RAMALLAH, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that the Palestinian leadership wants a demilitarized Palestinian state, including the Gaza Strip.
His remarks came during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Abbas stressed that the priority now is an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the entry of humanitarian aid to stop “the war of starvation,” and the release of hostages and prisoners.
He emphasized the need for the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip with Arab and international support, and for a complete Israeli withdrawal.
He also called on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank, halt annexation attempts, and halt “settler terrorism,” as well as release withheld Palestinian funds.
Abbas affirmed his readiness to hold general elections, which will not include political forces and individuals who do not adhere to the program and commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization, international legitimacy, and the principle of one state, one law, and “one legitimate weapon.”
For his part, the German minister, according to WAFA, emphasized the importance for the State of Palestine to assume administration of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, as it is the only legitimate entity representing the Palestinians and it is essential for it to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza.
He emphasized his country’s readiness to provide the necessary support and contributions to the Palestinian Authority in its reconstruction efforts.
He called on Israel to release the Palestinian funds it is withholding, noting that these funds are a right of the Palestinians, and the continued withholding poses a threat to stability. ■
“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev…, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump posted on Truth Social
read more
A day after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned US President Donald Trump about Moscow’s Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities following Trump’s remark telling him to “watch his words”, the US President on Friday said he had ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines in response to what he called “highly provocative” comments by the Russian leader.
“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,” he added.
Trump did not clarify the exact location or nature—nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed—of the submarines he said were deployed in response to remarks by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The escalating exchange between the two leaders began after Trump labelled Medvedev the “failed former President of Russia.”
Trump, after announcing a new tariff on India and a penalty for its trade relations with Russia, said, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.”
He added, “Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”
Medvedev responded on Thursday via Telegram, writing, “If a few words from the former president of Russia can provoke such a jittery reaction from the mighty president of the United States, then Russia must be completely in the right.”
“We’ll keep moving forward on our own path,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Mocking Trump’s “dead economies” remark, Medvedev referenced Russia’s Cold War-era nuclear deterrent system: “As for ‘dead economies’ and ‘dangerous territory,’ maybe he should rewatch his favorite zombie movies and remember just how dangerous the so-called ‘Dead Hand,’ which doesn’t even exist, can be.”
While Trump did not specify what exactly triggered his nuclear warning, Medvedev had earlier in the week criticised Trump’s push for more sanctions, accusing him of escalating tensions.
“Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” Medvedev wrote on X.
(Reuters) – US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in regions near Russia in response to threats from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump said in a social media post that called Medvedev’s statements highly provocative.
He said he ordered the submarines moved “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
Trump and Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, traded taunts in recent days after Trump on Tuesday said Russia had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit, along with its oil buyers, with tariffs.
Moscow, which has set out its own terms for peace in Ukraine, has shown no sign that it will comply with Trump’s deadline.
Medvedev on Monday accused Trump of engaging in a “game of ultimatums” and reminded him that Russia possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to “watch his words.”
Medvedev has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s most outspoken anti-Western hawks since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. Kremlin critics deride him as an irresponsible loose cannon, though some Western diplomats say his statements illustrate the thinking in senior Kremlin policy-making circles.
It was, in the end, an off-the-cuff remark from Donald Trump that moved the dial.
“I’m not going to take a position,” the US president said when asked in Scotland about pressure on Keir Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state. “I don’t mind him taking a position. I’m looking for getting people [in Gaza] fed right now.”
Within 36 hours, after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, the prime minister had set out a plan to revive fading hopes of a two-state solution – and recognise Palestine by the end of September.
It is a historic shift in the position of the UK government and its efforts to bring peace to a region it ruled through an international mandate from 1922 to 1948. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told a UN conference on Monday that “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility”.
Under the new policy – which the Guardian understands was largely drafted by Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser – the UK will recognise Palestine unless Israel meets certain conditions including agreeing a ceasefire in Gaza and reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.
In private, senior government figures agree that this commitment can lead only to recognition. “The reality is unless the Netanyahu government falls in the next six to eight weeks or makes an 180 degree U-turn, the only outcome of this is the UK recognising the state of Palestine,” one government source said. If Israel does meet the conditions, it will have embarked on a path towards Palestinian statehood itself.
Ministers stress that recognition was a Labour manifesto promise and therefore always something they were committed to doing before the next election. But over the past fortnight, Starmer came under heavy pressure on the domestic and international stage to move faster amid a global outcry over the horrific scenes of starvation in Gaza caused by Israel’s blockade on aid.
A protester holds a placard with a message for Keir Starmer. Photograph: Rhianna Chadwick/AFP/Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, had for months been lobbying the UK and other countries to join a push for Palestinian recognition at a high-level UN conference in New York, which had been due to take place in June but was postponed by the outbreak of war between Israel and Iran.
Three weeks ago, the UN conference was rescheduled for 28 and 29 July as its joint hosts, France and Saudi Arabia, sought to keep momentum building. Four days before foreign ministers were due to gather in New York, Macron announced that France intended to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly in September.
Meanwhile in the UK, ministers’ horror at the deteriorating situation in Gaza was mounting. There was a growing realisation inside government that the prospect of a two-state solution was fast diminishing and at risk of being buried for good by Netanyahu. In an unusual intervention on 22 July, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told the Commons that he supported recognising “the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise”.
The Guardian revealed the extent of cabinet pressure that week – Streeting, Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, had all pushed for Palestinian statehood during cabinet meetings. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, believed the UK should act alongside France. An open letter on 25 July backing recognition was signed by more than 200 MPs, including more than a third of Labour ones.
That Friday evening, Starmer, who had just concluded a call with Macron and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, bid for time. Downing Street was preparing for a high-stakes summit with Trump, who was en route to Scotland on Air Force One for a private visit to his golf resorts.
“There was a concern within No 10 that we needed to make sure that any decision with regards to recognition would not have a negative impact on that US relationship,” a government source said. At about the same time, it was decided that Lammy would attend the French-Saudi UN summit, rather than send a more junior representative.
With Lammy en route to New York, Starmer and his wife, Victoria, arrived in Turnberry on Monday morning and were greeted by Trump on the steps of his resort. In an impromptu back and forth with reporters outside, Trump reacted to the suggestion that the UK could recognise Palestine with a rhetorical shrug. “That was a green light,” the same source said.
Trump and Starmer in Scotland. At the meeting, Trump for the first time acknowledged that there was ‘real starvation’ in Gaza. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Trump also, for the first time, acknowledged that there was “real starvation” in Gaza and dismissed denials from Netanyahu, urging him to let “every ounce of food” in. After the meeting, No 10 sources emphasised the significance of the president’s language.
skip past newsletter promotion
after newsletter promotion
Having returned to London from Scotland, Starmer spoke to Netanyahu before the cabinet meeting on Tuesday to inform him of his intention to recognise Palestine unless Israel met his conditions. Then Starmer and Lammy – dialling in from New York – presented ministers with the policy over the course of a 90-minute cabinet meeting before announcing it publicly.
The decision to make statehood conditional on Israel’s actions quickly came under fire from all sides. The Green party and Jeremy Corbyn attacked ministers for turning Palestinians’ right to recognition into a “bargaining chip”. Emily Damari, a British citizen who was held hostage by Hamas for more than 15 months, accused Starmer of “moral failure” and “rewarding terror”. A group of 40 peers warned that ministers risked breaking international law because Palestine has no defined borders or single functioning government.
Even government figures concede that the policy – which ministers have struggled to communicate on the airwaves – is convoluted, but they argue that the semantics won’t matter once the UK recognises a Palestinian state alongside several of its allies next month.
Crucially, Trump’s indifferent stance appears to be holding. Asked by reporters on his way home from Scotland about Starmer’s move, the president was more critical: “We never did discuss it,” he said. “You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded”. He left his criticism there.
Trump reserved harsher words for Canada’s move towards recognition – saying it “will make it very hard for us to make a trade deal” – but later conceded that it was “not a dealbreaker”. “I didn’t like what they said, but you know that’s their opinion,” he told reporters on Thursday.
The US looks increasingly isolated as more of its allies prepare to join the push in September. Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Portugal all signed a letter in support of recognition at the UN summit. A parallel joint statement from Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemning Hamas and calling on it to lay down arms is seen as highly significant.
But there is little hope for a ceasefire while Hamas torpedoes talks and the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire as Israel maintains its blockade. UK officials say that while David Cameron was foreign secretary, the aim was for 200 trucks of aid to enter Gaza through Jordan every day. They are now expecting just 150 trucks to enter this entire week.
Over the coming days, ministers’ focus will be on efforts to get more aid into the territory and transport severely injured children to the UK for treatment. Meanwhile, all eyes were on Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff as he visited US-funded aid delivery points in Gaza on Friday.
“If the government got the American president into a place where he’s at least not against [recognition], that’s quite a shift,” said Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs committee. “If we’re going to get the international community to agree to a plan, there’s no way we’re going to get anywhere without Trump’s buy-in.”
Leaders of more than 60 countries have been plunged into a fresh race to secure trade deals with the US after Donald Trump unleashed global chaos with sweeping new tariff rates.
Trump’s latest blitz triggered a wave of market jitters and fears for jobs in some of the poorest countries, as tariff rates were signed off ranging from 50% to 10%.
There was a minor reprieve that opened the door to further negotiations, after the White House said the updated tariffs would take effect on 7 August, not on Friday, the deadline previously set by Trump.
The new rates, which Trump sees as benefiting US exporters, create uncertainty for dozens of countries, including longtime US allies. They have also raised fears of inflation in the US.
Rates were set at 25% for India’s US-bound exports, 20% for Taiwan and 30% for South Africa. Switzerland faces a rate of 39%. The deadline for a tariff deal with Mexico was extended by another 90 days.
Stock markets fell on both sides of the Atlantic, after earlier falls in Asia, amid investors fears about the impact on the global economy. Europe’s Stoxx 600 was down nearly 2% while the UK’s FTSE 100 was down 0.8%. Wall Street closed lower, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 down over 1% and Nasdaq down more than 2%. The sell-off was exacerbated by weaker than expected jobs figures in the US.
Switzerland and chip powerhouse Taiwan are scrambling to negotiate deals after being hit by rates of 39% – one of the highest in the world – and 20% respectively.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, said his government was “disappointed” by Trump’s decision to increase US tariffs on Canadian goods from 25% to 35% with immediate effect – on the grounds Canada had failed to crack down on fentanyl and to increase border security.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said he would use the week to “negotiate as strongly and as hard as we can” to reduce a crippling 30% duty on goods.
Some of the world’s poorest and struggling countries were hit with punitive rates, including Syria, which faces a levy of 41%. Laos and Myanmar were hammered with rates of 40%; Libya, 30%; Iraq, 35% and Sri Lanka 20%.
Would-be EU member states were blindsided by punitive rates: Moldova 25%, Serbia 35% and Bosnia and Herzogovina30%.
There was some reprieve for Lesotho, a country that Trump described a state that “nobody has ever heard of” when halting USAid. It was facing 50% tariffs, an existential threat to its textile industry but came out on Friday with a 15% rate.
Lesotho’s$2bn economy is heavily dependent on duty-free exports to the US. The tiny African country declared a national state of disaster after the 50% rate was declared.
The Swiss franc touched its weakest in six weeks after being hit with one of the highest tariffs in the world, 39%, while the Canadian dollar was set for a seventh straight weekly loss.
Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss president, who was celebrating the country’s national day, said she had spoken to Trump on Thursday but that “no agreement could be reached”.
Pharma accounts for 50% of Swiss exports to the US, which may have been Trump’s target.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said Switzerland got the rough end of Trump’s trade war. “The Swiss rate was a shock, and the Swiss government have said that they plan to keep negotiating with the US to secure a lower levy. Chocolatiers, watchmakers and pharma companies are all under threat,” she said.
Conspicuous as the only two trading partners listed at a 10% rate were the UK, the first to get a deal with Trump, and the Falkland Islands.
The EU’s 15% tariff rate as a single all-inclusive rate was confirmed in the executive order.
In a setback to the EU, cars were left out in the executive order. They are currently being taxed at 27.5%, with many EU car companies resuming deliveries to customers in the US after last Sunday’s deal with Trump.
The new specific rates will apply seven days after the date of the executive order, starting on 8 August. For goods already in transit or warehoused for consumption before 8 August, the previous tariff rate (10% + MFN rate) will apply until 5 October 2025.
Pharmaceuticals were conspicuous by their absence, given the White House said it had agreed a 15% rate on Monday, hours after Trump sealed the deal with the EU at his Scottish golf course.
Pharma chiefs, who have been in Trump’s crosshairs for months, were warned to reduce their prices to US patients by the US president. If they refused to, the federal government would “deploy every tool” in its arsenal to protect American families, the White House said.
Brazil’s tariff rate was set at 10%, but a previous order placed a 40% tariff on to punish the country for prosecuting its former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Cambodia appeared to be close to reaching a deal after it said it would drop all tariffs on imports from the US and order up to 20 Boeing 737s.
Israeli forces have killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid outside U.S.-backed food distribution points, the U.N.’s rights office said on Friday (August 1, 2025), as a special envoy from Washington was due to inspect the sites.
The U.N.’s rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 people had been killed seeking aid in Gaza since May 27 — 105 of them in the past two days.
“Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,” the office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near the U.S.-backed food sites and 514 along routes used by U.N. and aid agency convoys.
“These victims, the majority of whom appear to be young men and boys, are not just numbers,” the office said.
“Each person killed or injured had been desperately struggling for survival, not only for themselves, but also for their families and dependents,” they said.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said 11 people were killed by Israeli fire and air strikes on Friday (August 1, 2025), including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The GHF largely sidelined the longstanding U.N.-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages of food and other essentials.
‘Beyond imagination’
In its report on the GHF centres on Friday (August 1, 2025), Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of illegally using starvation as a weapon of war.
“Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch.
“U.S.-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”
Responding to the report, the military said the GHF worked independently, but that Israeli soldiers operated “in proximity to the new distribution areas in order to enable the orderly delivery of food”.
It accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution and said that it was conducting a review of the reported deaths, adding it worked to “minimize, as much as possible, any friction between the civilian population” and its forces.
After arriving in Israel on Thursday (July 31, 2025), Steve Witkoff held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to resolve the almost 22-month-old war, feed desperate civilians and free the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants.
Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and free the captives, but is under international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and threatened many more with famine.
Following his discussions with Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Netanyahu met Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, another staunch Israeli ally, who nonetheless delivered a blunt message.
“The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination,” Mr. Wadephul told reporters after the meeting, urging the government “to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality”.
“I have the impression that this has been understood today,” he added.
Hostage video
On Thursday (July 31, 2025), the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza and pleading with the Israeli government to secure his release.
“Even the strongest person has a breaking point,” his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel.
“Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now,” they said.
On Friday (August 1, 2025), Mr. Wadephul also met relatives of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. According to the German foreign office, among the 49 hostages still held, a “single-digit” number are German-Israeli dual nationals
“Germany continues to do everything in our power to achieve the release of the hostages,” Mr. Wadephul said, expressing outrage at the video release.
This “horrible” footage reveals “once again the utter depravity of the kidnappers,” he said.
The Hamas-led October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 people seized, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.
The Israeli offensive, nearing its 23rd month, has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.
This week U.N. aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.
France has suspended its programme for receiving Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
The freeze will be in place while authorities investigate a Palestinian student in France who has been accused of making antisemitic remarks online, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said.
The 25-year-old woman was on a scholarship in northern France’s city of Lille and will have to leave the country after her university withdrew her accreditation.
France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out following the 7 October 2023 attacks.
The woman, who arrived in France in July, was due to start attending classes at Sciences Po Lille university in the autumn.
She has since been deregistered, the university has said.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X that he had requested for the account to be closed, legal action to be taken. “Hamas propagandists have no place in our country,” he added.
Palestinians already in France through this scheme will be “subject to a new check” following “failures that brought this young woman here”, Mr Barrot added.
He said that security checks carried out by state services and Israeli authorities did not detect these “unacceptable and concerning remarks”.
Sciences Po Lille university confirmed the woman’s comments to AFP and told the news agency that the posts were “in direct contradiction with the values upheld” by the institution.
The woman was part of a group evacuated from Gaza as part of a programme run by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the director of Sciences Po Lille told French newspaper Libération.
