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Iran: Israel’s plan for Gaza City occupation shows Zionist regime’s ‘specific intent’ for genocide

By
IFP Media Wire
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Esmail Baghaei

In a statement on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei strongly condemned the Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City in a major escalation of the regime’s 22-month war in the besieged Palestinian territory.

He said the plan will lead to the forced displacement of people in Gaza and aims to “complete the Palestinian people’s genocide.”

He urged the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to heed the threat of the complete occupation of Gaza by the Israeli criminals who are ruling over the historic land of Palestine.

Israel’s war cabinet on Friday approved a military blueprint to capture Gaza City and tighten its grip on the besieged enclave—an area it has relentlessly bombarded for months.

Baghaei added that all governments and the United Nations bear the legal and moral responsibility to stop Israel’s genocide and heinous crimes in the occupied Palestine.

He said it was “shameful” that the United States and other Western countries continue to be complicit in Israel’s crimes.

“It is a necessary step to force the Israeli regime to stop the genocide [in Gaza] and to urgently send humanitarian aid to the hungry and thirsty people of Gaza in order to end a catastrophe that has shaken the legal, normative and ethical foundations of human civilization,” the Iranian spokesperson emphasized.

He added Iran is formally calling on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s secretariat, Saudi Arabia as the host country, and Turkey as the current chair of the OIC Council of Ministers to convene an emergency meeting on the issue.

Iran also calls for Muslim countries’ collective measures to help the oppressed Palestinian people, Baghaei pointed out.

As of October 7, 2023, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 61,330 Palestinians and injured another 152,045, with most of the victims being women and children.

Gaza health authorities said 200 people, including dozens of children, have died of malnutrition during the war in Gaza as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on supplies of humanitarian aid amid escalation of famine crisis in the Strip.

Iraqi influencer launches campaign supporting Iran’s missile capabilities

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Missile

The initiative, framed as a social media challenge, has drawn significant attention among Iraqi users, sparking widespread engagement and discussion online.

Armenia and Azerbaijan ink Trump-brokered peace declaration

By
IFP Media Wire
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During the Friday event, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Trump signed a joint declaration focused on opening a key transport route in the region – the so-called Zangezur corridor.

The route connects Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhichevan through a narrow strip of land located in southern Armenia, which runs along the country’s border with Iran.

The route is set to be developed and operated by American companies and will be known as the ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity’. The US president said that having the route named after him was “a great honor” and claimed he “did not ask for this.”

Both Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders showered the US president with praise over the declaration. Pashinyan said the deal was a great success “for our countries and for our region and a success for the world,” which cemented Trump’s “legacy as a statesman and the peacemaker.” Aliyev said Trump was bringing “peace” to the whole Caucasus region, noting “and we are grateful for that.”

Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan are both former Soviet republics that have been locked in a territorial dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh since the late 1980s. The predominantly ethnic-Armenian-populated region broke away from Baku in the early 1990s following a full-blown war. The territory had been the source of constant tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan for more than two decades, seeing multiple flareups and large-scale conflicts, before Baku managed to regain control of the region by force in 2023.

Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City ‘war crime, ethnic cleansing’: Hamas

By
IFP Media Wire
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In a statement, the group announced that Israel’s incursion would “not be a picnic” and warned it would “pay a heavy price” for its military adventure in Gaza.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “Nazi government of showing no concern for the fate of Israeli hostages in Gaza,” saying the expansion of the war amounts to a “calculated decision to sacrifice” them.

The group also dismissed Israel’s attempt to replace the term “occupation” with “control,” describing it as a “blatant evasion aimed at avoiding legal responsibility for its crimes” against nearly 1 million Palestinians in the city.

Israel’s Security Cabinet has deliberately avoided using the term “occupation” in reference to the Gaza Strip in its latest official decisions opting instead for “control,” a move legal analysts say is aimed at evading international legal responsibilities toward Palestinian civilians.

Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 61,000 people since the October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Germany to halt arms exports to Israel for use in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

Berlin’s move, in response reaction to an Israeli plan to take control of Gaza City, marks a drastic change of course for Germany, long one of Israel’s staunchest international allies.

Merz expressed “deep concern” at the suffering of Gaza’s civilians.

It was “increasingly unclear”, he said, how the latest Israeli military plan would help achieve the aims of disarming Hamas and freeing the remaining Israeli hostages.

“Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice,” he said in a statement.

Netanyahu spoke to Merz later Friday to express his “disappointment”, announced a statement from the prime minister’s office.

“Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel,” it stressed.

Israel has until recently enjoyed broad support across the political spectrum in Germany.

Between the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 that started the Gaza war and May this year, Germany approved defence exports worth 485 million euros ($565 million) to Israel.

The deliveries included firearms, ammunition, weapons parts, electronic equipment and armoured vehicles, the government announced in June.

Merz reiterated that “Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’ terror” and that “the release of the hostages and negotiations on a ceasefire are our top priorities”.

“The disarmament of Hamas is imperative. Hamas must not play a role in Gaza in future,” he added.

But “the new military push agreed by the Israeli security cabinet makes it increasingly unclear how these goals are to be achieved”, he continued.

Merz’s decision is a dramatic step for Germany, where the chancellor’s tone towards Israel had been sharpening in recent months as the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated.

A poll published this week by public broadcaster ARD found that 66 percent of Germans expected the government to exert greater influence over Israel to change its actions in Gaza.

However, while often voicing concern, Germany had so far avoided major concrete steps.

It refrained from following France, Britain and Canada, which have announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September, arguing recognition must come at the end of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Berlin has also opposed the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which had been under review by the bloc.

The German-Israeli Society, which promotes closer ties between the two sides, condemned Merz’s move and pointed to a $3.5-billion deal under which Germany had agreed to buy Israel’s Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile shield.

Israeli plan to take control of Gaza City a ‘dangerous escalation’: UN

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City to further expand Israel’s military offensive in the Palestinian enclave devastated by nearly a two-year Israeli onslaught. The plan drew strong criticism at home and abroad on Friday.

When asked by Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on Thursday if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated “we intend to.”

“This decision marks a dangerous escalation and risks deepening the already catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians, and could further endanger more lives, including of the remaining hostages,” the U.N. chief’s spokesperson said in a statement.

That decision “will result in additional forced displacement, killings and massive destruction, compounding the unimaginable suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza,” the statement added. Forced displacement is illegal under international law.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s military assault has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

Israel’s offensive followed an October 2023 attack in which Palestinian Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show. That attack sparked the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

US has ‘no plans’ to recognise Palestinian statehood: VP

By
IFP Media Wire
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Taking questions from reporters before their talks, Vance addressed the UK decision to recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza, saying he wasn’t sure what such recognition would even mean, “given the lack of a functional government there.”

“If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already,” he stated.

The meeting comes amid debates between Washington and London about the best way to end the wars between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Hamas.

It’s also taking place as the UK tries to come to favourable terms for steel and aluminium exports to the US and the two sides work out details of a broader trade deal announced at the end of June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he hoped to meet with US President Donald Trump next week, comments that came a day before Trump’s deadline for Moscow to show progress in ending the three-year war in Ukraine.

While Trump has focused on bilateral talks with Putin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders have stressed that Ukraine must be part of any negotiations on ending the war.

The US and Britain, which have historically close ties known as “the special relationship,” have also disagreed on their approach to ending the war in Gaza.

Vance and Lammy come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but have made a personal connection through their hardscrabble childhoods and Christian faith.

While Lammy is a member of the left-leaning Labour Party and Vance is a conservative Republican who supports Trump’s “America First” agenda, the two men have bonded in recent months.

Lammy told the Guardian newspaper that the two men can relate over their “dysfunctional” working class childhoods and that he considers Vance a “friend.”

Lammy attended a Catholic Mass at the Vance home in Washington earlier this year and the two men met again at the US Embassy in Rome when he and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in May.

“I had this great sense that JD completely relates to me and he completely relates to Angela,” Lammy told the Guardian daily, adding, “So it was a wonderful hour and a half.”

Asked whether Trump had been given a heads up on Israel’s announced intention to occupy Gaza City, Vance stated he wouldn’t go into such conversations.

Iranian basketball skyscrapers defeat Japan to top Group B in 2025 FIBA Asia Cup

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Delivering a solid and cohesive performance, the national basketball team overcame one of the tournament’s top contenders with a 78–70 win.

The match saw Iran maintain high intensity, particularly in the closing minutes, to secure the result.

The Iranian players executed a near-flawless game plan, controlling the tempo and resisting Japan’s late push. This victory marked Iran’s second consecutive win in the competition, placing them firmly at the top of Group B. With this momentum, Iran is now in a strong position to advance to the knockout stages as a leading favorite from their group.

Israel’s security cabinet approves plan for occupation of Gaza City

By
IFP Media Wire
-

“The [Israeli military] will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” Netanyahu’s office announced in a statement early on Friday announcing the takeover plan.

Occupying Gaza City marks a major escalation by Israel in its war on the Palestinian territory and will likely result in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of exhausted and starving residents who are experiencing famine conditions as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the territory.

On Thursday, in advance of the security cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel would “take control of all Gaza”.

In a television interview with US outlet Fox News, Netanyahu also said Israel does not want to be “a governing body” in Gaza and would hand over responsibility to an unspecified third party.

“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it,” he added.

Netanyahu’s comments followed reports in Israeli media earlier this week that the Israeli leader would imminently announce plans to fully occupy the entirety of the Gaza Strip.

It is unclear how many people still live in Gaza City, the enclave’s largest population centre before Israel’s war on the territory that has now killed more than 61,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Gaza City under forced evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military in the opening weeks of the war, but many returned during a brief ceasefire at the start of this year.

A major ground operation in Gaza City could displace many thousands and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the famine-stricken territory, where almost 200 people have now died from starvation and malnutrition.

Iranian MP warns of possible NPT withdrawal if Europe triggers snapback mechanism

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Velayatmadar underlined that such a move by Europe would have no real effect on Iran but would provoke a firm response.

Addressing the possibility of negotiations with the US, he said Iran is open to dialogue with all parties except the Zionist regime.

However, the MP rejected talks with the US, citing Washington’s past “betrayals” during wartime and direct aggression against Iran. Negotiations, he argued, only make sense from a position of strength, adding that even US officials have acknowledged Iran’s victories. Velayatmadar stressed that any negotiations must be conducted by representatives who project power and confidence.

He also maintained that Europe’s recent proposal to delay the snapback mechanism signals a retreat, as they have exhausted all their options without achieving their objectives. The lawmaker added that while talks with Europe have so far benefited Iran, Tehran will not hesitate to take decisive measures, including leaving the NPT, if pressured. “If they trigger snapback, they will be the ones chasing after us”, he warned.

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