Author: Anadolu Agency

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas called on the US on Monday to pressure Israel to implement a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. “The US must compel the (Israeli) occupation to implement the ceasefire agreement as signed rather than expanding the scope of aggression,” senior Hamas member Izzat Al-Rishq said in a statement. “Preventing the occupation from evading the agreement’s requirements is the only way to save the lives of the captives and ensure their return to their families,” he added. Al-Rishq condemned Israel’s tightening of its blockade on Gaza, calling it an act of “sadism and a complete disregard…

UN-appointed experts on Monday branded US authorities’ arrests of foreign students for pro-Palestinian protests on campus “disproportionate” and called for their rights to be respected. US campuses including Columbia University in New York were rocked by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism. Immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of protests at Columbia, on the weekend of March 9-10 after US President Donald Trump vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators. The White House later said authorities had supplied a list of other Columbia…

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday told lawmakers that G7 foreign ministers were able to find “common ground” on supporting Ukraine when they met in Canada last week, despite doubts that this would not be possible. Lammy confirmed that a ceasefire offer is now on the table, saying that Ukraine is “serious about peace,” and emphasized that the ball is now in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court. “Now it is Putin who stands in the spotlight, Putin who must answer, Putin who must choose. Are you serious, Mr Putin, about peace? Will you stop the fighting? Or will you…

The US said Monday that its approach to Houthi attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea has undergone a “complete shift,” stressing that such assaults are unacceptable and must come to an end. Speaking at a daily press briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce contrasted the Trump administration’s response with that of its predecessor, which she said had engaged in a “tit-for-tat dynamic” when responding to Houthi missile strikes. “If the Houthis would be sending missiles or attacking both commercial and military ships, what the previous administration did is they would do one strike as a tit-for-tat…

Israeli warplanes killed two civilians and wounded 19 others in airstrikes on the southern Syrian city of Daraa late Monday, according to Syria’s official SANA news agency. “Israeli occupation aircraft launched airstrikes targeting the vicinity of Daraa,” the agency said on X. A follow-up statement confirmed the casualties, adding that “two civilians were martyred and 19 others injured with varying degrees of wounds” from the raids. The Daraa Governorate, in a post on its Telegram channel, said the Israeli strikes targeted “housing in the city of Izra and Regiment 175 with several hits.”

The US on Monday said South Africa’s Ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, must leave the country by Friday, following a decision by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to declare him persona non grata. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed the timeline during a daily press briefing, stating that senior US diplomats had delivered the official notification to South African Embassy staff during an in-person meeting at the State Department. “After Secretary Rubio made his decision (on Friday), our senior-level diplomats convoked the South African Embassy staff for an in-person meeting at the State Department. At this meeting, our officials…

Recent US strikes on the Houthi rebel group in Yemen are “not an endless offensive” and “not about regime change in the Middle East,” the chief Pentagon spokesman said on Monday. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective. With that said, and this is a very important point, this is also not an endless offensive. This is not about regime change in the Middle East. This is about putting American interests first,” Sean Parnell told a news briefing. The initial wave of strikes hit over 30 targets at multiple locations, degrading a variety of Houthi…

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek on Monday had a phone call with Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, to discuss economic relations. Simsek congratulated Bessent on his new position under the Trump administration, Treasury and Finance Ministry sources told Anadolu. Bessent took office in late January. The officials also agreed to meet face-to-face at the first opportunity. They are expected to meet during next month’s annual IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington, DC. During the phone call, which lasted for about a half-hour, they discussed the issue of further deepening economic cooperation between Türkiye and the US.

A massive fire broke out Saturday in vehicles carrying petroleum products near the Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria, just as authorities announced its reopening. The Syrian Civil Defense reported on X that its teams were working to contain the fire, which erupted in fuel transport vehicles near a gas station along the Aleppo International Airport road. A video posted by the group described the fire as “major,” but the cause remained unknown as of 2000GMT. The Civil Defense later announced on X that its firefighting teams extinguished a fire in three fuel transport vehicles near the airport. The statement…

A massive fire broke out Saturday in vehicles carrying petroleum products near the Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria, just as authorities announced its reopening. The Syrian Civil Defense reported on X that its teams were working to contain the fire, which erupted in fuel transport vehicles near a gas station along the Aleppo International Airport road. A video posted by the group described the fire as “major,” but the cause remained unknown as of 2000GMT. The Civil Defense later announced on X that its firefighting teams extinguished a fire in three fuel transport vehicles near the airport. The statement…