Category: 2. World

DENIALS and spin cannot alter the ugly fact that Gaza is now in the midst of a manmade famine.

The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification panel announced this grim ‘milestone’ on Friday, confirming what many had already known, thanks to the harrowing images coming out of the besieged Palestinian territory. But Israel, which is responsible for this crime, and the US, Tel Aviv’s principal foreign backer, refuse to believe this inconvenient truth, despite the fact that there is widespread consensus on who caused the Gaza famine.

The findings say that half a million people face “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza City, while famine conditions are likely to spread to other parts of the Strip. Reacting to UN officials’ statement that the famine is the result of “systemic obstruction” by Israel, the Zionist state’s prime minister has dismissed the findings as an “outright lie”. The US State Department, meanwhile, has also cast doubts over the UN body’s findings, saying that Hamas was promoting a “false narrative” regarding mass starvation in Gaza.

Although many of their elders were murdered and starved by Nazi Germany, Israel’s current rulers seem intent on replicating the repulsive tactics of the Third Reich. After all, Gaza has been transformed into a modern concentration camp, with tens of thousands of Palestinians — including innocent children — murdered by Israeli forces in much the same fashion as Hitler’s troops butchered European Jews.

Moreover, the heart-wrenching images coming out of Gaza, particularly of starving, lifeless youngsters and babies, bear a striking resemblance to the gaunt, ghostly pictures of the victims of the Holocaust. Along with imitating Nazi tactics in the form of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and manufacturing a famine in the occupied territory by severely restricting the entry of food and water, Tel Aviv and its American supporters have also seemingly mastered the Nazis’ dark art of propaganda. Denying that there is a famine when all credible international institutions say Gaza is being purposely starved is a clear example of this.

There is little doubt that genocide and starvation in Gaza are a stain on humanity’s conscience. Many states and institutions have expressed their shock over the UN panel’s findings regarding famine. However, empty rhetoric and ‘thoughts and prayers’ will not ease the Palestinians’ plight. If the international community is serious about ending Israeli crimes in Gaza, then there must be solid action.

Until Tel Aviv declares an unconditional ceasefire and lifts the Gaza siege by allowing in food, water, fuel and medicine, all UN member states should impose a trade and weapons embargo on Israel. The Arab and Muslim states must lead the way. It cannot be business as usual with Israel as long as it starves and slaughters innocent people.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2025

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test-firing of two new air defence missiles, state media said on Sunday, after Pyongyang accused Seoul of fomenting tensions on the order.

The test-firing, which took place on Saturday, showed that the two “improved” missile weapon systems had “superior combat capability”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The KCNA report did not explain the new missiles in any detail, only that their “operation and reaction mode is based on unique and special technology”. It also did not specify where the test had been conducted.

“The firing particularly proved that the technological features of two types of projectiles are very suitable for destroying various aerial targets,” KCNA said.

Photos released by KCNA showed air defence missiles soaring into the sky and the flash of the purported interception of an incoming projectile.

Kim is pictured listening to a briefing by a military official, a pair of binoculars sitting next to him on his desk.

The North Korean leader separately communicated an “important task” for the defence science sector to carry out before a key party meeting, the report added.

South Korea’s military said it had fired warning shots at several North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the heavily militarised border separating the two countries earlier in the week.

UN Command put the number of North Korean troops that crossed the border on Tuesday at 30, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

Pyongyang state media quoted Army Lieutenant General Ko Jong Chol as saying the incident was a “premeditated and deliberate provocation”.

“This is a very serious prelude that would inevitably drive the situation in the southern border area where a huge number of forces are stationing in confrontation with each other to the uncontrollable phase,” Ko said.

Ukraine lesson

Analysts say Pyongyang appears to be accelerating the development of air defence missiles aimed at countering drones, citing the KCNA report that specifically mentioned “drones and cruise missiles”.

“The North is bolstering air defence missiles against low-altitude flying drones and cruise missiles,” said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

The development of such air defence missiles attests to “Pyongyang’s recognition of the necessity to enhance

its capabilities… based on lessons it learned” fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, he added.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 — primarily to the Kursk region — along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.

New South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust”, but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2025

Israeli strikes have hit the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in retaliation for Houthi missiles fired towards Israel, with Houthi health officials saying the attack had killed six people.

The strikes on Sunday were the latest in over a year of direct attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and Houthi militants in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military said the targets included a military compound housing the presidential palace, two power plants and a fuel storage site. The strikes killed six people and injured 86 in a final toll, a Houthi health ministry spokesperson said on X.

The Israeli military said: “The strikes were conducted in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians, including the launching of surface-to-surface missiles and UAVs toward Israeli territory in recent days.”

On Friday, the Houthis said they had fired a ballistic missile towards Israel in their latest attack, which they said was in support of Palestinians in Gaza. An Israeli air force official said on Sunday the missile most likely carried several submunitions “intended to be detonated upon impact”.

“This is the first time that this kind of missile has been launched from Yemen,” the official said.

Since Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

They have also frequently fired missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port.

Abdul Qader al-Murtada, a senior Houthi official, said on Sunday the Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s population, would continue to act in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

“(Israel) must know that we will not abandon our brothers in Gaza, whatever the sacrifices,” he said on X.

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

Moscow has accused Kyiv of launching dozens of drone attacks, including one that sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant, as Ukrainians marked 34 years since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union.

The drone attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant in western Russia, 37 miles (60km) from the border with Ukraine, caused damage to an auxiliary transformer and forced a 50% reduction in the operating capacity of a reactor, Russian authorities said. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the alleged attack.

The fire sparked by the drone, which was shot down, had been extinguished and there were no casualties or increased radiation levels, the plant said on Sunday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, reported that radiation levels were “normal” near the Kursk plant. The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the risks of fighting near nuclear plants after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia’s defence ministry said at least 95 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted across more than a dozen Russian regions on Sunday, when Ukraine celebrated its 1991 declaration of independence.

Map showing location of drone strikes across Russia

Ukrainian drones were also shot down over areas far from the frontline, including St Petersburg in the north-west. Firefighters responded to a blaze at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, home to a large fuel export terminal. The regional governor said approximately 10 Ukrainian drones were shot down, and debris had ignited the fire.

Ukraine’s outgunned army has relied heavily on drones to respond to Russia’s invasion, notably targeting oil infrastructure to hit one of the main sources of Moscow’s revenues for funding the war.

Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia had attacked with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down.

A Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in Dnipropetrovsk, the eastern region’s governor said.

Russia has recently claimed new advances in the war, including taking two villages in the eastern Donetsk region on Saturday.

The Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Sunday that Kyiv’s forces had reclaimed three other villages in Donetsk, which has emerged as the focal point for peace talks.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the country’s independence: “This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored.”

He added: “Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”

Zelenskyy said that meeting his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, would be “the most effective way forward” amid stalled diplomatic attempts to end the war.

He said the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine once the war ended would be “important” as Kyiv sought to work on potential security guarantees with its allies.

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on a visit to Kyiv on Sunday, said it was not “the choice of Russia how the future sovereignty, independence, liberty of Ukraine is guaranteed”.

The US special envoy Keith Kellogg also attended the independence day celebrations, during which the Ukrainian president awarded him the country’s order of merit.

Zelenskyy, asked about reports that the US had revoked permission for strikes deep in Russia while Donald Trump sought to mediate a peace deal with Putin, said Ukraine had lately been using its own weapons to hit Russia and did not consult Washington over this.

Also on Sunday, Ukraine and Russia said they had each sent back 146 prisoners of war and civilians in the latest of a series of swaps that remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the countries.

Russia now controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

Putin has repeatedly rebuffed calls from Ukraine and the west for an immediate ceasefire.

The fighting has forced millions of people to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across eastern and southern Ukraine.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

PA Media

Israel struck Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Sunday, killing at least two people, according to the country’s Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel throughout the Gaza conflict.

AFP images showed a large fireball lighting up the skies over the rebel-held Yemeni capital, leaving behind a column of thick, black smoke.

The Houthis’ health ministry reported “two martyrs and 35 wounded” in the Israeli raid.

A Houthi security source told AFP that the air raid targeted a municipal building in central Sanaa, while the group’s Al-Masirah TV channel reported that the two dead were in a strike on an oil company facility in the city.

The channel said the targets also included a power station in Sanaa’s south that was previously hit last Sunday.

The Israeli army said it had targeted Houthi military sites in Sanaa, including areas near the presidential palace, two power plants and a fuel storage facility.

“The strikes were conducted in response to repeated attacks by the Houthi terrorist regime against the State of Israel and its civilians,” the military said in a statement.

Late on Friday, the Houthis fired a missile that Israeli authorities said had “most likely fragmented in mid-air”.

Since October 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians. Most of the Houthi attacks have been intercepted, but they have prompted retaliatory Israeli air strikes on rebel targets in Yemen.

On August 17, Israel said it targeted an energy infrastructure site in Sanaa linked to the Houthis, with Al-Masirah reporting at the time the capital’s Haziz power station was hit. The latest Israeli statement said the Haziz facility was targeted again on Sunday.

A photographer working with AFP reported significant damage after the August 17 strike.

Beyond attacks on Israel itself, the Houthis have also targeted ships they say are linked to Tel Aviv in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden off Yemen.

The group broadened its campaign to target ships tied to the United States and Britain after the two countries began military strikes aimed at securing the waterway in January 2024.

In May, the rebels cemented a ceasefire with the United States that ended weeks of intense US strikes, but vowed to continue targeting Israeli ships.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier this month that the Houthis would “pay with compound interest for every attempt to fire at Israel”.