20/05/2025

TUESDAY | MAY 20, 2025

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100,000 DUTCH PROTEST AGAINST GENOCIDE THE HAGUE: Tens of thousands of people turned out on Sunday in The Hague to protest the Dutch government’s policy on Israel’s war on Gaza. Many protesters were dressed in red to symbolically trace a red line for Gaza. Participants pressed the Dutch government to take action against Israel, arguing that it is commiting “genocide”. Organisers said more than 100,000 people took part, describing it as the largest demonstration in the country in 20 years. One demonstrator, 25-year old Rick Timmermans, accused the government of supplying parts for F-35 warplanes Israel was using for strikes. “I’m ashamed of the government because it doesn’t want to set any limits,” said schoolteacher Jolanda Nio. – AFP REFUGEE AGENCY CHIEF SAYS OVER 300 STAFF KILLED ISTANBUL: More than 300 staff members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023. “Today, that death toll has surpassed the gruesome milestone of 300,” said Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini. “The vast majority of staff were killed by the Israeli Army with their children and loved ones.” Lazzarini said most of the dead staff were health workers and teachers. “Several were killed in the line of duty while serving communities. Nothing justifies these killings. Impunity will lead to more killing. Those responsible must be held accountable.” – Bernama IRAN SUMMONS BRITISH ENVOY AFTER ARREST TEHRAN: Iran has summoned a British envoy in Tehran to protest the arrest of several of its nationals on charges of spying. “Following the arrest of a number of Iranian nationals ... the British charge d’affaires was summoned,” the IRNA news agency said, describing the arrests as “politically motivated”. Three Iranian men appeared in a London court on Saturday charged with spying. They were identified as Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55. The Home Office said they were irregular migrants who arrived by small boat or other means between 2016 and 2022. The alleged spying took place from August 2024 to February 2025. – AFP POLAND SEIZES AIRCRAFT TYRES HEADED FOR RUSSIA WARSAW: Polish customs seized 5 tonnes of tyres for civilian Boeing aircraft which were due to transit through Belarus and Russia, the country’s National Revenue Administration said yesterday, adding such goods are covered by European Union sanctions. Western sanctions against Russia have been toughened repeatedly since its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in 2022, without ending the war. “Officers ... discovered during the inspection of a truck in Koroszczyn that the driver was transporting tyres used in Boeing planes instead of the declared car and bus tyres,” the National Revenue Administration said. – Reuters EGYPT RECOVERS SMUGGLED ANTIQUITIES CAIRO: Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry said on Sunday it had retrieved 21 artefacts, including a funerary figurine and an eye of Horus amulet, that had been smuggled illegally to Australia. Most of the items had been “on display at a renowned auction house in Australia, before it became clear that there were no proper ownership documents,” said Supreme Council of Antiquities chief Mohamed Ismail Khaled. The collection, which also included a fragment of a wooden sarcophagus, was handed over to the Egyptian embassy in Canberra. Officials did not say how or when the pieces had been smuggled out of the country. – AFP

BR I E F S

An Italian delegation of political, academic and human rights figures hold banners and protest during their visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC

Israel will ‘take control of all’ of Gaza, says PM o Qatar ceasefire talks continue feverishly

sisters who are suffering because of war. “In Gaza, the surviving children, families and elderly are reduced to starvation,” he said. But Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued against any resumption of aid, saying on X: “Mr Prime Minister, our hostages receive no humanitarian aid.” “The Prime Minister is making a serious mistake in this move, and he has no majority at all. Hamas must only be crushed, and not at the same time provided with oxygen for its survival,” he said in a statement. Israel’s military yesterday said the air force had struck “160 terror targets” in Gaza over the past day, as it pressed an expanded offensive. The campaign, which Israel says aims to free hostages and defeat Hamas, started on Saturday as the two sides entered indirect talks in Qatar on a deal. Netanyahu’s office said negotiators in Doha were “working to exhaust every possibility for a deal – whether according to the Witkoff framework or as part of ending the fighting”. – AFP The Conservatives have already criticised the reset move as a “surrender”. The two sides inked the “Security and Defence Partnership” – the highlight of yesterday’s sit-down between Starmer and von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and chief diplomat Kaja Kallas. Two other documents were signed yesterday: a joint statement of European solidarity from the EU-UK leaders’ summit and a Common Understanding on topics from trade to fishing and youth mobility. Under the final agreement, Britain will keep its waters open for European fishermen for 12 years until June 2038, in return for the bloc easing red tape on food imports from the UK. The deal “would result in the vast majority of movements of animals, animal products, plants, and plant products between Great Britain and the European Union being undertaken without the certificates”, according to the text. – AFP

Israel has come under mounting international pressure, including from key backer the United States, to lift a blockade it imposed on Gaza more than two months ago. “We must not let the population (of Gaza) sink into famine, both for practical and diplomatic reasons,” Netanyahu said, adding that even friends of Israel would not tolerate “images of mass starvation”. In a report this month, the UN- and NGO backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said Gaza was at “critical risk of famine”, with 22% of the population facing an imminent humanitarian “catastrophe”. Israel said its blockade since March 2 was aimed at forcing concessions from the group, but UN agencies have warned of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines. Last week US President Donald Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people are starving”, adding “we’re going to get that taken care of”. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was “a big day because we are now turning the page and opening a new chapter”. “That is so important in these times, because we see the rise of geopolitical tensions, but we are like-minded. We share values,” she added. EU diplomats said a deal had been reached on resetting ties after late-night talks to resolve differences went down to the wire. The UK said the new economic agreement with the European Union eases customs checks on food and plant products to “allow goods to flow freely again”. Starmer’s Labour government had argued the EU deal painfully negotiated under the UK’s previous Conservative government “isn’t working for anyone”. But Starmer, who came to power last July, ousting the Conservatives, has several red lines he has said he will not cross, ruling out rejoining the customs union.

GAZA CITY: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, as the military pressed a newly intensified campaign in the war-ravaged territory. After Israel announced it would let a “basic amount” of food into the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said it was necessary to prevent a famine for “diplomatic reasons”. In Gaza, rescuers said air strikes killed at least 22 people, after the military announced it had begun “extensive ground operations” against Hamas. “The fighting is intense and we are making progress. We will take control of all the territory of the Strip,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on Telegram. “We will not give up. But to succeed, we must act in a way that cannot be stopped.” LONDON: Britain and the European Union yesterday reached a landmark deal setting out closer ties on defence and trade, launching a new chapter after the UK’s acrimonious exit from the bloc five years ago. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it “marks a new era in our relationship ... We are agreeing a new strategic partnership fit for our times.” The defence deal will mean more regular security talks, Britain possibly joining EU military missions and the potential for London to tap into a defence fund set up by the bloc. The two sides also agreed to lift controls imposed on UK exports to the 27-country bloc, in exchange for Britain extending EU fishing rights in British waters for a further 12 years. Starmer said there would be “real, tangible benefits” for the UK in “security, irregular migration, energy prices” which would result in “bringing down bills, creating jobs and protecting our borders”.

In his inaugural mass, Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful not to forget “our brothers and UK forges new ties with European Union