Category: 2. World

Palestinians in northern Gaza reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment in weeks after the military issued mass evacuation orders on Monday, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration.

A day after US President Donald Trump urged an end to the 20-month-old conflict, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals.

But on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, there was no sign of fighting letting up.

“Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City. “In the news, we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground, we see death, and we hear explosions.”

Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of the Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said.

At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, health authorities said, including 10 people killed in Zeitoun.

The Israeli military said it struck militant targets in northern Gaza, including command and control centres, after taking steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.

The heavy bombardment followed new evacuation orders to vast areas in the north, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction.

The military ordered people there to head south, saying that it planned to fight Hamas fighters operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City.

Later on Monday, health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least 13 people had been killed southwest of Gaza City, bringing Monday’s death toll to at least 38.

Medics said most of the casualties were hit by gunfire, but residents also reported an airstrike. There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on the incident.

Next steps

A day after Trump called to “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back”, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu’s, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, an Israeli official said.

In Israel, Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza.

On Friday, Israel’s military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu said new opportunities had opened up for recovering the hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks.

A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the conflict and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the offensive only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel has agreed to a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage deal, and put the onus on Hamas.

“Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem.

The US has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and the release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages as part of a deal that guarantees the end of the conflict.

The conflict began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel’s single deadliest day.

Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, has displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.

More than 80 per cent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under displacement orders, according to the United Nations.

Pressure mounts on Netanyahu to end Gaza campaign

Netanyahu’s rise in popularity during the war with Iran may already be fading, as pressure mounts at home to end the conflict in Gaza.

Netanyahu claimed victory over the Islamic Republic in the 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire last week, after Trump ordered US warplanes to join in bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

Political scientist Assaf Meydani, in a column on Israeli website Ynet on Saturday, said that alongside a “victory for both Trump and Netanyahu” in Iran, the Israeli leader “will have to explain a series of failures”.

Most notable among them, according to Meydani, is Netanyahu’s “failure to end the campaign in Gaza”.

“Hamas, though battered, has not been destroyed, and ‘Swords of Iron’ has become prolonged attrition,” Meydani said, using Israel’s name for its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“The people of Israel are strong, but tensions are simmering.”

Israelis fearful of the threat of a nuclear Iran rallied behind Netanyahu as he led the campaign against Israel’s longtime rival. Now that the war is over, domestic and international pressure has resumed to secure an end to the fighting in Gaza.

A public opinion poll published by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster the day after the ceasefire with Iran suggested a rise in support for Netanyahu.

But while his approval ratings went up compared to previous polls, 52pc of respondents in the Kan survey still said they wanted Netanyahu — Israel’s longest-serving prime minister — out of office.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they wanted the Gaza campaign to end, compared to 22pc who favoured continuing the fighting.

Israeli newspaper Maariv said on Friday that its polling showed a “surge” for Netanyahu immediately after the ceasefire with Iran had “evaporated almost entirely” within days.

In the coastal hub of Tel Aviv on Saturday, thousands of people gathered to demand a ceasefire deal that would bring home the dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.

Liri Albag, who was released from captivity in January under a short-lived truce, told the crowd that Netanyahu and Trump “made brave decisions on Iran. Now make the brave decision to end the war in Gaza and bring [the hostages] home”.

Netanyahu has also faced renewed pressure from one of his political rivals, former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

Criticising the Netanyahu government’s “inability to decide” on Gaza, Bennett called for “a comprehensive agreement that includes the release of all the hostages” to end “the terrible impasse and political confusion”.

“Netanyahu must step down. He has been in power for 20 years … that’s far too long,” Bennett told Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview that aired on Saturday.

“The people want change, they want calm,” added Bennett, who is widely expected to run for office again in the next elections, scheduled for late 2026.

Gil Dickman, a prominent activist demanding action by Israel to secure the release of the hostages, said that while “the operation in Iran was a success”, Netanyahu had “failed” to “make people forget his responsibility” for failing to prevent Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack.

Dickman, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in captivity and her body retrieved from Gaza in August, told AFP that Netanyahu’s “terrible failures and the abandonment of the hostages will not be forgotten”.

Expressing “cautious optimism” after Trump’s recent remarks, Dickman said there was “apparently an opportunity to end the war”.

“We couldn’t save my cousin, but we can still save those who are still alive in Gaza. “

An explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory in Telangana, India, have killed at least 12 people and injured several others

NEW DELHI — An explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory in India’s southern state of Telangana killed at least 12 people and injured several others, authorities said Monday.

The fire department recovered the charred bodies of 10 workers in an industrial area about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the state capital Hyderabad (31 miles), the state’s fire services director G.V. Narayana Rao told The Associated Press.

Two other workers succumbed to burns and were pronounced dead at a hospital, Rao said, adding that debris of the gutted pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries was being removed to find out if any more workers were trapped. Nearly three dozen injured workers were admitted to hospitals. he said.

“It was an explosion in a spray dryer unit of the factory, which is used to process raw material into fine powder for making drugs,” Rao said.

India is home to some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, playing a pivotal role in the global supply of generic medicines and vaccines. The country’s robust manufacturing and cost-effective production have made it a hub for pharma giants.

Industrial accidents, particularly involving chemical reactors, aren’t uncommon in such factories, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols and regulatory oversight in a sector critical to public health.

Sigachi Industries Limited is an Indian company dealing with active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and vitamin-mineral blends, according to the company’s website. It has five manufacturing facilities across India, and also subsidiaries in the U.S and the United Arab Emirates.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post expressed his anguish over the loss of lives and announced financial support of 200,000 Indian rupees ($2,333) each to the next of kin.

António Guterres issued his clarion call noting that sustainable development powered by international cooperation, is now facing “massive headwinds.”

Addressing the opening session of the 4^th Financing for Development Conference (FFD4) in baking hot Sevilla, Spain – basking in record high June temperatures – the Secretary-General noted multilateralism itself is also feeling the heat, while trust between nations and institutions fray.

The world is on fire, shaken by inequalities, climate chaos and raging conflicts: “Financing is the engine of development and right now, this engine is sputtering,” he told the conference, attended by close to 60 world leaders, over 150 nations and around 15,000 delegates.

“As we meet, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – our global promise to transform our world for a better, fairer future – is in danger.”

Some two-thirds of the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets agreed in 2015 are significantly off track – hence the staggering $4 trillion investment needed to turn it around.

“We are here in Sevilla to change course. To repair and rev up the engine of development to accelerate investment at the scale and speed required,” said Mr. Guterres.

He described the outcome known as the Sevilla Commitment adopted on Monday – without the United States which pulled out of the process earlier this month – as a “global promise” to low-income nations to lift them up the development ladder.

The UN chief outlined three key action areas:

• First, get resources flowing fast at home to spur sustainable growth, and for richer countries to honour their pledge under the accord to double aid to poorer countries to boost development. This includes tripling the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks and innovative solutions to unlock private cash.
• Second, fix the “unsustainable, unfair and unaffordable” global debt system. Right now, poorer countries are spending around $1.4 trillion just servicing their vast debts in the form of interest payments. Among the innovations, a new borrowers’ forum will ensure fairer debt resolution and action.
• Third, reform the global financial architecture, with major shareholders playing their part, so that it empowers every country. “We need a fairer global tax system shaped by all, not just a few.”

The current crisis of affordability and stalled development is “a crisis of people,” he continued, which leaves families hungry, children unvaccinated, and girls left out of education.

“This conference is not about charity. It’s about restoring justice and to facilitate the ability of all people to live in dignity,” said Mr. Guterres.

“This conference is not about money – it’s about investments in the future we wish to build together.”

A tangible and actionable’ roadmap

King Felipe of Spain spoke just ahead of the official opening, telling delegates the multicultural city of Sevilla welcomes the world “with open arms”.

He said a new roadmap would emerge that is based on what is “concrete and tangible and actionable”.

The conference must be a success, because cooperation is one of our fundamental pillars of the multilateral world and “the ultimate embodiment of the values that sustain it – especially at this particular point in history where many certainties are melting away and many fears and uncertainties are taking shape.”

‘Our time is now’

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told delegates “our time is now and our place is here.” Millions of lives will depend on the choices made in Sevilla and going forward.

We must choose “ambition over paralysis, solidarity over indifference and courage over convenience,” he continued, adding that the eyes of world are on this hall, to see what we are ready to do together and in the face of this historic challenge we must prove our worth.”

Sevilla was “the New York of the 16^th century” in diplomatic terms he told delegates – and a cradle of globalism – we must all do that legacy justice today.

‘Sevilla is not an end point’

Secretary-General of the conference, Li Junhua – who’s in charge of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) – said the week in Sevilla is key moment to mobilise the resources necessary to build a just, inclusive and sustainable future.

The UN effort to finance development has been anchored in multilateralism and solidarity – but today, the whole framework is under “profound stress.”

He said never has sustainable development been so tested but the pact made in Sevilla puts people back at the centre.

“Sevilla is not an end point, it is a launch pad for a new era of implementation, accountability and solidarity.” UNDESA is ready to support all nations to translate the commitment into international action, he underscored.

President of the UN General Assembly Philémon Yang told delegates above all, “we need leadership to guide the world forward into a brighter more prosperous future for everyone, everywhere.”

He said the Sevilla framework will renew global partnership for the decade ahead and provide a focus on a debt burden which is crippling the developing world.

President of the UN Economic and Social Council Bob Rae said trust between countries had to be strengthened, because its absence “creates chaos.”

“Most of all I want to congratulate states for bringing forward the ambition, deepening engagement between financial institutions.”

The week represents a real commitment to action, he said.

Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, told delegates ending poverty remains his key mission and the surge in population underway in developing countries requires resources “at an unprecedented scale and pace.”

He said everyone knew that governments, philanthropies and institutions are unable to meet every projection or promise – which is why the private sector is essential to the Sevilla Agreement so that capital can flow.

Mr. Banga added that the bank’s reforms of recent years are about being a better partner to the private sector and government clients.

Improving response time, boosting capital and systems of growth are key – but much more is needed to deliver for the next generation.

Exempt least-developed from punishing tariffs: WTO

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of World Trade Organization said the conference was gathering at a time of unprecedented difficulty.

After decades of positive contributions, the global trading system has now been “severely disrupted” leaving exports so hampered by unilateral tariff measures and policy uncertainty that the WTO has sharply downgraded growth forecasts.

Further tariff barriers on 9 July – the deadline set by the US administration – will only make the contraction in global trade worse.

She reminded that the WTO has argued for the least developed nations and Africa overall to be exempted from the tariffs, “so we can better integrate them into the world trading system, not further exclude them.”

She said the Sevilla Agreement rightly recognises international trade as an engine of development.

“We therefore need to bolster stability and predictability in global trade,” through action at many levels that can grow national resources through exports, she told delegates.

IMF calls for broader tax base

Nigel Clarke, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), called for broadening the tax base, building strong financial management systems, coordinating support and addressing debt more sustainably.

“Many countries continue to struggle with high interest costs,” he said, calling on the international community to improve debt restructuring processes.  

Through its capacity development, the Fund is equipping members to chart their own paths and is also providing financial support when they need it most, he added.

Firefighters are battling wildfires for the second day in Turkiye’s western province of Izmir, according to local authorities and media reports.

The blaze in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir was fanned overnight by winds reaching 40-50kmph (25-30mph), and four villages and two neighbourhoods had been evacuated, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on Monday.

Helicopters, fire-extinguishing aircraft and other vehicles, and more than 1,000 people were trying to extinguish the fires, he told reporters in Izmir.

Turkiye’s coastal regions have been ravaged by wildfires in recent years as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists relate to climate change.