Author: Anadolu Agency

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday called on the EU to strengthen his country and Europe’s defense capabilities “as soon as possible.” “Now is the time to arm ourselves. Strengthen the defense capabilities of Ukraine and the rest of Europe. As quickly and as effectively as possible. Ukraine and Europe, armed to the teeth, will be able to keep Russia from another major war,” Sybiha told the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting via videoconference, according to a ministry statement. Expressing that Ukraine welcomes a number of important initiatives by the bloc to strengthen European defense capabilities, Sybiha said they…

The Israeli army is in “its worst position” to confront Hamas as the Palestinian group continues to rebuild itself amid a Gaza ceasefire deal, an Israeli military source said on Monday. “The Israeli army has not conducted any effective combat operations for about two weeks, allowing Hamas to bolster its military capabilities in preparation for a new round of fighting,” the public broadcaster KAN quoted the source as saying. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, pausing Israel’s brutal military campaign that has killed more than 48,500 people, mostly women and children,…

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…

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.”

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 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…

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called on the international community on Monday to firmly confront Israel’s starvation policy against the Palestinians in Gaza. His call came during a meeting in Doha with Sigrid Kaag, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, who is currently visiting Qatar. During the meeting, the two sides discussed relations between Qatar and the UN and ways to bolster them, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Both sides also reviewed “the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, particularly the challenges facing humanitarian action, and ways to…

China on Monday dismissed a recent statement by the G7 foreign ministers, saying that it “vilifies” Beijing and “interferes” in its internal affairs. “The joint statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting and their declaration are a deliberate mischaracterization of the facts and truth, which seek to vilify China and interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a press conference. “We strongly deplore and firmly reject that and have lodged serious protests with relevant countries,” she said. The spokeswoman’s remarks came in response to the joint statement issued after the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, which took…

The US Justice Department has discreetly informed European officials of its decision to withdraw from an international coalition tasked to investigate those responsible for the war on Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times reported on Monday. This move, involving the US exit from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, an initiative the Biden administration joined in 2023, marks a departure from President Joe Biden’s commitment to holding Putin personally accountable for crimes committed during the war. The decision aligns with a broader shift in US policy under the Trump…