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US approves more bombs for Israel amid Gaza war

Gaza War

The latest weapons transfer was authorized on Monday, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing unidentified US government officials. The package includes more than 1,000 MK-82 bombs, which weigh 500 pounds each, as well as over 1,000 small-diameter munitions and fuses for MK-80 bombs.

The weapons transfer was finalized hours after news broke that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed seven aid workers, including US and UK citizens, in a drone strike targeting a humanitarian aid convoy in the Palestinian enclave. Nearly 200 aid workers have reportedly been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since Israel’s war against Hamas began in October.

Although Biden has chided Israel for not doing enough to protect aid workers and other civilians in Gaza, his administration has refused to throttle back its support for the IDF or place conditions on weapons shipments. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to Gaza health authorities, and the UN has warned of a humanitarian “catastrophe” if the IDF goes through with its planned ground offensive at the southern end of the enclave.

“We believe that the approach that we’re taking is working in terms of making it clear to the Israelis what our expectations are,” White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

He added, “Right now, we are continuing to support Israel because they continue to need military assistance because they continue to face a viable threat.”

Just last week, Washington reportedly approved a weapons shipment to Israel that includes thousands of MK-84 bombs, which weigh 2,000 pounds each. Like this week’s package, it didn’t require approval by Congress because it stemmed from a previously authorized arms sale. The Biden administration is reportedly pushing for legislative approval of a new $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel.

Iranian MP wants Pakistan to be held to account over terrorist attacks in southeast

Iran Border Guard

Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini’s remarks came a day after armed militants staged attacks in the cities of Rask and Chabahar which left several Iranian security forces and militants dead.

The separatist Jaish al-Adl group, which is responsible for several terrorist attacks in the region bordering Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack.

Abbaszadeh Meshkini, who sits on the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, said, “Sometimes, worrying about paying huge expenses makes us not do what we need to do on time. We have to pay a big price for big achievements. We should discuss this issue more seriously and decisively with Pakistan.”

Iran has asked Pakistan several times to rein in the militants and not allow them to wage any attack against Iran from inside the Pakistani territory.

Relations between the two countries soured last year after Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Pakistan’s Balochistan province to target the terror outfit’s positions.

Netanyahu told Biden deaths of aid workers in Gaza were Israel’s fault

Gaza War

Netanyahu told Biden on Thursday that Israel was set on improving the tracking of non-profit workers inside Gaza and the US president affirmed that such steps were necessary, according to the official.

The White House has previously announced that the two leaders did not go into details of the investigation into the incident that killed the workers, including a dual American-Canadian citizen, which has drawn wide condemnation and angered the White House.

In the half-hour call with Netanyahu, Biden did not lay out the specifics of how he would consider shifting US policy if Israel doesn’t make changes in its handling of the war in Gaza, according to the top official.

He instead spoke in the same broad strokes reflected in the White House readout of the call that concrete changes needed to be made, according to the official.

Biden told Netanyahu that an “immediate ceasefire is essential” to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to a readout by the White House.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also said if the United States does not see changes in Israel’s policies to protect civilians in Gaza, “there’ll be changes in our own policy”.

The statement, made after a call between Biden and Netanyahu, is the clearest statement yet of the administration’s waning patience with the Israeli government amid the massive humanitarian toll.

“This week’s horrific attack on the World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident. It must be the last,” Blinken stated at a news conference in Brussels.

The secretary of state added he was “outraged” by the deaths of the seven WCK staffers.

“I strongly condemn it.”

He also described the repeated push on the Israeli government to do more to mitigate civilian harm.

“The results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable,” the diplomat continued.

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, also said Washington will wait and see what Israel does in the coming hours and days and US policy is hung on the protection of aid workers.

“What we need to see is more aid getting in, we need to see more effort applied to keeping humanitarian aid workers safe, and any change to our policy will be sort of hung on our assessment of the degree to which Israel complies with all of that,” Kirby told Fox News.

Seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed Monday, drawing sharp criticism of Israel’s continued bombardment in Gaza. Biden released a statement Tuesday saying he was “outraged” at the news of the workers’ deaths. Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the “unintended” airstrikes and stated it was a “tragic event”, but also said that things like this happen in war.

Iranians stage massive Quds day rallies

Iran Quds Rally

The Quds Day, designated by the late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979, is held across the world as a reminder of the decades-long suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli regime.

This year, the rallies are especially significant as the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been under incessant Israeli onslaught since Oct.7 last year.

The Israeli carnage has so far left over 33,000 Palestinians dead and more than 75,000 people injured, the majority of them women and children.

A funeral procession was held on the sidelines of the Quds Day rallies in the capital Tehran to commemorate the seven Iranian military advisors killed in an Israeli airstrike on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria on Monday.

US says Ukraine to become a member of NATO

NATO Ukraine

“Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership,” Blinken told reporters Thursday in Brussels.

NATO allies agreed at the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, that Ukraine can join NATO when certain conditions are met, but sparked criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Baltic allies for failing to set concrete goals and a timeline for Kyiv to join the alliance.

Ukraine’s supporters are crafting ways to demonstrate robust international support for Kyiv that can be announced at NATO’s Washington summit, marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance.

The deliverables are consequential amid concerns over waning US commitment to supporting Ukraine, with House Republicans holding up additional American assistance and fears that the return of former President Donald Trump to the White House could see a retreat of the US from its commitments to allies and partners.

Iran leader honors fallen advisors martyred in Israeli regime’s airstrikes in Syria

Iran leader honors fallen advisors martyred in Israeli regime’s airstrikes in Syria

Amidst heartfelt prayers and intimate conversations, the Supreme Leader paid tribute to the sacrifices of these brave individuals.

The ceremony, attended by the families of Hossein Amanollahi, Seyyed Mehdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sedaqat, Ali Agha Babaei, and Seyyed Ali Salehi Rozbahani, all of whom were martyred during the Israeli regime’s airstrikes on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital city of Damascus.

They were in Syria as military advisors and at the official invitation of the Syrian government.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has vowed revenge.

Iran security chief reaffirms cooperation with Russia, China at SOC meeting

Ali Akbar Ahmadian

Ahmadian met with Nikolai Patrushev, Russia’s National Security Council Secretary, expressing gratitude for Russia’s condemnation of recent attacks on Iranian consulate in Syria.
They further discussed joint counterterrorism efforts and projects like the North-South Corridor and support for Syria’s sovereignty.

Ahmadian also met with China’s Minister of Public Security, emphasizing the implementation of the 25-year strategic document between Iran and China.

China reiterated its condemnation of the embassy attack and emphasized strategic cooperation with Iran.

India and Pakistan’s support for Iran against terrorism was affirmed in Ahmadian’s meeting with the security chiefs of the two countries.

Tajikistan’s National Security Council Secretary echoed concerns over terrorism, emphasizing the need for enhanced cooperation within the Shanghai Organization.

Iran kills 18 terrorists in Sistan and Baluchistan province

Iran Police

Seyyed Majid Mir Ahmadi, Deputy Interior Minister of Security and Law Enforcement, provided updates on the situation, revealing that among the casualties were ten Iranian
security  forces.

Mir Ahmadi said despite the terrorists’ ambitions to seize key military and police headquarters in Rask and Chabahar, their plans were thwarted by the vigilance and bravery of security forces.

He went on to say that the operation to thwart the terrorists faced challenges as they resorted to using innocent people as human shields, though all hostages were safely released.

Investigations are underway to determine the identity of the attackers, with initial reports suggesting they are non-Iranian.

Additionally, two supporting elements facilitating the presence of terrorists in Chabahar have been apprehended.

People in northern Gaza living on less than a can of beans per day: Report

Gaza War

The latest breakdown of caloric intake by Oxfam International means that Palestinians in northern Gaza are consuming less than 12 percent of the recommended daily 2,100 calories needed.

Oxfam also found that the total food deliveries allowed into Gaza for the entire 2.2 million population amounted to an average of just 41 percent of the daily calories needed per person.

“Israel is making deliberate choices to starve civilians. Imagine what it is like, not only to be trying to survive on 245 calories day in, day out, but also having to watch your children or elderly relatives do the same,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s executive director.

Oxfam said that in order stave off famine, an “absolute minimum” of 221 trucks of food alone were needed every day in the enclave. Currently, Israel is allowing just 105 food trucks on average to enter Gaza, Oxfam added.

Tel Aviv ordered a total siege of Gaza after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel, but has denied allegations it is blocking aid, blaming it on aid organisations’ inability to deliver supplies and “lawlessness”.

Aid organisations widely dispute that claim. Israel’s targeting of aid workers was underlined on Tuesday after three Israeli strikes killed seven workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK). The organisation said the strike took place despite coordination with the Israeli military about its movements. WCK’s founder and celebrity chef Jose Andres said Israel “systematically” targeted aid workers. Israel called the strike a “grave mistake”.

Israel has also announced it will no longer work with Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinians, and the largest aid organisation in Gaza distributing food before the war. It has now blocked their access to the besieged enclave.

Oxfam’s report comes as starvation stalks Gaza. The UN has warned that famine is “imminent” in the enclave’s north. On Friday, a US official said famine was “quite possibly” already present. Dozens of children have died of malnutrition and dehydration in the besieged enclave.

The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to ensure the “unhindered” delivery of food and other aid to Gaza.

“Israel is ignoring both the International Court of Justice order to prevent genocide and UN Security Council resolutions. Only last week the ICJ ordered new provisional measures, stating famine is no longer looming, but ‘setting in’ in Gaza,” Behar stated, adding that Oxfam demanded all countries stop supplying arms to Israel and a permanent ceasefire.

Israel halts home leave for combat troops over fear of Iran’s revenge

Israel Army

“In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF (army) combat units,” the army said in a statement.

“The IDF is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed as needed,” it added.

On Monday, Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, located next to the embassy building. The attack killed two senior Iranian military personnel who were on an advisory mission to Syria as well as five of their accompanying officers.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the raid and vowed to respond to the deadly strike.

According to Israeli media, authorities in Tel Aviv consider the opening of shelters amid Iranian threats of retaliating the attack.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army decided to call up reserve soldiers to its Aerial Defense Array, in a move termed by local media as a precautionary measure against possible retaliatory attacks from Iran.