Key events
US-Iran nuclear talks to take place in Oman this weekend
Oman’s foreign minister said there will be a sixth round of negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program this weekend.
Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement this morning in a post on X. Iran for days has been saying there would be talks, but Oman, serving as the mediator, has not confirmed them until now. There was no immediate comment from the US.
Some more detail on the UN vote, expected later today, from AP.
The UN General Assembly is expected to vote later today on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and the opening of all Israeli border crossings for deliveries of desperately needed food and other aid.
The resolution, drafted by Spain and seen yesterday by AP, “strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”
The draft resolution references a 28 March legally binding order by the top United Nations court for Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza for food, water, fuel and other supplies. The International Court of Justice issued the order in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its war in Gaza, charges Israel strongly denies.
Health officials in Gaza said 14 people were killed while on their way to collect aid near the southern city of Rafah, AP reports.
In central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said that seven additional people were killed while on their way to an aid distribution site.
The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots before daylight toward people it identified as suspects “who were advancing while posing a threat” in central Gaza. The military had no immediate comment on the reports of casualties in southern Gaza.
Safaa Farmawi said her daughter, Ghazal Eyad, 16, was killed while on her way to collect food in Rafah. “My daughter and I went to get aid, she came before me, I looked for my daughter but couldn’t find her. People told me your daughter was martyred,” Farmawi.
Near-daily shootings have erupted as crowds make their way to aid sites run by the new US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Israel’s parliament rejected early this morning a preliminary vote to dissolve itself, the Knesset said in a statement, after an agreement was reached regarding a dispute over conscription, Reuters reports.
The vote, which could have been a first step leading to an early election that polls show prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose, was rejected with 61 opposing it to 53 supporting it.
The Knesset consists of 120 seats, and the majority needed to pass the vote was 61. This gives Netanyahu’s ruling coalition further time to resolve its worst political crisis yet and avoid a ballot, which would be Israel’s first since the eruption of the war with Hamas in Gaza.
Netanyahu has been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis.
“I am pleased to announce that after long discussions we have reached agreements on the principles on which the draft law will be based,” Knesset member Yuli Edelstein said in a statement
Some religious parties in Netanyahu’s coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other politicians want to scrap any such exemptions altogether.
Israel recovered the remains of two more hostages in Gaza yesterday, AP reports.
Israeli authorities identified one of the hostages recovered as Yair Yaakov who was killed during the 7 October 2023 attack and whose body was taken into Gaza. His partner and two children were also taken captive and released in a ceasefire deal early in the war.
The second hostage’s identity was not disclosed.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the bodies were retrieved in a “complex” operation without disclosing details. The Israeli military said they were recovered from Khan Younis.
The United Nations general assembly will vote later today on a draft resolution that demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza after the US vetoed a similar effort in the security council last week, Reuters reports.
The 193-member general assembly is likely to adopt the text with overwhelming support, diplomats say, despite Israel lobbying countries this week against taking part in what it called a “politically motivated, counter-productive charade”.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Previous demands by the body for an end to the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been ignored.
Unlike the UN security council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly. Thursday’s vote also comes ahead of a UN conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The US has urged countries not to attend.
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The US is drawing down the presence of staffers who are not deemed essential to operations in the Middle East and their loved ones due to the potential for regional unrest. The state department said yesterday that it’s ordered the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US embassy in Baghdad. The department also is authorising the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait, giving them the option to leave those countries. In addition, US Central Command said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth “has authorised the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations” across the Middle East.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government survived an opposition bid to dissolve parliament this morning, as lawmakers rejected a bill that could have paved the way for snap elections. Out of the Knesset’s 120 members, 61 voted against the proposal, with 53 in favour. The opposition had introduced the bill hoping to force elections with the help of ultra-Orthodox parties in the governing coalition angry at Netanyahu over the contentious issue of exemptions from military service for their community.
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Hospitals said 21 people in Gaza were killed on their way to collect aid from food distribution sites on Wednesday. The Israeli army said it fired warning shots in central Gaza toward “suspects that posed a threat to troops.
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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of attacking aid workers en route to a distribution centre on Wednesday, saying at least five people were killed. “We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage,” GHF said in a statement.
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Israel’s government is issuing “clearly illegal” orders that must not be obeyed, a group of Israeli military intelligence officers have said, announcing they will no longer participate in combat operations in Gaza. In a letter addressed to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister, Israel Katz, and the head of the military, the group of 41 officers and reservists said the government was waging an “unnecessary, eternal war” in Gaza.
