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EU warns Israel of action over Gaza war

The European Union

The warning from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, came on Tuesday, as the United States announced President Donald Trump’s special envoy would be travelling to Europe for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza this week.

In a post on X, Kallas said that “all options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges” to increase humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

She also added Israel’s killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza was “indefensible” and that she had spoken to Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar “to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that [Israeli military] must stop killing people at distribution points”.

Earlier this month, following an EU meeting to review the bloc’s relations with Israel over mounting criticism of its war on Gaza, Kallas stated that Israel had agreed to improve the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

These included pledges to increase the number of aid trucks, crossing points and routes to distribution points.

But aid officials say the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza has not increased despite that agreement.

The US, meanwhile, said that Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be travelling to a European country for talks on a truce, as well as on finalising an aid “corridor” for Gaza. He may then head to the Middle East for more talks, according to media reports.

Axios, a US news outlet, reported that Witkoff will be travelling to the Italian city of Rome on Wednesday and will meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and a senior Qatari envoy on Thursday.

If sufficient progress is made, Witkoff will travel from Rome to the Qatari capital, Doha, towards the end of the week to secure a deal, the website reported, citing two US and Israeli sources familiar with the details.

The US State Department told reporters that Witkoff was heading to the region with “a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow”.

Spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to give further details on the corridor.

“I would suggest that we might have some good news, but, again, as we know, this could be a constantly changing dynamic,” she noted.

Israel cut off all goods from entering the territory in March, but has allowed in a trickle of aid starting in May, mostly through the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and bypassing the United Nations.

The GHF has set up four distribution points in south and central Gaza, and according to the UN, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food aid since the group began its operations in late May.

Most of the victims were killed at or near the GHF sites.

The killings come as the number of people starving to death in Gaza also rises, with health authorities reporting 101 deaths since the war began, including 80 children.

Most of the deaths have come in the last few weeks.

On Tuesday alone, the figure was 15, with four children among the victims.

Israel denies responsibility for the shortages of food in Gaza, while the GHF has also rejected what it said were “false and exaggerated statistics” from the UN about the killings at its aid sites.

Massive fire forces closure of Iran’s Anzali free zone

Mehdi Kazemian, spokesperson for the Anzali Free Zone Organization, confirmed the closure and stated that firefighting efforts are still underway.

“Due to the scale of the blaze, we have not yet been able to fully contain the fire. All access routes to the area have been blocked for safety reasons,” he said.

Kazemian urged residents and tourists to refrain from traveling to the zone until the fire is brought under control and normal conditions are restored.

According to the head of the Gilan Red Crescent, no casualties have been reported so far, and firefighting teams remain on the scene working to extinguish the flames.

Pre. Pezeshkian meets reform front members, emphasizes steady path to reform

In a post on the social media platform X, Pezeshkian stated: “During today’s meeting with members of the Reform Front, while listening to their perspectives, I emphasized the necessity of steering clear of issues that cause division. I said reform is time-consuming—slow, but steady.”

He also underlined the crucial role of political parties, noting that they must be strengthened in order to foster constructive political engagement.

“I previously stated at the Ministry of Interior that political parties must be empowered. We will also engage in dialogue with other parties, NGOs, and associations,” Pezeshkian wrote.

The meeting is seen as part of the president’s broader effort to promote political inclusion and consultation with a wide range of political and civil society actors.

Pezeshkian has repeatedly stressed that meaningful reform requires both patience and perseverance, while warning against rhetoric that deepens internal rifts.

Palestinian girl who lost her arms in Israeli strike dreams of becoming doctor

Sarah’s life changed forever when an Israeli missile struck a neighboring house.
Her father was instantly killed, and shrapnel tore through Sarah’s arms, forcing doctors to amputate them.

Despite the tragedy, Sarah remains determined to pursue her dreams.
Her mother, Maha Al-Barsh, says Sarah’s greatest wish is to leave Gaza for prosthetic treatment and live like other children again.
She hopes to one day become a prosthetics doctor to help others who have lost their limbs in war.

Al Jazeera reports that Sarah and her mother live under dire conditions in the besieged enclave, amid widespread destruction and a collapsing healthcare system.

Her mother has taught her to eat, draw, and write with her feet to foster independence.

“I lost my hands and my father, but I didn’t lose hope,” Sarah says.

“I dream that life in Gaza can go back to how it was before the war.”

Dozens of British MPs and peers call for full arms embargo on Israel

Gaza War

Their demands, outlined in a 18 July letter sent to Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, come as Lammy has warned Israel of further sanctions if it does not reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

The UK joined 27 other countries, including Australia, Canada and France, to condemn Israel for depriving Palestinians of “human dignity”, and urged the Israeli government to immediately lift restriction on flow of aid.

“We’ve announced a raft of sanctions over the last few months,” Lammy told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.

“There will be more, clearly, and we keep all of those options under consideration if we do not see a change in behaviour and the suffering that we are seeing come to an end.”

But those who signed the letter, including Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell, and Jeremy Corbyn, say the UK government should immediately end all arms exports to Israel or risk being complicit in genocide.

“The components which create the fighter jets that Israel has used to level Gaza are 15 percent British-made – we cannot hide from that,” said Labour MP Steve Witherden, who organised the letter.

“Without British arms export licences, these jets could not fly, they could not drop their bombs.”

The letter follows an adjournment debate last month that marked the first time arms export licences to Israel had been debated in the Commons since before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.

The MPs and peers asked for clarity about data about UK arms exports to Israel in 2024, released by the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), a cross-departmental body overseeing UK export licensing for military and dual-use items.

During last month’s debate, Trade Minister Douglas Alexander said the majority of the £142m in military export licences approved in 2024 to Israel were for components that would be re-exported to third countries, including Nato allies.

But the letter says that ECJU data shows that of the £141.6m in standard individual export licences for military goods issued in 2024, more than half of the approved value appear to be intended for direct use in Israel.

“Could the government clarify how this data aligns with the minister’s claim that the majority of these licences were for re-export?” the letter asks.

Alexander also said that more than £120m – or around 85 percent of the total value of licences for military exports to Israel last year – “were for components to support exports of military items from Israeli companies to a single programme for a NATO ally”.

The MPs and peers have asked the government to clarify which NATO ally is involved, the name and nature of the programme, and when it was established.

They have also asked for clarity about a surge in individual licences, totalling £127.6m and mostly for military radars and targeting systems, that were issued between October and December 2024, after the newly elected Labour government announced the suspension of around 30 arms licences to Israel.

Witherden stated that repeated calls for greater transparency about arms exports from the government “have so far gone unanswered”.

“The bare minimum we can do is be fully honest about what we are sending to a state involved in the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians,” he added.

Last month, the High Court rejected a challenge brought by rights groups that sought to halt the export of British-made F-35 fighter jet parts indirectly to Israel, through a global supply pool, following a 20-month court battle.

In their ruling, the judges said they found that the issue was a matter “for the executive which is democratically accountable to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts”.

Trump ‘caught off guard’ by Israeli attacks on Syria: White House

“He was caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and also the bombing of the Catholic church in Gaza,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Her remarks come after Middle East Eye first reported the US was “upset” by Israel’s targeting of Syrian forces entering the country’s south and the strikes on Syria’s ministry of defence and the outskirts of the presidential palace.

MEE also reported that Saudi Arabia was “angry” about Israel attacking Syrian soldiers and dictating military deployments to Damascus.

Sweida has been the site of sectarian violence between the majority Druze community and Sunni Bedouins. Israel has framed its military intervention as being in support of the Syrian Druze. Around 1,000 people have been killed in clashes between government forces, Bedouin and Druze fighters, including hundreds of civilians.

Current and former Arab, Israeli and US officials say Israel is trying to carve out a zone of influence in Syria that conflicts directly with the vision of a unitary post-war Syria put forward by Tom Barrack, Trump’s special envoy and ambassador to Turkey.

“I think Potus and others in the administration have been crystal clear about the path for Syria,” a US official in the region who was monitoring the Israeli strikes told MEE last week, referring to President Trump.

MEE reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia told the Trump administration that Syrian security forces should be able to deploy to Sweida. A fragile ceasefire struck late last week was holding on Monday amid reports of atrocities committed by both sides.

Israel’s strikes came as the US was trying to broker a normalisation of ties between Syria and Israel.

The Trump administration has heralded Syria as a model for its version of Middle East statecraft underwritten by Turkish military might and Gulf cash.

Trump announced in May that he was lifting all US sanctions on Syria despite objections from Israel and some of his own advisors.

Trump said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were responsible for convincing him to make the decision.

Israeli military bombs WHO’s staff residence in Gaza

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated Israeli air strikes struck the residence three times, igniting a fire which ripped through the premises.

“The Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict,” Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

He reported that male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated and screened at gunpoint, adding that two staff and two family members were detained.

Three have since been released, with one remaining in detention, while 32 WHO staff and family members were evacuated to the nearby WHO offices.

WHO’s main warehouse was also targeted, causing explosions and fires that damaged the facility, hamstringing the agency’s ability to support local hospitals and emergency teams.

Israeli artillery shelling pounded Deir al-Balah on Monday as the army pushed deeper into the southern and eastern parts of the city.

The escalation came hours after the army issued expulsion orders for large swathes of central Gaza, ordering some 50,000 and 80,000 people to leave immediately.

Shelling targeted densely populated areas, striking houses and mosques, and killing at least three Palestinians, according to medical sources.

The spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency, Mahmud Bassal, told AFP that “we received calls from several families trapped in the Al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks”.

“There are a number of wounded, but no one can reach the area to evacuate them,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the latest order leaves 87.8 percent of Gaza’s area under “evacuation orders” or within Israeli militarised zones.

Tedros reported that several WHO premises have been impacted by the assault, compromising the agency’s ability to operate in Gaza, where the strained health system is facing imminent collapse.

“WHO urgently calls on member states to help ensure a sustained and regular flow of medical supplies into Gaza,” Tedros continued.

“A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue,” he added.

War against Iran ‘not over’: Israel’s army chief

“Iran and its axis remain in our sights. The campaign against Iran is not over,” Zamir said during a military assessment meeting, as cited by an army statement.

He also stated that the war in the Gaza Strip “is one of the most complex the IDF (army) has ever known.”

“We are paying a heavy price in combat,” he said. “We will continue operating to achieve our objectives: the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas,” Zamir added.

On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression against Iran, assassinating numerous high-ranking military commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary civilians.

More than a week later, the United States joined the conflict by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites, an action which constitutes a grave violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces targeted strategic sites across the occupied territories, as well as the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest US military base in West Asia.

On June 24, through successful retaliatory operations against both the Israeli regime and the US, Iran managed to halt the illegal assault.

Iran reports 1,062 deaths in Israeli invasion; even prison attack deemed war crime

Mohajerani pointed out that among the casualties were 34 students, 5 educators, 6 doctors, 5 nurses, and 7 paramedics, with Tehran Province recording the highest toll with 265 deaths.

She stated that the attack on Evin Prison, northern Tehran, on June 23 has been recognized by international bodies as a war crime.

Mohajersni also highlighted damage to civilian infrastructure, including 36 schools across 16 provinces, 219 industrial units, 7 hospitals, 11 ambulances, and 8,000 residential units.

Also on Tuesday, Iran’s Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir confirmed that 75 inmates left Evin Prison during the attack, but emphasized it was not a “prison break.”

He said 48 have returned or been detained, while 27 remain unaccounted for. These individuals were described as low-risk offenders, with no spies or high-security prisoners among them.

Authorities have launched reconstruction efforts and are monitoring the situation closely. The government continues to coordinate with emergency services and humanitarian organizations to support affected civilians, he added.

Judiciary spokesperson: Tehran Friday Prayers leader Seddiqi has no role in relatives’ legal case

Dismissing media reports, Jahangir told a press conference that Seddiqi has served solely as an advisor to the head of the Judiciary since 2013.

“He neither occupies an executive nor a judicial position and therefore has no capacity to influence any case, including matters involving his family,” he said.

The Iranian Judiciary announced last month that six individuals, including the son and daughter-in-law of the prominent cleric were arrested over financial charges.

The arrests came amid scrutiny over a high-profile land transfer case involving a 4,200-square-meter property in northern Tehran.

Regarding the ongoing case involving Seddiqi’s relatives, Jahangir confirmed that the case is still under investigation at the prosecutor’s office.

“Several individuals have been summoned, and some have been detained. The investigation is ongoing, and once preliminary findings are complete, details will be made public,” he stated.