Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo near ‘significant breakthrough,’ two security sources say

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A Palestinian woman mourns as she holds the blood-stained shoe of a loved one, who was killed during an Israeli strike earlier on Al-Jalaa street, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 29 April 2025
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Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo near ‘significant breakthrough,’ two security sources say

  • Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that a recent meeting in Doha on efforts to reach a ceasefire made some progress, but noted there was no agreement yet on how to end the war

CAIRO: Negotiations held in Cairo to reach a ceasefire in Gaza were on the verge of a "significant breakthrough," two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel and Hamas. Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a brief post on X that an Israeli official denied the reported breakthrough, without giving further details.
The Egyptian sources said there was a consensus on a long-term ceasefire in the besieged enclave, yet some sticking points remain, including Hamas arms.
Hamas repeatedly said it was not willing to lay down its arms, a key demand by Israel.
Earlier, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reported that Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was set to meet an Israeli delegation headed by strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer on Monday in Cairo.
The sources said the ongoing talks included Egyptian and Israeli delegations.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar did not report developments on the latest talks. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that a recent meeting in Doha on efforts to reach a ceasefire made some progress, but noted there was no agreement yet on how to end the war. He said the militant group is willing to return all remaining Israeli hostages if Israel ends the war in Gaza. But Israel wants Hamas to release the remaining hostages without offering a clear vision on ending the war, he added. The media adviser for the Hamas leadership, Taher Al-Nono, told Reuters on Saturday that the group was open to a years-long truce with Israel in Gaza, adding that the group hoped to build support among mediators for its offer.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Monday night, before Reuters reported that there had been progress in the talks, Dermer said the government remained committed to dismantling Hamas' military capability, ending its rule in Gaza, ensuring that the enclave never again poses a threat to Israel and returning the hostages.
Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a January ceasefire collapsed, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas until it frees the remaining hostages still held in the enclave. Up to 24 of them are believed to be still alive.
The Gaza war started after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive on the enclave killed more than 52,000, according to local Palestinian health officials.

 


Syria monitor says 8 Alawites killed by security forces

Updated 6 sec ago
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Syria monitor says 8 Alawites killed by security forces

  • The Observatory said the personnel at the checkpoint “stopped the bus and opened fire on it, then forced the surviving passengers off and shot them as well”

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Syrian forces shot dead eight members of the Alawite minority at a checkpoint on Wednesday, a war monitor said, after reporting that five men were found dead following their detention.
Since the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, the Alawite community which the deposed president hails from has been the target of many attacks, including sectarian massacres which killed more than 1,700 people in March.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that “security checkpoint personnel carried out a field execution of eight civilians, including three women, and injured five others — all Alawite” traveling in “a civilian passenger bus” in the central Hama province.
The Observatory said the personnel at the checkpoint “stopped the bus and opened fire on it, then forced the surviving passengers off and shot them as well.”
There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities.
In a separate incident, the Observatory said five Alawite men were found dead in hospital two days after being detained by security forces, alleging they had been “summarily executed.”
It said the men were going home from work in Damascus on Sunday when their bus was stopped at a checkpoint.
Neighbours were initially told the men were detained by security forces and “in good health,” said the Britain-based Observatory.
“The bodies of five members of the Alawite community were found” at Al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus, the Observatory said, adding they had been “summarily executed” by shooting. It did not elaborate.
The bus driver was also being treated at the hospital, the monitor said. A seventh person from the bus remains missing.
The treatment of Syria’s minorities is one of the biggest challenges for the Islamist-led forces that overthrew Assad in December.
The international community has demanded that all components of Syrian society be included in the transition process.
According to witnesses and international organizations, the March massacres saw the killings of entire families, with armed men entering homes in Syria’s coast and asking residents for their religion before deciding whether to kill or spare them.
While the government blamed remnants of the former regime for instigating the clashes, the presidency formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the incidents.


Activist Gaza aid boat slams Israel ‘threat’

Updated 48 min 49 sec ago
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Activist Gaza aid boat slams Israel ‘threat’

ROME: International activists seeking to sail an aid boat to Gaza condemned Wednesday what they called Israel’s threats and “declared intent to attack” their vessel as it crosses the Mediterranean.
Israel’s military said Tuesday it was ready to “protect” the country’s seas, after the vessel — the Madleen, sailed by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition — left Sicily on Sunday carrying around a dozen people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
“The navy operates day and night to protect Israel’s maritime space and borders at sea,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said.
Asked about the aid vessel, he said: “For this case as well, we are prepared.”
He added: “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the activist coalition said it “strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen,” calling it a “threat.”
“Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in Gaza, it said.
Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, launched in 2010, is an international movement supporting Palestinians, combining humanitarian aid with political protest against the blockade on Gaza.
The Madleen is a small sailboat reportedly carrying fruit juices, milk, rice, tinned food and protein bars.
In early May, the Freedom Flotilla ship Conscience was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack.
The coalition said that on Tuesday evening, off the coast of the Greek island of Crete, the Madleen “was approached and circled by a drone, followed, several hours later by two additional drones.”
It said it was later informed these were surveillance drones operated by the Greek coast guard, EU border agency Frontex or both.
Israel recently eased a more than two-month blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, but the aid community has urged it to allow in more food, faster.
 


IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power

Updated 04 June 2025
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IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power

  • The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site

DAMASCUS: UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday his agency and Syrian authorities would begin “exploring the possibility of nuclear power,” on his first visit to Damascus since the ouster of Bashar Assad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly been at loggerheads with Syria in the past over what it says are “unresolved issues” regarding suspected nuclear activities.
On his visit, the IAEA chief met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani.
“Honoured to meet Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus. I recognize his courage in cooperating with full transparency to close a chapter of Syria’s past that diverted resources necessary for development,” Grossi said in a post on X.
He said the two sides “will also begin exploring the possibility of nuclear power in Syria.”
“Our cooperation is key to closing outstanding issues and focusing on the much needed help IAEA can provide Syria in health and agriculture,” he added.
The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site.
Israel in 2018 admitted carrying out a top-secret air raid in 2007 against what it said was a nuclear reactor under construction at the site in eastern Syria.
Syria had denied it was building a nuclear reactor.
Grossi visited Damascus in March last year, meeting then president Assad who was overthrown in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Grossi told an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in March this year that he had requested Syria’s cooperation to “fulfil our obligation to verify nuclear material and facilities” and to “address unresolved issues.”
“Clarifying these issues remains essential to Syria demonstrating its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and international peace and security,” he said at the time.


Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

Updated 04 June 2025
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Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

MARRAKECH: Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military’s moves to form a new government as “fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country’s two-year civil war.

Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.

“Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco. 

“There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.”

Hamdok became Sudan’s first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition. He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure.

The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse.

Both sides stand accused of war crimes. 

The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live.

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.

The military recaptured the Khartoum area from the RSF in March, as well as some surrounding territory. Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan has framed the advances as a major turning point in the conflict.

Last month, he appointed a new prime minister, Kamil Al-Taib Idris, for the first time since the war began, tasked with forming a new government. But the fighting has continued. 

The RSF has regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur and made advances elsewhere, including in Kordofan.

Hamdok, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can’t be secured without addressing the root causes of the war.

Hamdok said a ceasefire and a credible process to restore democratic, civilian rule would need to confront Sudan’s deep inequalities, including uneven development, issues among different identity groups and questions about the role of religion in government.

“Trusting the soldiers to bring democracy is a false pretense,” he added.

Though rooted in longstanding divisions, the war has been supercharged by foreign powers accused of arming both sides.

Pro-democracy groups, including Hamdok’s Somoud coalition, have condemned atrocities committed by both the army and the RSF.

“What we would like to see is anybody who is supplying arms to any side to stop,” he said.


Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

Updated 04 June 2025
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Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

  • Egypt’s foreign minister assured his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of Saint Catherine Monastery will be preserved

CAIRO: Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured.
Egypt’s foreign minister on Wednesday told his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of the Saint Catherine Monastery and surrounding archaeological sites will be preserved. That’s according to a statement.
The Greek Orthodox Church had been concerned after an administrative court said the state owns the land but affirmed the monks’ right to use the site.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem last week expressed concern and said “it is our sacred obligation to ensure that Christian worship continues on this holy ground, as it has done for 17 centuries.” It acknowledged Egypt’s assurances there would be no infringement.
Egypt’s presidency last week said the ruling consolidates the state’s commitment to preserve the monastery’s religious status.