of the ministry of defence in Damascus, in what it said was a “warning” to Syria’s president. Since December, Israel has claimed to defend the Druze in Syria, a patronage not all Syrian Druze are comfortable with.
If successful, the ceasefire on Wednesday would put an end to the worst sectarian fighting since the coastal massacres in March which saw more than 1,500, mostly civilians, killed in less than a week.
The United States is “very worried” about the violence in southern Syria, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday.
“It is a direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria. We have been and remain in repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter,” Rubio said.
Syria's Druze reach new ceasefire deal with government in Sweida, religious leader says
Syria’s Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.
An earlier ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after only a few hours.
There was still fire from government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida after the announcement was made, according to a Reuters witness.
US president Donald Trump’s administration asked Israel again on Wednesday to halt strikes on Syria and engage in dialogue with the government in Damascus, Axios reported, citing a senior US official.
Axios did not say whether that request came before or after Israeli strikes on Wednesday on Syria’s military headquarters and near the presidential palace in Damascus.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, asked about Israeli strikes on Syria on Wednesday, said the United States was concerned, adding that he had just spoken to the relevant parties over the phone.
“We’re going to be working on that issue as we speak. I just got off the phone with the relevant parties. We’re very concerned about it, and hopefully we’ll have some updates later today. But we’re very concerned about it,” Rubio said, adding that the US wants fighting to stop as clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters broke out hours after a ceasefire agreement.
Israel will not let the Syrian army establish a military presence on their shared border and will protect the Druze population in southern Syria from attack, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday.
The official said Israel was in close contact with the United States over the situation in Syria, adding that Israel was prepared for any eventuality after launching numerous airstrikes over the past 24 hours on Syrian targets.
He added that the Syrian army was part of the problem, not the solution to the crisis, saying it had done nothing to protect the Druze minority.
Turkey on Wednesday condemned Israel’s strikes on Syrian army headquarters in Damascus, saying they sought to undermine stability in the war-torn country, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The foreign ministry said in a statement:
Israel’s attacks on Damascus, following its military interventions in the south of Syria, constitute an act of sabotage against Syria’s efforts to secure peace, stability, and security.
The EU on Wednesday said it was “alarmed” by the continued clashes in Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida, calling on all sides to implement a ceasefire and protect civilians, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
A statement by the EU’s diplomatic arm also urged “all external actors” to “fully respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” after Israel carried out strikes in support of the Druze.
Syrian government forces stand accused of summary executions and other abuses in Sweida, where sectarian violence between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes has left scores dead.
France on Wednesday also called for an end to “abuses targeting civilians” in Sweida.
“The abuses targeting civilians, which we strongly condemn, must stop,” the foreign ministry said, calling for an “immediate cessation of clashes” and urging all sides to respect a ceasefire.
Updated
Israel warns Syria of 'painful blows' as airstrikes hit capital
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz on Wednesday warned Syria that it would hit the country hard after deadly clashes that saw government forces align with Bedouin fighters in clashes against the Druze, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
“The signals to Damascus are over - now come the painful blows,” he said, promising that the Israeli military would “operate forcefully” in Syria’s southern Sweida region “to eliminate the forces that attacked the Druze until their full withdrawal”.
A live broadcast by the Qatari channel Al Jazeera showed a series of Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian army and defence ministry headquarters in Damascus, with smoke billowing into the sky and parts of the building damaged.
Israel’s attack came hours after a drone strike on the same building. Syrian state media reported a “number of casualties” without giving further details.
State television reported “a new aggression by the Israeli occupation air force in Umayyad Square, near the headquarters building in central Damascus”.
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus – targeting the Syrian military headquarters, defence ministry, and areas around it – aim to sabotage Syria’s efforts to establish peace and security, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
The ministry said Syria had a historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate into the world after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, the former president, in December.
Updated
An Israeli airstrike hit next to the presidential palace in Syria’s capital Damascus on Wednesday, according to a Reuters witness.
Damage from apparent massive strikes on Syria’s defence ministry in Damascus were shown in live footage on Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday.
The Syrian state news agency said the airstrikes were by Israel.
Washington’s ambassador to Turkey on Wednesday called for a “step back” and negotiations to get to a ceasefire in Syria’s city of Sweida and condemned violence against civilians.
“We unequivocally condemn violence against civilians in Suwayda. Full stop. All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire. Perpetrators need to be held accountable,” Tom Barrack wrote in a post on X, using an alternate spelling for the city where clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters have broken out hours after a ceasefire agreement.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Druze citizens in Israel not to cross the border into Syria, saying on Wednesday the situation there was “very grave” and they could be kidnapped or killed.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Syria state media said that the Israeli military struck the Druze-majority city of Sweida, where Syrian government forces have deployed despite Israeli warnings.
It comes as the Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday that it had attacked the entrance gate of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus.
Syrian state television reported that two people were wounded in central Damascus, without giving the exact location.
Clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, collapsing a ceasefire announced just hours earlier that aimed to put an end to days of deadly sectarian bloodshed.
At least 248 people have been killed in the Sweida province after several days of clashes, a war monitor said on Wednesday.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Syrian forces should withdraw from the country’s south. He added that there would be no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened, saying Israel would “raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood”.
The Israeli military said it was sending more troops to the border with Syria, claiming that “dozens of suspects” were attempting to “infiltrate Israeli territory”.
In other developments:
At least 20 people were killed in an incident in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has claimed. The Israeli-backed logistics group, which uses private US security and logistics companies to get aid supplies into Gaza, claimed that 19 victims were trampled and one was stabbed during what it described as a “chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd”. Palestinian health officials told Reuters that the number of people who were killed at the site had since risen to 21.
Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 87 people across the territory in the past 24 hours.
US president Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since 6 July, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.
Explosive-laden drones hit three oilfields in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Wednesday, Kurdish authorities said, a day after a similar attack halted operations at a US-run field. Production in the Peshkabir and Tawke oilfields operated by the Norwegian group DNO ASA, has been temporarily suspended, the company said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel’s attacks during last month’s 12-day war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic’s system and spark unrest to topple it. Khamenei also said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday that Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack.
Updated
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel’s attacks during last month’s 12-day war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic’s system and spark unrest to topple it, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Khamenei said in a statement published on his website:
The calculation and plan of the aggressors was to weaken the system by targeting certain figures and sensitive centres in Iran.
He said the move was meant to stir “unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system”.
Khamenei also said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday that Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, Reuters reports.
He added that Tehran was capable of giving a bigger blow to adversaries than the one delivered during the 12-day Iran-Israel war last month.
On Wednesday, Iran’s parliament ruled out further nuclear negotiations with the United States without meeting certain “preconditions”, without specifying any of them.
In his statement, Khamenei said Iranian diplomacy and the military should exercise “care and precision” in the way ahead, without elaborating.
Updated
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it was working to stop people crossing from Syria, after deadly unrest between Druze and Bedouin fighters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
A statement said:
A short while ago, (Israeli) troops identified dozens of suspects attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory from the area of Hader in Syria.
It added that soldiers and border police were “operating to prevent the infiltration”.
Israel said earlier on Wednesday that it was sending more troops to its border with Syria after the deployment of Syrian forces to the country’s south, where there have been deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes.
The Syrian presidency vowed to punish those who committed violations against Druze-majority Sweida’s residents, as government forces were accused of summary executions and other abuses by right groups, witnesses and local factions.
In a statement, the presidency said they “strongly condemn these heinous acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and punishing all those proven to be involved”.
At least 87 people killed by Israeli strikes
Gaza local health authorities said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 87 people across the territory in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
It comes as Palestinian health officials told the news agency that the number of people who were killed on Wednesday near an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Khan Younis had risen to 21.
The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and one fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centres in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Witnesses said that guards at the site sprayed pepper gas at them after they had locked the gates to the centre, trapping them between the gates and the outer wire-fence.
Mahmoud Fojo, 21, who was hurt in the stampede, said:
People kept gathering and pressuring each other; when people pushed each other...those who couldn’t stand fell under the people and were crushed.
Some people started jumping over the netted fence and got wounded. We were injured, and God saved us. We were under the people and we said the Shahada (death prayers). We thought we were dying, finished.
There has been no immediate comment by the GHF or Israeli army on eyewitness accounts.
Here are some of the latest photos coming to us through the wires of the events unfolding in the Middle East:
Updated
Israel sends more troops to Syria border
Israel on Wednesday said it was sending more troops to the border with Syria, after vowing to step up attacks if government forces were not withdrawn from the south of the country, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
A statement read:
In accordance with the situational assessment, the (Israeli military) has decided to reinforce its forces in the area of the Syrian border.
Syrian state television reported that two people were wounded in central Damascus, without giving the exact location.
It comes after the Israeli military said it had hit Syria’s military headquarters in the capital.
Updated
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had finished paving a new road in southern Gaza separating several towns east of Khan Younis from the rest of the territory in an effort to disrupt Hamas operations, Reuters reports.
Palestinians see the road, which extends Israeli control, as a way to pressure on Hamas in ongoing ceasefire talks, which started on 6 July and are being brokered by Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar with the backing of the United States.
Palestinian sources close to the negotiations said a breakthrough had not yet been reached on any of the main issues under discussion.
Hamas said Israel wanted to keep at least 40% of the Gaza Strip under its control as part of any deal, which the group rejected. Hamas has also demanded the dismantlement of the GHF and the reinstatement of a UN-led aid delivery mechanism.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the road showed Israel was not serious about reaching a ceasefire deal.
Naim said in a post on his Facebook page:
It confirms the occupation’s long-term intentions and plans to remain inside the Strip, not to withdraw, and not to end the war. This contradicts everything it claims at the negotiating table or communicates to mediators.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas is disarmed and removed from Gaza.
Israeli strikes reported in Sweida and Damascus
Syria state media said that the Israeli military struck the Druze-majority city of Sweida, where Syrian government forces have deployed despite Israeli warnings, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
“Israeli occupation drones target the city of Sweida,” state-run SANA said.
An AFP correspondent reportedly witnessed a strike on a military truck at Sweida’s western entrance, where government forces had gathered before deploying into the city.
It comes as the Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday that it had attacked the entrance gate of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had said on Wednesday that Syrian forces should withdraw from the country’s south, where there have been deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes.
He added that there would be no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened, saying Israel would “raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood”.
Israel on Wednesday threatened to increase its attacks on Syria unless the government withdrew its forces from the country’s south, where there have been deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Defence minister Israel Katz called on Damascus to “leave the Druze in Sweida alone” after troops were sent to the region to quell the several days of unrest.
He said in a statement.
As we have made clear and warned, Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarisation policy we have decided on.
Syrian forces should withdraw, he added, and promised no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened, saying Israel would “raise the level of responses against the regime if the message is not understood”.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of Damascus’s Islamist-led government near its territory.
The head of the Druze community in Israel, sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, on Wednesday called the situation “an existential battle for the Druze community”.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, accused the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Wednesday of gross mismanagement, saying its lack of crowd control and failure to uphold humanitarian principles had led to chaos and death among desperate civilians.
He told Reuters:
People who flock in their thousands (to GHF sites) are hungry and exhausted, and they get squeezed into narrow places, amid shortages of aid and the absence of organization and discipline by the GHF.
A medical source at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis told Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters it had received “nine martyrs, including several children” after “Israeli forces” opened fire.
It comes as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims at least 20 people were killed in an incident near an aid distribution site in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday.
The medical source at Nasser hospital said the victims were “heading to the aid distribution centre in northwest Rafah to receive food aid” but the main gate to the centre had been closed.
They added:
The Israeli occupation forces and the centre’s private security personnel opened fire on them, resulting in a large number of deaths and injuries.
Explosive-laden drones hit three oilfields in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region on Wednesday, Kurdish authorities said, a day after a similar attack halted operations at a US-run field, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Production in the Peshkabir and Tawke oilfields operated by the Norwegian group DNO ASA, has been temporarily suspended, the company said.
In the past few weeks, Kurdistan has seen a spate of unclaimed drone attacks, amid simmering tensions between the regional government and the federal authorities in Baghdad over oil exports.
Five oilfields in the region have been hit in the space of a week. The regional natural resources ministry said the latest attacks had caused “significant damage” and condemned them as acts of “terrorism”.
There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the past week’s attacks and Baghdad has promised an investigation to identify the culprits.
On Monday, two drones hit the Khurmala field while another was shot down near the airport in the regional capital Arbil.
At least 248 killed in southern Syria conflict
At least 248 people have been killed in southern Syria’s Sweida province following several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces, a war monitor said on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
The toll includes 92 members of the Druze minority, 28 of them civilians with 21 “killed in summary executions by government forces”, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least 138 Syrian security personnel were killed, along with 18 allied Bedouin fighters, the monitor said.
Clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, collapsing a ceasefire announced just hours earlier that aimed to put an end to days of deadly sectarian bloodshed, Reuters reports.
Syrian troops were dispatched to the province on Monday to quell fighting between Druze fighters and Bedouin armed men but ended up clashing with the Druze militias. The fighting drew in Israel, which carried out airstrikes on government forces on Monday and Tuesday under the aim of protecting the Druze.
Local news outlet Sweida24 said the city of Sweida and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early on Wednesday.
Syria’s defence ministry, in a statement carried by state news agency SANA, blamed outlaw groups in Sweida for breaching a ceasefire announced by Syria’s defence ministry on Tuesday.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has accused Hamas of fomenting panic and spreading misinformation that led to the violence which resulted in the 20 deaths near an aid distribution site in Khan Younis, Reuters reports.
The GHF said in a statement:
We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd - armed and affiliated with Hamas - deliberately fomented the unrest."
The Israeli-backed logistics group provided no evidence to support the claim.
GHF operates outside the UN-coordinated aid system and uses private US security and logistics contractors to deliver aid – an approach Israel says reduces the risk of Hamas looting, a charge the group denies.
Iran’s parliament said the country should not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until preconditions are met, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Iranian state media, Reuters reports.
The statement said:
When the U.S. use negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime (Israel), talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met,
The statement did not define the preconditions, but Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said there should be guarantees there will be no further attacks against Tehran.
Last week, Araqchi reiterated Tehran’s position that it would not agree to a nuclear deal that prevents it from enriching uranium and would refuse to discuss extra-nuclear topics such as its ballistic missile programme.
US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was in
no rush to negotiate with Iran as its nuclear sites were now “obliterated”, but the US, in coordination with three European
countries, has agreed to set the end of August as the deadline for a deal.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that Paris, London and Berlin would trigger the UN sanctions snapback mechanism, which would reimpose international sanctions on Iran, by the end of August if there is no concrete progress regarding an agreement.
GHF claims 20 people killed in Khan Younis near aid distribution site
At least 20 people were killed in an incident in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has claimed.
The Israeli-backed logistics group, which uses private US security and logistics companies to get aid supplies into Gaza, claimed that 19 victims were trampled and one was stabbed during what it described as a “chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd”.
Palestinian heath officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.
This comes as Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed 22 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
The GHF, which began distributing food packages in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on humanitarian supplies, has previously rejected UN criticism, accusing it of spreading misinformation.
The UN has called the GHF’s model “inherently unsafe” and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Opening summary
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has claimed at least 20 people were killed in an incident in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday.
The Israeli-backed logistics group, which uses private US security and logistics companies to get aid supplies into Gaza, claimed that 19 victims were trampled and one was stabbed during what it described as a “chaotic and dangerous surge, driven by agitators in the crowd”.
Palestinian heath officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.
The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the GHF and convoys run by other relief groups, including the UN.
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of GHF sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.
Malnutrition rates among children in the Gaza Strip have doubled since Israel sharply restricted the entry of food in March, the UN said on Tuesday. New Israeli strikes killed more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, according to health officials.
Hunger has been rising among Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing in a trickle of aid.
Unrwa, the main UN agency caring for Palestinians in Gaza, said it had screened nearly 16,000 children under age 5 at its clinics in June and found 10.2% of them were acutely malnourished. By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children it screened were malnourished.
In other developments:
US president Donald Trump will meet with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since 6 July, discussing a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a daily report Tuesday afternoon that the bodies of 93 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, along with 278 wounded. It did not specify the total number of women and children among the dead.
Israel has launched bombing raids against two of its neighbours, hitting government forces in southern Syria and what it said were Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon. In Syria, the strikes hit forces loyal to the transitional government that had been sent south to the province of Sweida, which is near Israel. Syrian state media also reported Israeli strikes on Tuesday in the nearby province of Deraa.
The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced. Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.”
Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms’ policies, a report has revealed. The report by the Washington DC-based Tech Transparency Project (TTP), which focuses on accountability for big tech, found Houthi-affiliated arms dealers have been openly operating commercial weapon stores for months, and in some cases years, on both platforms.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday he had asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” the killing of US citizen Sayfollah Musallet who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, describing it as a “criminal and terrorist act.” Relatives of Musallet are calling for the Trump administration to arrest and prosecute those responsible for his killing. The 20-year-old from Tampa was visiting his family in an area near Ramallah, and died last week trying to protect their farm from invaders, they said at an emotional press conference in Florida on Monday afternoon.
Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself. The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa valley region.
Explosive-laden drones hit three oilfields in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan region early Wednesday, Kurdish forces said, a day after a similar attack shut operations at a US-run field. In the past few weeks, Iraq and particularly the Kurdistan region have seen a spate of unclaimed drone and rocket attacks. Wednesday’s attacks have raised the number of oilfield hit in Kurdistan to five within a week.
