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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
Putin thanks North Korean troops for assistance in retaking Kursk from Ukraine
Pyongyang acknowledged for the first time its deployment of troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine
❗️The Israeli military launches heavy airstrikes on residential areas in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
At least 36 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza since dawn today, 30 of them in Gaza City and the northern part of the strip.
⭕️ UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy will host Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in London today, marking the first official visit by a PA Prime Minister to the UK since 2021.
The UK government said the invitation to Prime Minister Mustafa reflects "the UK’s steadfast support for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people," and its aim to strengthen bilateral ties.
During the visit, the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Mustafa will sign a Memorandum of Understanding stressing that the PA is the sole legitimate governing authority in the occupied West Bank, and emphasizing the need to unify Gaza and the West Bank under its leadership.
BREAKING | At least 10 Palestinians, including 4 children, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.
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❗️Elderly Palestinian prisoner Rashid Muhammad Ibrahim al-Sarfandi, from the city of Jericho, has been released after 16 months of detention in Israeli prisons.
The amount of weight he appears to have lost offers just a glimpse into the harsh conditions Palestinian prisoners are forced to endure.
❗️Turkiye has denied claims made in a Haaretz report that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is pressuring Hamas to make concessions on ceasefire talks with Israel.
The claim that Fidan pressured Hamas into concessions during his meeting with Hamas officials in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday "does not reflect the truth," said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli.
On Sunday, a Hamas delegation headed by Mohammad Darwish met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for the third time in a week. They discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire and updated Fidan on the results of their recent meeting in Cairo, while also discussing the ongoing starvation war and Turkish humanitarian efforts.
Following the meeting, Fidan said the talks with Hamas show that "the movement will be more willing to accept an agreement that goes beyond a simple ceasefire and aims for a permanent resolution to the crisis with Israel."
WATCH | The Quds Brigades release a video addressed to US President Donald Trump with the message:
"Only a serious deal will return your prisoners
'This is the only solution'"
⭕️ CEVA Logistics to Acquire Turkiye’s Borusan Tedarik for $440m
CEVA Logistics, the logistics arm of France’s CMA CGM Group, announced a $440 million deal to acquire Turkish logistics provider Borusan Tedarik Zinciri Cozumleri ve Teknoloji.
Under the binding agreement, CEVA will take full ownership, expanding its footprint in Turkiye and the region.
(Turkiye Today)
UAE detains Syrian Defense Ministry official at Dubai airport
Buwaydani is the head of Jaish al-Islam, a faction in Syria’s new military that has committed many war crimes, including using civilians as human shields
❗️Lebanese President Joseph Aoun:
– "The Israeli withdrawal from the five hills [it occupies in southern Lebanon] is necessary to expedite the Lebanese Army's deployment to the border."
– "Restricting arms to the Lebanese state is a decision that has been made, and a return to the language of war is not permissible."
– "A Lebanese-Syrian committee will be formed to address outstanding issues, including the demarcation of land and maritime borders and the conditions of displaced persons."
⭕️ Netanyahu claims Israeli F-16s stopped Iranian forces from assisting Bashar al-Assad
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israeli F-16s intercepted Iranian aircraft last year that were attempting to deliver troops to assist former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the time leading up to the fall of his government.
Netanyahu said Iran “had to rescue Assad” and tried to send “one or two airborne divisions” to Damascus, but Israeli forces “stopped that” and forced the Iranian planes to “turn back.”
❗️Latest casualties in Gaza as documented by journalist Yousef Fares:
– Two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a tent sheltering displaced people in Al-Shafai refugee camp west of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.
– Three Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house northwest of Gaza City.
– Two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip.
– Seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the Al-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City.
– Ten Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a home belonging to the Abu Mahadi family near Al-Tayeb Hall, west of Jabalia camp in northern Gaza.
– 70 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across various areas of the Gaza Strip yesterday, Sunday.
⭕️ Last night, Israel committed a massacre by deliberately bombing Al-Saftawi Café on Salah al-Din Street near the Nuseirat and Al-Bureij refugee camps' entrances in central Gaza, killing at least 7 Palestinians and injuring several.
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❗️Lebanon: Al-Mayadeen correspondent in the south:
"An Israeli drone strike targeted the Majidiyeh plain near a Lebanese army post."
Syrian president condemns Kurdish calls for federalism
Kurds and other minorities in Syria are concerned Ahmad al-Sharaa is constructing an extremist religious government that excludes non-Sunnis
⭕️ A former senior Israeli military officer Dan Sharoni has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after being convicted of 67 sex offenses and privacy violations against civilians and subordinates.
The charges include indecent acts, privacy violations, computer hacking, and secretly filming dozens of female soldiers and civilians nude.
❗️An Israeli drone fired a missile at an open area in the town of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon without causing any casualties, a short while ago.
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⭕️ Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said on Monday that the Saudi startup airline would be ready to purchase Boeing aircraft originally intended for Chinese airlines if deliveries are halted due to the escalating trade war between the United States and China.
Boeing is seeking buyers for potentially dozens of planes that have been blocked from entering China because of tariffs, after repatriating a third aircraft to the US amid a delivery dispute that sparked fresh criticism of Beijing from US President Donald Trump.
(Reuters)
"This is the [ceasefire] agreement of humiliation ... where is (Lebanese President Joseph) Aoun? Having lunch in Rome?"
A woman stands next to the crater left by yesterday’s Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs and asks who will protect them from ongoing ceasefire violations.
So far, the Israeli military has breached the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon 3,028 times, killing at least 150 people.
'Full-fledged war crime': US airstrikes kill dozens of African migrants in Yemen
The US Navy has been conducting indiscriminate attacks across Yemen nearly every day for over a month
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "71 martyrs (14 of them recovered) and 153 injured arrived at Gaza hospitals during the past 24 hours."
– "The toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 52,314 martyrs and 117,792 injured since 7 October 2023."
– "The toll since 18 March 2025 has reached 2,222 martyrs and 5,751 injuries."
A devastated Palestinian mother, stranded in Qatar, must bid farewell to her son over the phone after he was killed in the Al-Saftawi Café massacre, yesterday evening.
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⭕️ Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Seraj said in an interview with Rokna News — which has now been deleted — that the explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas was “by no means accidental” and showed “clear signs of the Zionist entity’s involvement.”
He explained that “the occurrence of explosions at four different points” indicated that explosives had been planted in multiple containers.
“Chemical materials usually explode in a single location and do not cause multiple explosions at several points simultaneously,” he said, suggesting that the containers may have been contaminated “by the exporting country, during transit, or through internal agents.”
❗️Qassam Brigades field reports from Sunday, 27 April:
– Targeted an Israeli Merkava 4 tank with a Yassin 105 shell east of Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.
– Detonated an anti-personnel explosive device against a group of Israeli soldiers in the same area, causing casualties among them (killed and injured).
UPDATE | Iranian media reports that the death toll from the Shahid Rajaee Port explosion in Bandar Abbas has risen to 46.
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⭕️ Iran announces readiness to export petrochemicals to accelerate Africa’s industrial growth
Iran’s first vice president, Mohammadreza Aref, announced Tehran’s readiness to boost Africa’s industrial development through petrochemical exports, emphasizing Africa as a strategic partner rather than just a consumer market.
Speaking at the third Iran-Africa International Economic Conference, Aref said it is time for the Global South to "write its own rules," and highlighted Iran’s willingness to share expertise and collaborate on clean energy, mining, agriculture, and infrastructure projects across the continent.
⭕️ For the first time, North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia
North Korea confirmed for the first time that it sent troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine’s Kursk region, with Kim Jong-un calling them “heroes” and vowing to honor the fallen, according to KCNA. Russia praised its “Korean friends,” with Putin personally thanking Kim Jong-un and the North Korean people for their support.
Meanwhile, South Korea condemned the move as a “criminal act” violating UN resolutions.
⭕️ Overnight, the US bombed a center for illegal migrants in Saada, Yemen, killing at least 68 African migrants according to Yemeni Civil Defense, and injuring at least 47.
The center was housing 115 migrants.
Sanaa's interior ministry said the shelter, located in Saada’s reserve prison, was under the supervision of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Red Cross.
❗️Israeli army claims in a statement that the building it targeted in the southern suburb of Beirut was storing "precision missiles."
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