Al Jazeera

By Heba Habib and Danai Nesta Kupemba

    Pakistan’s powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Friday and held talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the “latest efforts and diplomatic initiatives to prevent escalation” and end the war “imposed” on Iran by the US and Israel.

    Iran’s state media quoted the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman as saying that differences in mediated talks between Tehran and Washington are “deep and significant”.

    At least 15 Gaza aid flotilla activists have reported incidents of sexual assault, including rape, at the hands of Israeli forces after their abduction from vessels sailing in international waters, the organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said.

    Nine countries, including Australia, Canada, France and Germany, have issued a joint statement calling on Israel to cease illegal settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and ensure accountability for settler violence against Palestinians.

    Israel continues to launch air strikes on southern Lebanon after killing about a dozen people on Friday, including attacks on health facilities and emergency workers, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and media reports.

India looking to buy oil from US amid Strait of Hormuz blockage

    Sumit Ritolia, lead energy analyst at business analytics platform Kpler, tells Al Jazeera that India is looking to buy more oil from the United States amid the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz.

    He said the US “has the capacity to increase oil and gas exports to India, but it’s not enough to replace Middle East supplies”.

    Ritolia added that India’s Russian oil exports have also increased in volume.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently in India to make deals on energy and defence.

Gaza Health Ministry says seven killed in past 48 hours by Israeli attacks

    The bodies of eight Palestinians, along with 29 wounded people, have arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry says.

    The ministry said in a statement that the fatalities included seven new deaths and one body recovered from rubble. It added that many victims remain under debris or on roadsides, with civil defence and ambulance crews still unable to reach them.

    Since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 890 people have been killed and 2,677 wounded.

‘Qatar, Pakistan effective US-Iran intermediaries due to ties with both sides’

    An Iranian source told Al Jazeera that Qatar’s backing of Pakistani mediator General Asim Munir is “vital and fundamental”. Foad Izadi, associate professor at the University of Tehran, said the reason for that is clear.

    “Both Qatar and Pakistan have good relations with both sides,” he told Al Jazeera, “which makes them effective intermediaries” who are pushing for a negotiated agreement, as the alternative is “more war and nobody wants that”.

    “When there is a war in this part of the world, they are severely affected,” Izadi said, noting that it would help for more countries to join mediation efforts, but the efforts of existing mediators are “significant”.

Qatar FM urges de-escalation in call with Iran FM

    Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister has spoken by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, reiterating Doha’s full support for ongoing efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the crisis, according to a Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.

    During the call, the Qatari minister stressed that all parties must respond positively to current mediation efforts in order to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region.

    He said closing the Strait of Hormuz or using it as a bargaining chip “will only exacerbate the crisis and jeopardise the vital interests of the region’s countries”. Freedom of navigation, he said, is “a fundamental and non-negotiable principle”.

    The minister also called on all sides to adhere to international law and the principles of good neighbourliness, prioritising the interests of the region and its people.

Daily Israeli air attacks have become the new normal in Gaza

By Hani Mahmoud

Reporting from Gaza,Palestine

    This is the tense reality Palestinians in Gaza have been living with for months. Since the ceasefire announcement, daily Israeli air attacks have become almost a new normal, coupled with constant aerial activity – surveillance drones hovering over the streets – sending shockwaves and reminders of the genocide.

    Two homes were struck in the Nuseirat refugee camp. For those unfamiliar with it, Nuseirat is extremely small and densely populated. In a space like this, even a small act of violence is devastating, let alone a bomb dropped by a fighter jet.

    Just moments after the Israeli military issued a forced displacement order, explosions tore through the very areas people were trying to escape. Families ran into the streets carrying their children, mattresses and whatever belongings they could grab, fearing the attacks would last through the night. The next morning, as people tried to find shelter, further explosions caused severe destruction and reported injuries in both the Nuseirat refugee camp and al-Bureij.

    This is now almost the third time in a week that the Israeli military has issued forced displacement orders with only a short window of time, not enough for people to actually leave and find safety. The scale and devastation of these operations are leaving people displaced and homeless.

‘Iran willing to make nuclear programme concessions- but with conditions’

    Iran is willing to make concessions on its nuclear programme, and it has a precedent to point to, according to Foad Izadi, associate professor at the University of Tehran.

    “Iran did exactly that in 2015,” Izadi told Al Jazeera. Under the nuclear deal struck that year, enrichment was capped at 3.67 percent, “a level at which you cannot produce a nuclear weapon,” and extensive IAEA inspections were put in place.

    “The nuclear issue is open for negotiation. Iran is willing to make concessions there,” he said. If Trump’s stated concern is preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, he added, the framework for achieving that already exists.

    But Tehran has a condition. Concessions on the nuclear file must be matched by sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian assets. “That is what Tehran is expecting,” Izadi said. For Iran, he made clear, these are not secondary details, they are central to any deal.

‘US-Israel negotiations dependent on genuine ceasefire in Lebanon’

    Iran is willing to proceed with negotiations, but first it needs to know whether Donald Trump can exercise an independent foreign policy, according to Foad Izadi, associate professor at the University of Tehran.

    Izadi told Al Jazeera that Tehran’s insistence on a ceasefire on all fronts before talks can proceed is a result of Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    “The general consensus in Tehran is that this is Netanyahu’s war and that he managed to bring the US president in with him,” he said, pointing to assessments by former senior US officials, who have said Netanyahu pushed previous presidents to join a war against Iran and they refused.

    Lebanon is the litmus test. A ceasefire exists on paper, Izadi said, but hundreds of people have been killed while it has nominally been in place. “That is the test for Iran to see whether Trump can finally have an independent foreign policy or not.

    “If Iran can secure a genuine ceasefire in Lebanon and an end to the war on all fronts, negotiations can move forward.”

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UN chief ‘disappointed’ as nuclear non-proliferation talks end without agreement

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed disappointment after the 11th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ended without consensus, calling it a missed opportunity to make the world safer.

    In a statement delivered by his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres said he welcomed the engagement of member states but regretted that the conference fell short, “especially at a time of such pressing challenges that threaten international security”.

    He appealed to all states to use every available avenue of dialogue and diplomacy to reduce tensions and lower nuclear risks, describing a world free of nuclear weapons as the UN’s highest disarmament priority.

People killed, wounded after Israeli raids in Shahabiya, al-Rafid: Lebanese news agency

    The Israeli air raid that hit the town of Shahabiya earlier is now confirmed to have killed and wounded a number of people, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency.

    A separate attack targeting a house in the town of al-Rafid killed at least one person and injured another, reported the agency.

    We will update you on the exact number of casualties as soon as we get more information.

Trump has no choice but to accept Iranian demands, says Defence Ministry spokesman

    Iran’s Defence Ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik has said that Washington’s failure to comply with Iran’s “rights” as a country will lead to “more defeats” for US President Donald Trump.

    “The only way out of the third imposed war for the American-Zionist enemy, on both the battlefield and in diplomacy, is to secure the demands of the Iranian people,” Talaei-Nik told the Tasnim news agency.

    “While accepting Iran’s proposal, Trump should also be mindful of preventing further losses and costs in the continuation of the war for the American people and the international community,” he added.

Jordan, Qatar discuss Pakistan-mediated efforts to end US-Iran escalation

    Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has received a call from Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.

    The ministers discussed Pakistani mediation efforts between Washington and Tehran, the ministry said.

    Safadi and Sheikh Mohammed stressed the necessity of concerted efforts to ensure the success of the mediation in reaching a sustainable solution that addresses all causes of the crisis and prevents renewed escalation, according to the statement.

Gaza’s children face skin disease crisis

By Mariem Bah and Maram Humaid

    Iman Abu Jame sits beside her six-year-old son, Yasser, at Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

    Yasser’s body is frail from hunger. His skin is covered in angry rashes and burn-like wounds that doctors cannot explain.

    Months of severe food shortages due to Israel’s siege of Gaza and soaring prices have left the family unable to afford even basic meals.

    Malnutrition weakened her son’s body first. Then came the infections.

    “I have never seen infections like these in my life,” Iman tells Al Jazeera. “But there are children all around us in this hospital suffering from the same kinds of rashes,” she said.

NATO ministers conclude summit with Strait of Hormuz in focus

    NATO foreign ministers concluded a two-day ministerial meeting in Sweden on Friday, finalising the military bloc’s core security objectives in advance of July’s Ankara Summit.

    While discussions primarily focused on scaling defence industrial capacity and establishing paths towards a 5 percent GDP spending target for NATO members, the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz was also high on the agenda.

    NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said: “Iran continues to attempt to hold the global economy hostage by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

    “It is important that countries are coming together around plans to ensure that the Strait can be open for transit, including by moving essential assets to the region,” he said.

    The US-Israel war on Iran also exposed political rifts between Washington and several European allies.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said NATO allies agree that Iran must not develop nuclear weapons, but very few had stepped up when the Trump administration demanded action.

    Rubio criticised Spain for refusing to grant US forces access to domestic military bases for operations related to the Iran conflict.

Israeli air raid hits south Lebanon’s Shahabiya, demolitions reported in Taybeh

    Al Jazeera’s correspondent is reporting that Israeli forces are carrying out demolitions in the town of Taybeh, south Lebanon, and that an Israeli air raid has hit the town of Shahabiya.

Every hour is critical in preventing another round of war between Iran, US

By Resul Serdar Atas

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

    General Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, is here in Tehran on his second visit since the war began.

    His role is quite remarkable: Munir has become the central mediator across all of these diplomatic engagements.

    We are in pivotal days. Every hour here is critical.

    What we are seeing is a genuinely multi-front diplomatic effort. Beijing, Washington, Tehran, Doha, Riyadh, Islamabad, and Cairo are all involved.

    The central goal is to prevent another round of war and reach at least an interim agreement or framework, or, if that is not possible, to extend the ceasefire so that negotiations can continue.

    The two sides are divided over the status of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s uranium enrichment, Iranian frozen assets, and the methodology of the talks themselves.

    Iran is insisting on a two-phase approach: First, a full end to the war and removal of sanctions, with guarantees against resumption of war, and only then a discussion of its nuclear programme in a second phase.

    The Americans are pushing for a single phase and a package deal.

    What is clear to all the regional and global actors now deeply involved is this: If another round of war begins, the consequences would be devastating not just for the region but far beyond it.

Iran’s Araghchi discusses efforts to end war with Oman’s Foreign Minister Albusaidi

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity reported on Friday evening that has continued this morning, as efforts are made to reach a peace deal between Tehran and Washington.

    The two foreign ministers discussed “the latest regional developments and the ongoing diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation of tensions and end the war, exchanging views and opinions,” Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reports.

    Hitto says the Israeli military warned people in a post on social media that they should flee the site and stay at least 500 metres (550 yards) away as an attack was due.

    “This is the kind of psychological terror that Israel is forcing people to live in,” says Hitto.

‘Our land is alive’: Artist challenges Israel’s erasure of Lebanese villages

    Lebanese artist Eazuka Khazrik has created a digital map of the Levant, trying to fight the erasure of villages in southern Lebanon by Israeli forces and online sources.

    “Even if they erase our names from all maps, this doesn’t at all erase the transgenerational and ancestral connection that people have to their land,” Khazrik told our colleagues at AJ+.

    “For them, our land is a map but for us, our land is alive.”