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Middle East
Netanyahu opposes Palestinian state plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is opposed to a Palestinian state on Sunday, following protests by far-right coalition allies over a United States-backed statement indicating support for a pathway to Palestinian independence. He spoke after Israel’s key ally, the U.S., and many Muslim-majority nations endorsed a draft UN resolution that backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan and said the process offered a route to Palestinian statehood. Negotiations from the 15-member UN Security Council began on 7 November and would mandate Trump’s proposal for a “Board of Peace” transitional administration in Gaza to address issues including post-war reconstruction and economic recovery. The plan includes a clause suggesting reforms in the Palestinian Authority that could lead to a credible path for Palestinian self-determination. Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday, following pressure from far-right ministers who threatened to walk out if he didn’t act. "Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed,” Netanyahu said. “Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way. I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone."
Middle East
France to help Palestine draft a constitution: Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France will help Palestine draw up a constitution. Macron held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris this week, after France formally recognised a Palestinian state in September. They were not the only Western nation to do so that month, with many citing frustration over Israel's ongoing devastation and a push for a two-state solution. Now, France has declared its intent to help the Palestinian Authority draft a constitution for a future state, put together by a joint committee. "This committee will be responsible for working on all legal aspects: constitutional, institutional and organisational," Macron told reporters. "It will contribute to the work of developing a new constitution, a draft of which President Abbas has presented to me, and will aim to finalise all the conditions for such a State of Palestine." France will also contribute 100 million euros in humanitarian aid to Gaza for 2025. “We are committed to a culture of dialogue and peace, and we want a democratic, unarmed state committed to the rule of law, transparency, justice, pluralism and the rotation of power,” Abbas said of the deal.
Middle East
Starmer shares UK's Middle East peace plan with Trump
The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shared the U.K.-led peace plan for the Middle East with United States President Donald Trump during the President’s visit to Scotland. Starmer has worked on the plan with France and Germany over the weekend during an emergency call with the countries' leaders, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz. “The Prime Minister welcomed the President’s efforts to secure this, and shared the plans he is working on with other European leaders to bring about a lasting peace,” a No 10 spokesperson said. While specifics of the plan have not been released yet, Sanders said the proposal would also be presented to allies, including Arab states, in the coming days. Starmer said the British are “revolted” by the images they’re seeing in Gaza and urged Trump to help set up new food centres in Gaza without fences after the U.S.-led arrangement had led to the killing of many Palestinians. “It’s a humanitarian crisis, it’s an absolute catastrophe,” Starmer said. “Nobody wants to see that. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they’re seeing on their screens, so we’ve got to get to that ceasefire.” Israel has announced that it would suspend fighting in Gaza in three areas f
Middle East
Iran open to talks after banning nuclear inspections
Iran has formally severed ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following a United States-Israeli bombing campaign targeting its nuclear facilities, marking an escalation in the nuclear standoff that threatens to unravel years of diplomatic efforts. President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the suspension law on Wednesday, implementing parliament-approved legislation that blocks IAEA inspectors from accessing Iranian nuclear sites without approval from Tehran's Supreme National Security Council. The move comes as Iran's foreign minister dismissed the prospects of swift diplomatic talks with Washington following recent military strikes.Diplomatic doors stay openHowever, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did signal Tehran's continued openness to negotiations in his first interview with American media since the bombings. In an interview with CBS News, Araghchi insisted that "the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut," - though he poured cold water on U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that talks could resume “as early as this week”. "I don't think negotiations will restart as quickly as that," Araghchi told CBS. "In order for us to decide to re-engage, we will have to first ensure that America
Middle East
Nuclear sites not destroyed by US' Iran strikes: report
United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites have likely only set the country’s nuclear program back by a few months, according to a Pentagon report. The Defense Intelligence Agency preliminary report concluded that U.S. strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend did not destroy two of these sites, per The Guardian. U.S. President Donald Trump had said following the strikes that the three nuclear enrichment sites had been entirely destroyed. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the report’s factfulness. “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” Leavitt told CNN. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program.” Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was not damaged, according to the report, having been moved from the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites before the U.S. attacks began. The facilities above ground were heavily damaged, the report said, including power infrastructure, but these strik

Middle East
Trump requests unconditional surrender from Iran's chief
United States President Donald Trump demands Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, surrender in Tehran’s conflict with Israel. Officials told NBC that a U.S. strike is one option among many that Trump is weighing up. This is after meeting with his top national security advisors in the Situation Room. Trump took to Truth Social to tell Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is hiding and will take matters into their own hands. "He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” he wrote. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers. “Our patience is wearing thin.” This comes two days after news outlets reported that Trump vetoed a plan by Israel to assassinate the ayatollah and not long after Trump refused to sign a joint statement calling for the conflict between Iran and Israel to be scaled down at the G7 Summit in Canada. Khamenei has taken to X to respond to Trump’s threats, saying “We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy.”
Middle East
Israel's Shin Bet security chief to exit in June
The head of Israel's security agency, Ronen Bar, has announced his resignation, effective from 15 June, after accepting failures during the 7 October attacks. Bar, Chief of the Shin Ben, was dismissed unanimously from the Israeli cabinet nearly three months before this announcement. The dismissal was originally set for 10 April, but was halted by the High Court, drawing the ire of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sparking a battle of wills between Bar and the PM. Last week, Bar said in a sworn affidavit that Netanyahu expected “personal loyalty", which Netanyahu labelled as a “false affidavit”. “It was made clear to me that in the event of a constitutional crisis, I would be expected to obey the prime minister rather than the Supreme Court,” Bar wrote. In a speech honouring fallen Shin Bet agents, Bar acknowledged his failures on 7 October and reiterated his loyalty to Israel. “My love for the homeland and my loyalty to the state are the foundation of every decision I have made in my professional life," he said. “After years on many fronts, in one night, on the southern front, the sky fell. All systems collapsed. The Shin Bet also failed to provide a warning [on October 7].” Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-ri
Middle East
Trump threatens military action against Iran
United States President Donald Trump has doubled down his threat to use military force on Iran if it does not end its nuclear program, adding that Israel would lead the military action. During his previous term Trump pulled the U.S. from the 2015 Obama-era deal between Iran and world leaders, which saw Tehran receive eased sanctions in exchange for heavily reduced uranium enrichment and stockpiling, and additionally reimposed broad U.S. sanctions. Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal's limits on uranium enrichment, but maintains its nuclear program is only for civilian energy purposes. Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump repeated his stance that Iran must not have nuclear weapons and that military action was on the cards if development didn't stop. "I'm not asking for much ... but they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said, after signing several new executive orders. “If it requires military, we're going to have military. Israel will, obviously, be ... the leader of that. No one leads us. We do what we want.” This followed his surprising announcement earlier in the week that the U.S. and Iran were looking to organise direct talks on the nuclear program, after Iran had rejected the idea at the e
Middle East
Israel vows to end trade barriers with US amid tariffs
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel aims to eliminate trade barriers with the United States, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly imposed tariff policies roil markets worldwide. Netanyahu and Trump met in the Oval Office to discuss trade between the two nations. Imports from Israel face a 17% tariff under Trump’s new policy. “We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States,” said Netanyahu. “We intend to do it very quickly. We think it’s the right thing to do. And we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers.” Trump did not commit to reducing tariffs on Israel if trade barriers were removed. “Don’t forget, we help Israel a lot. We give Israel $4 billion a year. That’s a lot,” he said. Trump also said he would not consider a 90-day pause on tariffs. The U.S. is Israel’s largest single trading partner, though the U.S. posted a US$7.4 billion trade deficit with Israel last year. Israel ended all tariffs on U.S. imports shortly before Trump’s new slate of tariffs were announced. Israeli exports to the U.S. could lose US$2.3 billion in value annually due to the tariffs, according to the Manufacturers Association of Israel, with 18,000 to 26,000 workers in Israel projected to lose