Iran says no change in Palestine support
Kanaani made the remarks at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, as he once again expressed his condolences over the martyrdom of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six of their companions in a helicopter crash on May 19.
“Supporting Palestine and confronting the Zionist regime are among the main principles of Iran’s foreign policy, derived from the Constitution and the guidelines of Leader [of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei],” he said.
Despite the tragic incident of the death of President Raisi and his entourage, Iran’s support for Palestine will not be stopped or disrupted, he added.
He emphasized that Iran will continue its legal, diplomatic and international support for Palestine as a moral responsibility.
Raisi, Amirabdollahian and six others were killed on May 19, when their helicopter crashed in foggy weather in the mountains near the northwestern border with Azerbaijan. Their bodies were found the following day after a massive search operation.
The pair had defended the Palestinians’ rights in regional and international meetings and appreciated their resilience against the Israeli occupation and its criminal war in the Gaza Strip over the past seven months.
Kanaani renewed the international community’s “legal and moral” responsibility vis-à-vis the Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza.
He said the Zionist regime is violating international conventions, and the International Court of Justice has ordered an immediate end to the regime’s military aggression on Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
“There are all the necessary legal and international grounds to end the war, but it is obvious that what has happened [in Gaza] over the recent months was the outcome of the support of certain countries, especially the United States for the Zionist regime,” he added.
On May 24, the International Court of Justice, the top United Nations court, said Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate that may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
As the biggest sponsor of the Israeli regime, the Iranian spokesman said, the US government is not committed to the decisions by important legal and international bodies.
He urged world nations to constantly ask their governments to play a role in putting an end to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
At least 36,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed and more than 81,000 others wounded in the war that Israel began on October 7, 2023, following a retaliatory operation by the Palestinian territory’s resistance movements.
The brutal military onslaught enjoys unreserved military and political support on the part of the Israeli regime’s Western allies, including the United States.
Iranian striker Taremi leaving Porto with shining record
Taremi is saying goodbye to the club after 4 years with seven trophies.
In his last match, he played in the second half of the FA Cup final against Sporting Lisbon and scored a much-coveted goal in the last minute that sent Porto to the FA Cup championship.
Since Taremi’s presence, the Portuguese team has achieved 21 consecutive wins and only one defeat in the last 41 games.
He has scored in 41 consecutive games and the club has gained three championships in a row.
Porto has widened its lead with Sporting with 20 trophies and is three cups ahead of the Lions, although it has six trophies less than the record holder Benfica.
The 31-year-old had been on Inter’s radar since last summer.
EU says bloc’s credibility at risk over Israeli disregard of ICJ orders
“Introducing caveats, objections or exceptions based on non-legal grounds damages the rule-based order, damages our values and will damage our international standing and weaken our position on other issues including Ukraine,” Borrell wrote in a blog post.
“If one of the parties is not satisfied by the decision of the Court it can of course address a specific request for interpretation but not disregard it.”
He called on the bloc to do more, stressing, “It is time for the EU to take its responsibilities in front of a catastrophic situation of an unprecedented magnitude. We have to act. Our moral and political credibility is at risk.”
Speaking ahead of an European Union foreign ministers’ meeting, Borrell stated that the World Court ruling, which ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, must be implemented.
Labeling the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court prosecutor as “antisemitic” is unacceptable, the European Union’s foreign policy chief told reporters at the doorstep of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
“We have to respect the work of this institution and let the court without intimidation decide what they think about this initiative…,” Borrell said.
He also called for respecting the work of the ICC, saying the institution “has been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism.”
“I think that the accusation of antisemitism against the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is completely not acceptable,” Borrell stressed.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan on May 20 requested the court to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing reasonable grounds to believe they bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu claimed that the arrest warrant application was a “new form of antisemitism moving from university campuses to the ICC.”
Regarding the ruling of the International Court of Justice – UN’s top court based in the Hague in the Netherlands – Borrell said the international community must “ask for the implementation” of the court’s decision.
“What we have seen in the immediate hours is that Israel continues the military action that has been asked to stop… This morning, … more than 30 people have been killed in a refugee camp in an attack. This is really a dilemma,” he added.
Borrell also stated that he would propose, during the meeting in Brussels, “to relaunch our civilian border system mission” in Rafah.
“We have been asked to activate this mission … and we need to have an agreement with everybody involved. We will not go there without a strong commitment from the Palestinian Authority,” Borrell explained.
At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured as Israel targeted a camp for displaced people and houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, according to medical sources and officials.
The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, said the Gaza Media Office.
Israel has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.
The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.
The attack comes despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
UN warns half of Gaza population at imminent risk of famine
In a post on its X account, UNFPA said that half of Gaza’s population is at imminent risk of famine.
It added that “this is unbelievable and can be avoided”.
UNFPA noted that famine is at the door in Gaza due to Israel’s blocking of aid access, stressing the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza given the dire needs of the population for humanitarian assistance.
Israel has killed nearly 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which killed around 1,200 people.
The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.
Germany says Ukraine might not become NATO member within next 3 decades
“You know the decisions, it is not expected in the near future. Maybe not even in the next 30 years,” Scholz told German citizens at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the German constitution.
Ukraine applied for accelerated NATO membership in September 2022, following the start of Russia’s special military operation.
In March, NATO Military Committee chair Rob Bauer stated that the matter concerning Ukraine’s membership in NATO was settled, however, the discussion on the timeline was ongoing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that NATO’s expansion to include Ukraine would create a direct national security threat to Russia and that Moscow considers the non-aligned status of Ukraine to be extremely important to put an end to the years-long conflict.
Ukraine says no country can single-handedly survive war with Russia
In an interview with Central Asian media outlets, Zelensky said the goal should be to ensure that President Vladimir Putin “thinks about his survival and his security,” and that “the Russians think about how they can avoid losing the independence of their country – without threatening them – simply by showing how united the world is, how strong it is.”
Such unity is needed because “no one can survive a full-scale war with the Russians on its own,” the Ukrainian leader stated, as quoted by the Kazakh online magazine Vlast.
“We were alone, we were on our own” when Russia launched its military operation against Ukraine in February 2022, Zelensky claimed. “But then we agreed with our partners on some sort of sanctions, some sort of weapons and other things,” he said, referring to the support provided by the West since the start of the conflict.
Even Beijing “must protect Ukraine because we were attacked,” as “China says that territorial integrity must be respected,” the politician argued.
Beijing has maintained a policy of neutrality on the Ukraine conflict, while consistently calling for a political settlement that would respect the interests of all sides. The Chinese authorities have blamed the hostilities on NATO’s eastward expansion, rebuffed Western calls to impose sanctions on Russia, and opted to boost trade with its neighbor.
Zelensky was also asked if he was concerned about Putin’s statement earlier this week that in Moscow’s view the Ukrainian leader’s legitimacy has “expired.”
Zelensky’s five-year term as Ukrainian President ended on Monday after he refused to stage a new election, citing martial law imposed due to the conflict.
”They don’t concern me much at all,” he replied, adding, “These statements by the illegitimate president of Russia regarding the legitimacy of the president of Ukraine are, frankly speaking, boring and uninteresting.”
Putin won a fifth term in office in March, claiming 87.28% of the vote amid a record turnout of over 77%.
Zelensky argued that anybody who knows how to read laws can swiftly confirm that his continued stay in power is legal. “The Ukrainians know their Constitution, they know the law,” he added.
Putin stated last month that attempts by the US and its allies to isolate Russia have failed, and pledged to “expand pragmatic, equal, mutually beneficial, partnership relations with friendly countries in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America.”
According to the president, unlike the European elites, “who aren’t pursuing policies that are beneficial for their peoples,” there are many citizens on the continent who support Russia’s stance.
Saudi Arabia appoints first envoy to Syria in over a decade
Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, SPA, said on Sunday that Riyadh’s new ambassador to Syria will be Faisal al-Mujfel.
The report quoted the new Saudi envoy as hoping to “serve the Kingdom’s interests and strengthen the bilateral bonds between the two brotherly nations”.
Saudi Arabia had reopened its embassy in Syria earlier this year with a charge d’affaires after the Syrian government reopened its Riyadh embassy last year and appointed a new ambassador in December.
The re-establishment of relations between Riyadh and Damascus is a new development among a series of moves by regional Arab states to mend fences with Syria.
The Arab countries’ decision to re-establish relations with Syria came after the latter’s increasing success in recapturing vast swathes of its territory and turning the tide against the foreign-sponsored terrorists.
Earlier in January, the United Arab Emirates dispatched its first ambassador to Syria after 13 years, following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received Hassan Ahmed al-Shehhi in early February, after the Emirati ambassador officially presented his credentials to Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad.
According to Syria’s official SANA news agency, al-Shehi conveyed to the Syrian side his commitment to enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries.
Before sending an ambassador, the UAE had reopened its embassy in Damascus in December 2018, tasking its charge d’affaires, Abdul Hakim al-Nuaimi, with handling the diplomatic affairs between the two sides.
In March 2022, Syrian president traveled to the UAE, meeting with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Assad’s visit to the UAE took place only months after the Emirates’ Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan traveled to the Syrian capital Damascus.
In May 2022, the 22-member Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria, ending a 12-year suspension and taking another step toward bringing the country back into the fold.
France warns EU is in serious danger
Macron made the remarks while speaking alongside Germany’s head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on the first of his three-day state visit. The two attended the Festival of Democracy, held in Berlin’s government quarter, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the country’s constitution.
“I think that we are experiencing a moment in our Europe which is existential because I really believe that our Europe can die,” Macron stated, referring to a keynote speech he’d delivered in April.
The French president urged a vote for pro-EU forces in the upcoming European elections, warning the bloc has “never had so many enemies inside and outside” as it has now. The purported internal enemies are apparently European nationalists, with their rise raising questions about democracy itself, Macron asserted.
“There is a form of fascination with authoritarianism which is born in our own democracies … which also feeds nationalism and other extremes on our continent,” he claimed.
Macron painted a grim picture of “nationalists” entering government, alleging that they would have failed to tackle Covid-19 and shown “no capacity to respond to migration challenges,” climate change issues, and so on.
“We would have abandoned backing Ukraine against Russia, which all the nationalists in our countries support. And, therefore, history would have not been the same,” the president alleged.
“For all these reasons, it is important to vote in the Europeans,” he concluded.
The call was backed by Steinmeier, who said that the mere fact that Macron had shown up at the Festival of Democracy was somehow “a signal that we need an alliance of democrats in Europe”.
At least 40 killed in Gaza’s Rafah after Israel hit refugees camp
The Wafa news agency, quoting the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said that many of those who died were “burned alive” inside their tents in the Tal as-Sultan area.
It put the death toll at 40, while the Reuters news agency quoted Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for Gaza’s Ministry of Health, saying 35 people had been killed and dozens others injured.
Witnesses told local media that at least eight missiles had struck the camp on Sunday at about 8.45pm local time (17:45 GMT).
The Israeli attack followed Hamas’s first rocket attack on Tel Aviv in months.
Israel claimed the eight Hamas rockets were launched from the Rafah area, where its troops have continued a ground assault despite an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt operations there.
The Israeli military claimed its air force struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and that the strike was carried out with “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence”.
The attack killed Hamas’s chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis, it said, adding that it was “aware” of reports that “several civilians in the area were harmed” and that the incident was “under review”.
The attack led to a massive fire, which Palestinian Civil Defence teams managed to extinguish after about 45 minutes.
The International Committee of the Red Cross reported its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of casualties and that other hospitals also were taking in a large number of patients.
Doctors without Borders, known by its acronym MSF, said “dozens of wounded” as well as more than 15 of the dead had been brought to a facility that it supports.
“We are horrified by this deadly event, which shows once again that nowhere is safe,” the group wrote on the social media platform X, reiterating its call for an immediate ceasefire.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the Israeli attack as a “massacre that exceeds all boundaries”, according to the Wafa news agency.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh “stressed the urgent need for an intervention to stop the crimes committed against the Palestinian people immediately” and said the “heinous massacre” is a challenge to international orders, including “the lucid and candid ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to cease its military offensive against the city of Rafah and provide protection to the Palestinian people”.
Abu Rudeineh added he held the administration of US President Joe Biden responsible for Israeli crimes and demanded that Washington “compel Israel to stop the madness and genocide it is committing in Gaza”.
