30/08/2025

SATURDAY | AUG 30, 2025

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Russia strikes Ukraine, damages EU, British offices

Alarm over ‘forced disappearances’ GENEVA: United Nations (UN) experts reported receiving accounts of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including a child, who were “forcibly disappeared” after heading to aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, accusing the Israeli occupation forces of direct involvement, Qatar News Agency reported. In a report published on Thursday, the seven experts said the Israeli occupation military was directly involved in cases of enforced disappearance of individuals seeking assistance, urging the Israeli occupation to put an end to the heinous crime. They described the actions as violations of international law, adding that daily air strikes and gunfire in and around crowded centres resulted in numerous casualties. They warned that aid distribution points now pose additional risks of enforced disappearance, calling for an end to the atrocity against an already vulnerable population and demanding clarity on the fate and location of the missing individuals, as well as thorough and impartial investigations and accountability for perpetrators. The statement was signed by five members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, along with UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese and UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri. Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported documenting the deaths of 1,857 Palestinians while waiting for aid since late May, including 1,021 near centres operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by the Israeli occupation and the United States. – Bernama-QNA Zelensky has long backed Trump’s call for a meeting and supported calls from European leaders for a ceasefire ahead of negotiations. Senior Ukrainian officials were due to hold talks with Trump administration officials in New York yesterday. – Reuters Call for clear security guarantees KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a group of European leaders on Thursday that it is important to produce a clear definition of security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a plan to secure a peace settlement with Russia after years of war. The virtual meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki and the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark was organised in Poland. Zelensky said the meeting participants had “synchronised” positions by seeking greater pressure on Russia ahead of diplomatic meetings on the Ukraine conflict. In his remarks to the meeting, Zelensky said Ukraine believes Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is interested only in continuing the war. Ukraine needs a solid basis for security guarantees that US President Donald Trump has agreed to and that have been under discussion for a week, and a shared understanding that Putin deserves more pressure, Zelensky said. “When we talk about security guarantees, we need clear answers. Who will help us defend on the ground, in the air and at sea if Russia comes again? I am asking you to define your role.” Zelensky said it is “important that Trump sees we in Europe are united in our determination to end the war”. Trump has been trying to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, and said he could impose new sanctions on Moscow if there is no progress in ending the war.

KYIV: Russia pounded Ukraine with deadly missiles and drone strikes on Thursday in a sweeping attack that the US special envoy in Ukraine said undermined US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts. At least 23 people were killed in the capital, said Kyiv’s military administration head Tymur Tkachenko. As of 11pm (2000 GMT), rescue efforts were still underway. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “was not happy about this news but he was also not surprised”. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike was Moscow’s answer to diplomatic efforts to end the war. US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said: “The targets? Not soldiers and weapons but residential areas in Kyiv, blasting civilian trains, the European Union (EU) and British mission council offices, and innocent civilians.” o Moscow chooses to continue killing instead of ending war: Zelensky

in all city districts, officials said. Ukraine’s military said Russian attacks struck 13 locations across the country. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit, causing power cuts. Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in an effort to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory. “This is another grim reminder of what is at stake. It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians and even targeting the EU,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the assault, which he said had damaged the British Council building. “Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace.” Ukraine’s military said air defences downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia. Russia’s Defence Ministry said Russian air defences destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight in at least seven regions. Ukraine’s drone force said it had struck the Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries as part of that attack. – Reuters

The EU and Britain summoned Russian envoys to protest. There were no reports of casualties at either site. Zelensky said the strikes damaged a Turkish enterprise and the Azerbaijan embassy. The strikes took place less than two weeks after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, a meeting that Trump had hoped would advance his peace efforts. “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war,” said Zelensky, calling for new sanctions on Russia. The Kremlin said its attack had hit military-industrial facilities and air bases, and Ukraine had attacked Russian targets, adding that Russia is still interested in pursuing peace talks. Moscow has regularly denied targeting civilians while Ukrainian officials say scores of civilians have died in Russian strikes on densely populated areas in recent months, and thousands since the start of the war. Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the strikes as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months. At least 63 people were wounded in the hours-long assault, which damaged buildings

The Ukraine military said air defences downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia. – REUTERSPIC

Gaza takeover signals dangerous phase: UN GENEVA: United Nations (UN)

construction of thousands of settlements in the E1 area (bordering the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank) would effectively separate the northern and southern West Bank, representing “an existential threat to the two-state solution“, he warned. “The Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law. Israel must cease such actions and comply with its obligations.“ There is no military solution to the conflict, said Guterres, appealing for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Starvation of the civilian population must never be used as a method of warfare, civilians must be protected and humanitarian access must be unimpeded, he said. “No more excuses. No more obstacles. No more lies.“ – Bernama-Xinhua

are the result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity,“ he added. He said Israel must ensure the provision of food, water, medicine and other essentials, in addition to agreeing to and facilitating greater humanitarian access to Gaza, as well as protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The UN and its partners are doing all they can, often at great personal risk, with up to 366 UN personnel having been killed while humanitarian efforts are being blocked, delayed and denied, he said. “This is unacceptable.“ The situation in the West Bank is also profoundly alarming, said Guterres. Military operations, settler violence, demolitions and discriminatory policies are driving displacement and deepening vulnerability while the relentless expansion of settlements is fracturing communities and cutting off access to vital resources, he said. Israel’s recent approval of a plan for the

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday Israel’s initial steps to militarily take over Gaza City signal a new and dangerous phase with devastating consequences, reported Xinhua. “Hundreds of thousands of civilians, already exhausted and traumatised, would be forced to flee yet again, plunging families into even deeper peril. This must stop.“ Guterres called for accountability for “unconscionable Israeli strikes“, including the two attacks on the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis earlier this week, which killed civilians, including medical personnel and journalists, “all with the world watching”. The levels of death and destruction in Gaza are without parallel in recent times, he said. “People are dying from hunger, yet Gaza’s food, water and healthcare systems have been systematically dismantled. “These are the facts on the ground. And they