01/08/2025

FRIDAY | AUG 1, 2025

9

US Senate rejects bids to block arms sales to Israel

RUSSIAN MISSILES, DRONES STRIKE UKRAINE KYIV: Russia carried out drone and missile strikes on Kyiv yesterday, killing at least six and wounding more than 40, with damage caused to the children’s ward of a hospital as well as a school, government officials said. The attacks targeted at least 10 locations around the Ukrainian capital, the city’s military administration said. Buildings were damaged in the Golosiivsky district, including a school and kindergarten, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The attack comes on the heels of a Russian strike on a military training camp, which killed at least three Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday. – AFP NUCLEAR SITES STABLE AFTER QUAKE: IAEA VIENNA: The United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday nuclear conditions remained stable at facilities along Japan’s Pacific Coast and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), following a powerful earthquake off Russia’s east coast, reported Xinhua. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it is maintaining contact with national authorities in Japan regarding the earthquake and the resulting tsunami. At the ZNPP, the IAEA team confirmed no change in radiation levels at the site, according to IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi. – Bernama-Xinhua

BR I E F S

the near future.” Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was one of the Democrats who opposed the Sanders-backed resolutions in April but voted for them this time. Shaheen noted in a statement that Israel has a right to defend its citizens, but also said: “It is clear that the government of Israel has not conducted its military operations in Gaza with the necessary care required by international humanitarian law. “It is also clear that the government of Israel has failed to allow adequate humanitarian assistance into Gaza, resulting in unbelievable suffering.” The resolutions would have blocked the sale of US$675 million (RM2.87 billion) in bombs and shipments of 20,000 assault rifles. In a speech opposing the resolutions, Senator Jim Risch of

Idaho, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Hamas is to blame for the situation in Gaza. “It is in the interest of America and the world to see this terrorist group destroyed,” he said. Israel has consistently said its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defence and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, a charge Hamas denies. The US Senate vote came as France and Canada have indicated that they plan to recognise a Palestinian state amid growing international outrage over the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Britain has also said it would recognise the state at September’s United Nations General Assembly meeting if the fighting in Gaza had not stopped by then. Israel says its operations are aimed at dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and securing the release of hostages. – Reuters

o Backers hope raising issue would encourage more govt action to protect civilians

WASHINGTON: Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the US Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year. The resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats. They failed by 73 to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber. Similar measures, also introduced by Sanders, failed by 82-15 and 83-15 in April. A decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress means resolutions to stop weapons sales

are unlikely to pass, but backers hope that raising the issue would encourage Israel’s government and the US administration to do more to protect civilians. All of the votes for the resolutions came from Democrats, with all of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans opposed. Sanders said in a statement he was pleased that a majority of the Democratic caucus had backed the effort. “The tide is turning. The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza. “The Democrats are moving forward on this issue and I look forward to Republican support in

Canada to recognise Palestinian state

OTTAWA: Canada plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September, said Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday, a dramatic policy shift that was rejected by Israel. Carney said the move is necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the conflict. This makes Canada the third country, following France and the United Kingdom, that could recognise a Palestinian state in September. Carney said the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza leaves “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace”. Israel blasted Canada’s announcement as part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure”. When asked by reporters if there was a scenario in which Canada could change its position before the UN meeting, Carney said: “There is a scenario (but) possibly one that I cannot imagine.” Canada’s intention “is predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms“, he said, referring to the body led by President Mahmoud Abbas, which has civil authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He said his plans are further predicated on Abbas’s pledge to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarise the Palestinian state”. The Israeli embassy in Ottawa said: “Recognising a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions or benevolent leadership rewards and legitimises the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.” Abbas welcomed the announcement as a “historic” decision while France said the countries would work together “to revive the prospect of peace in the region”.

Canada’s plan goes a step further than this week’s announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer said the United Kingdom would formally recognise the state of Palestine in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps“, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. Carney stressed that Canada has been an unwavering member of the group of nations that hopes a two-state solution “would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority”. “Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable,“ he said, citing “Hamas terrorism” and the group’s “long-standing violent rejection of Israel’s right to exist”. The peace process has also been eroded by the expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, he said. He added that a two-state solution is growing increasingly remote, with a vote in Israel’s parliament “calling for the annexation of the West Bank” and Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He framed his decision as one aimed at safeguarding Israel’s future. “Any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state, and one that recognises Israel’s inalienable right to security and peace.“ In a related development, a UN high-level conference on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine concluded on Wednesday at the UN headquarters in New York, Anadolu Ajansi reported. The meeting brought together senior officials from nearly 130 countries and ended with the adoption of the “New York Call” and “New York Declaration” in support of the two-state solution. – AFP

Palestinians sitting on aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel. – REUTERSPIC

Egypt, Jordan, UAE airdrop aid to Gaza

ISTANBUL: Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday amid a worsening famine and ongoing Israeli military attacks on civilians, Anadolu Ajansi reported. Jordan’s official news agency Petra said the Jordanian army conducted a new round of airdrop operations in coordination with the UAE Air Force and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation. Two aircraft belonging to the Jordanian Air Force and its Emirati counterpart were used in the operation, which delivered 16 tonnes of food and baby formula to various parts of Gaza. This brings the total amount of

regional and international pressure over Gaza’s famine, with warnings of a potential mass-death crisis threatening over 100,000 children. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees criticised the airdrops, saying they would not be enough to stop the famine. Israel has kept key land crossings closed since March 2, causing hundreds of aid trucks to remain blocked while promoting its limited authorisation of airdrops. Palestinian officials say Gaza requires 600 aid trucks daily to meet the needs of its 2.4 million residents. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that at least 154 people have died of starvation since October 2023. – Bernama-Anadolu

aid dropped over recent days to 73 tonnes, based on a mechanism aimed at ensuring efficient delivery. Separately, Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson Brig Gen Gharib Abdel Hafez said four military aircraft departed from Egypt with food aid for airdrops over areas in Gaza inaccessible by land. He said the effort was meant to ease harsh living conditions and address acute shortages while land-based aid continues in parallel. The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it would allow limited airdrops and has begun a “local tactical pause in military activity” in specific areas to facilitate humanitarian access. The move comes amid rising