11/02/2026

WEDNESDAY | FEB 11, 2026 9 Kremlin also needs security guarantees MOSCOW: An agreement for a settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine must also take into consideration security guarantees for Russia, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying early yesterday. “We recognise that a peace settlement must take account of Ukraine’s security interests, but a key factor, of course, is Russia’s security interests,” Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Izvestia media outlet. “If you look carefully and study the statements made by the leaders of the European Union, no one talks about security guarantees for Russia. This is a key element of a peace accord. Without it, an agreement is impossible.” Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held two rounds of talks in recent weeks with US representatives in the United Arab Emirates. No peace deal has emerged, but the two sides agreed on the first exchange of prisoners of war in five months at the latest meeting. Security guarantees for Ukraine have been one of the focal points of discussions, along with the extent of Russia’s control of Ukrainian territory and a post-war recovery plan for Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that documents on security guarantees for Ukraine were ready. Izvestia said Grushko listed elements of what might be contained in such guarantees. These included demands long called for by Moscow, including a bar on Nato membership for Ukraine, the rejection of any deployment in Ukraine of troops from Nato states as part of a settlement and an end to what he described as the use of Ukrainian territory to pose “threats” to Russia. Both sides in the latest talks agreed to attend a future round of discussions, but no date has been set. Zelensky has said the next meeting will take place in the United States. – Reuters BEIRUT: Israeli forces killed four people, including a child, in southern Lebanon on Monday in two separate strikes that the Israeli military said targeted Hezbollah members. Israeli forces also seized an official from the Jama’a Islamiya group during a raid. The Israeli military described him as a“senior terrorist”and said he was transferred to Israel for questioning. Three of the fatalities, including a three-year-old child were killed in an airstrike in the village of Yanouh, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported. The Israeli military said it had killed a Hezbollah gunman in a strike in the area of Yanouh, identifying him as the head of Hezbollah’s artillery in the area, and saying he carried out attacks on Israel during the war, and was working to rehabilitate Hezbollah’s artillery capabilities. The Israeli military said it was “aware of the claim that uninvolved civilians were killed”, that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians including use of precise munitions and surveillance, and that it regretted harm to uninvolved civilians. – Reuters NEW YORK: Despite the recent reopening of a water supply main from Israel into the Gaza Strip, Gaza City continues to face a severe water shortage. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said its water, hygiene and sanitation partners reported drinking and domestic water shortages even after the reopening of the Mekorot supply line. Only 6,000 cu m of water is reaching people daily in the city, with significant water losses in hard-to-reach areas. “We and our partners have increased water production and trucked deliveries from groundwater wells and private sector desalination plants,” it said. “Since late last month, our partners have distributed over 100,000 water jerry cans, over 700,000 bars of soap and over 25,000 hygiene kits and over 400 household latrines.” – Bernama ISRAELI FORCES KILL FOUR IN LEBANON SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE CONTINUES IN GAZA CITY

West Bank land grab sparks outrage

NEW YORK: International outrage was growing at Israeli plans to tighten its grip over the occupied West Bank. Saudi Arabia and seven other countries condemned the Israeli measures, which pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Announced on Sunday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz after being approved by the security Cabinet, they include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power. It was unclear when the new rules would take effect but they do not require further approval. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely concerned” at the changes, and warned they were “eroding the prospects for the two-state solution”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. The West Bank, which Israel has occupied o ‘Israel’s occupation of the territory is illegal’

control over two major religious sites: Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The Palestinian presidency in Ramallah, which exercises limited control over some areas of the West Bank, said the move was aimed at “deepening attempts to annex the occupied West Bank”. “What they want is to drive Palestinians into small pieces of land, basically, their major cities, enclaves, and the rest is gone,” Palestinian political scientist and former minister Ali Jarbawi said. Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog, said the steps would further weaken the Palestinian Authority, which was established under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s as an interim governing body pending the creation of a fully fledged Palestinian state. “Israel is actually advancing annexation and that’s something that we’ve seen for three years, but what is also significant in this case is that Israel has also decided to weaken the Palestinian Authority,” Mizrachi said. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Around three million Palestinians live in the territory. – AFP

since 1967, would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state but is seen by many on the religious right as Israeli land. Smotrich had said on Sunday that the changes were aimed at “deepening our roots in all regions of the Land of Israel and burying the idea of a Palestinian state”. Guterres called Israel’s actions “destabilising” and pointed to an International Court of Justice finding that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory is illegal. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkiye “condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty”, a Saudi statement said. It called them an attempt at “entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people”. The Israeli measures also envisage transferring authority over building permits for settlements in the Palestinian city of Hebron, the West Bank’s largest, from the Palestinian Authority to Israel. In addition, the reform strengthens Israeli

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Israeli excavators break ground at a building site in Givat Zeev settlement, near Ramallah, West Bank on Monday. – AFPPIC

Fuel situation in Cuba critical, warns Russia MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday the fuel situation in Cuba was critical and US attempts to “suffocate” the island’s economy were causing many difficulties, pledging to act against any sort of military intervention and expressing Moscow’s solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela. It has threatened to impose tariffs on other suppliers like Mexico if they continue to ship fuel to the island. “The situation in Cuba is indeed critical. We are aware of this. We are maintaining intensive contacts with our Cuban friends through diplomatic and other channels,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

airlines that jet fuel would no longer be available on the island. Air Canada said on Monday it was suspending flights to Cuba. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a message marking the day of diplomatic workers in Russia, said Moscow sought to build relations with developing countries. “The focus remains on countering neo colonial practices, from unilateral coercive measures to military interventions. We reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Venezuela and Cuba. We are convinced that only they can determine their own destiny,” Lavrov wrote on his ministry’s website. Russia’s ambassador to Cuba, Viktor Coronelli, said last week that Moscow had repeatedly supplied oil to Cuba in recent years, and would continue to do so. – Reuters

Cuba detailed its plans to navigate the deepening crisis on Friday including protecting essential services and rationing fuel, as the government dug in its heels in defiance of a US effort to cut off oil supplies. The administration of President Donald Trump has declared Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and said it will no longer receive oil from Venezuela after the US operation to capture its leader Nicolas Maduro last month.

“The suffocating tactics employed by the United States are indeed causing many difficulties for the country. We are discussing with our Cuban friends possible ways to resolve these problems, or at least to provide all possible assistance.” Peskov was answering a question about jet fuel shortages and whether that might affect Russian tourists wanting to leave Cuba, an ally of Moscow’s. Cuba warned international