Al Jazeera

By Lyndal Rowlands and Zaid Sabah

    Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says that “all paths” to a diplomatic solution “remain open from our side”, but warns that “forcing Iran to surrender through coercion is nothing but an illusion”.

    Global condemnation is growing after Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a video of himself taunting abducted Gaza aid flotilla activists as they were being mistreated by Israeli prison guards.

    Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority has announced the establishment of a “supervision area” in the Strait of Hormuz that requires a permit for transit, stating that “passage without permission will be considered illegal”.

    Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have killed more than 20 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and media, as a “ceasefire” extension agreed upon between Lebanese and Israeli officials continues in name only.

    Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 72,773 people, with a further 172,723 people injured, since October 2023, according to the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry.

Tehran reviewing US response to its latest proposal, FM spokesperson says

    Iran’s Nour News Agency is reporting that Washington and Tehran have been exchanging messages through Pakistan over the wording of a proposed ceasefire document.

    “Based on the original text of Iran’s 14 points, the exchange of messages has been carried out on several occasions,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, according to Nour.

    “We have received the views of the American side and are reviewing them,” Baghaei said.

    Baghaei made the remarks during a visit by Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsen Naqvi, to Iran.

    Islamabad is helping to mediate talks between Washington and Tehran.

Who is Itamar Ben-Gvir

    Ben-Gvir has caused global outrage over his ill treatment of abducted Gaza aid activists held in Israeli detention.

    This is what we know about him:

    Ben-Gvir, 50, has served as Israel’s national security minister since December 2022.

    As a teenager, he joined the now-illegal Kach political party, leading to criminal convictions in Israel for incitement to racism against Palestinians and supporting a “terror” organisation.

    His role as a youth leader in Kach made him ineligible for mandatory military service when he turned 18.

    He is the leader of the far-right political party Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, and a member of Netanyahu’s government since 2022.

    He is also a settler in Kiryat Arba, one of the most hardline, illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    Last year, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the UK announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir, as well as fellow far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for their incitement of violence against Palestinians.

Israel’s abuse of Gaza activists only causing storm because publicised ‘to the world’

    Michael Lynk, former UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, spoke to Al Jazeera earlier, saying that the flotilla activists abducted by Israel have broken no laws and “committed no crime known to international law or even domestic law”.

    Their abuse at the hands of Israeli guards and the country’s far-right security minister, Ben-Gvir, has only become an international issue because it was recorded and publicised “to the world”, he said.

    Lynk said he did not think that Netanyahu “would have really cared” what treatment the activists were subjected to in Israeli detention, except that Ben-Gvir was “so bold as to put all of this on video and then release it to the world”.

    “Even Mike Huckabee, the American ambassador, probably the best American ambassador that Israel could have ever wanted to be representing the United States in Israel, said that this was disgraceful,” Lynk said.

‘Completely unacceptable’: EU’s Antonio Costa appalled by flotilla detainees’ treatment

    European Council President Antonio Costa says he is “appalled by the treatment of flotilla members by Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir”.

    In a post on X, Costa wrote: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable. We call for their immediate release.”

Oil prices rise on supply fears amid ongoing Iran war uncertainty

    Following a two-day decline, oil prices have risen as ongoing supply anxieties continue to take centre stage amid uncertainty over the US-Israel war on Iran.

    By 00:55 GMT on Thursday, Brent crude futures had climbed 81 cents, or 0.77 percent, to reach $105.83 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained 97 cents, or 0.99 percent, to trade at $99.23.

    The turnaround comes amid lingering fears regarding the Iran war ceasefire, while a dip in US crude inventories has added to worries about shrinking global reserves.

Trump official warns Iran of unprecedented military action over deal holdout

    White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has issued a stark warning to the Iranian leadership regarding the ongoing standoff as negotiations have failed to progress.

    Speaking to Fox News, Miller said that the current administration in Tehran faces a critical ultimatum from the US.

    “This new team in Iran has a choice to make,” Miller said.

    “They can either agree to a piece of paper that is satisfactory to the United States, or they can face a punishment from our military, the likes of which has not been seen in modern history. That’s the choice that they face,” he said.

US lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN expert on Palestinian rights

By Lyndal Rowlands

    The US Department of the Treasury has removed sanctions against the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese.

    In a brief update on its website on Wednesday, the Treasury Department listed Albanese’s name under the heading: “International Criminal Court-related Designation Removal”.

    The move comes a week after US District Judge Richard Leon issued a temporary injunction against the sanctions in response to a case filed by Albanese’s husband and daughter in February.

    Their lawsuit argued that the sanctions were imposed by the Trump administration as a punishment for Albanese’s public advocacy against Israel’s human rights abuses of Palestinians.

Israelis’ ‘brutal’ treatment of activists should prompt concern for Palestinian detainees

    Michael Lynk, former UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said that Israeli forces have regularly intercepted aid flotillas and detained the activists on board.

    The difference this time is “how brutal the minister of national security for Israel, Ben-Gvir, has been treating these activists”, which has prompted global condemnation.

    Lynk asked where the same kind of “outrage” was for the Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

    It has been well documented by the UN and others that Ben-Gvir has imposed harsh conditions on Palestinians held in Israeli detention “to the point where a number of them have died” and some of those freed “show great emaciation”, Lynk said.

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‘Sorry for your feels Ted’: Massie doubles down on criticism of pro-Israel opponent

    Outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie has reiterated his criticism of pro-Israel lobbyists backing his opponent in a recent US primary election, after top Republican Ted Cruz questioned his choice of words.

    While conceding defeat in the primary race to Ed Gallrein on Wednesday, Massie quipped that he’d had trouble reaching his opponent “in Tel Aviv”, a reference to the pro-Israel lobby that had financially supported Gallrein’s campaign.

    Cruz responded in a post on social media, saying he wished Massie “hadn’t said this”.

    To which Massie replied: “You wish I hadn’t pointed out that 95+% of my opponent’s funding came from the Israeli lobby, and millions of that came from a woman who has Israeli citizenship and served in the [Israeli military]  Sorry for your feels Ted.”

    Massie, who angered Trump by criticising US military action in Iran and Venezuela and backing efforts to release files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will remain in Congress until the midterm elections in November.

International outrage mounts over Israeli minister’s video of detained activists

By Zaid Sabah

    Footage shared by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, which shows activists from a Gaza-bound aid convoy bound by their hands and forced to press their foreheads to the ground by armed Israeli guards, has triggered an international diplomatic firestorm.

    Multiple governments have condemned Israel’s treatment of the aid activists, calling it a violation of human dignity and summoning Israeli diplomats for formal reprimands.

Which countries have summoned Israeli ambassadors

    Australia: Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned Ben-Gvir and the “degrading actions of Israeli authorities”, saying Israel’s ambassador has been summoned.

    Italy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani issued a scathing joint statement calling the video “unacceptable” and demanding a formal apology. Italy immediately summoned the Israeli ambassador, citing “total disrespect” for human dignity and the safety of the Italian citizens detained.

    France: “I have requested that the Israeli ambassador to France be summoned to express our indignation and obtain an explanation,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

    The Netherlands: Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten wrote on X that the Israeli ambassador had been summoned, while Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen called the treatment of the activists “shocking and unacceptable”.

    New Zealand: Israel’s ambassador will be summoned to air “grave concerns” about the treatment of detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, the country’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.

    Canada & Belgium: Both nations also stated they would summon Israeli envoys to lodge formal protests.