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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "51 martyrs (including 1 who was recovered) and 113 injured arrived at Gaza hospitals during the past 24 hours."
– "The toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 52,365 martyrs and 117,905 injured since 7 October 2023."
– "The toll since 18 March 2025 has reached 2,273 martyrs and 5,864 injured."
BREAKING | A factory warehouse in Isfahan, Iran, exploded killing at least 3 people in an initial death toll.
(ILNA)
❗️Israel targets the Al-Attara area in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.
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⭕️ Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer says Israel's war on Gaza to last another year
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said on Monday that Israel’s brutal war on Gaza is expected to end within a year—marking the first time a high-ranking Israeli official has offered a projected end date.
Until now, officials have only discussed the potential duration of the conflict without suggesting when it might end.
Speaking at a Jewish News Syndicate conference in Jerusalem, Dermer stated that Israel is in the “backstretch” of its fight against Hamas, emphasizing that “we need to get to the homestretch, and we need to finish this war by winning this war.”
❗️Local sources in Syria report that armed clashes broke out overnight in the towns of Jaramana and Sahnaya between armed factions affiliated with Syria's security forces and members of the Druze community.
The violence was reportedly triggered by a leaked voice note in which Druze leader Marwan Kiwan allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammad—an accusation he has denied. Additionally, an initial investigation by the Syrian interior ministry showed that Kiwan was not responsible for the recording.
Following the leak, demonstrations also erupted in Damascus and Homs, with many taking to the streets and social media to call for violence against the Druze community in Syria.
❗️Al Jazeera's correspondent:
"11 martyrs in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza since dawn today."
❗️Israeli occupation forces arrested journalist Ali Samoudi after storming his home in Jenin, West Bank, at dawn today.
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Is the India-Pakistan conflict the latest step in Trump's war creep toward China?
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❗️Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar announced today that he will resign on 15 June, following tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who had been calling for his dismissal.
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⭕️ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is gravely concerned by reports of attacks on a detention center housing African migrants in Yemen, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said today.
"Strikes pose a growing risk to the civilian population in Yemen," he stated. "We continue to call on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians."
❗️Highlights from Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem's latest speech (2/2):
– "The third priority is state-building, and our entire path is one of supporting the construction of the state."
– "No violations of the ceasefire agreement have been recorded against us, while the Israeli side has breached it more than 3,000 times."
– "I say to the people of Gaza: 'Your legendary steadfastness prevents the enemy from achieving its goals, and this resilience is a prelude to victory.'"
– "The Lebanese state is responsible for following up on the ceasefire agreement by pressuring the guarantor states."
– "Yesterday's attack on the southern suburbs (Dahiye) was carried out under American cover."
– "So far, we have sheltered 50,755 people whose homes were completely destroyed and have repaired 332,000 homes — this was the responsibility of the state, and we carried it out ourselves through great personal sacrifice."
– "I offer my condolences to Iran — its leadership, government, and people — for the large number of victims in the Bandar Abbas explosion."
– "I offer my condolences to the Christian world on the death of Pope Francis."
❗️An unverified video circulating on social media shows Hafez al-Assad’s tomb in Qardaha, Syria, with some users speculating that his remains may have been exhumed.
While footage from December 2024 showed the tomb set on fire by HTS militants, the latest video appears to show further desecration of the site.
WATCH | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expresses strong support for Pakistan and its people, urging de-escalation between Pakistan and India to prevent tensions from escalating to a "grim level."
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⭕️ Global military spending sees largest increase in 2024 since Cold War ended
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported today that global military spending reached $2.7 trillion in 2024, marking the largest increase since the Cold War's end, with particularly significant hikes in Europe and West Asia.
Israel experienced the most significant increase in military spending, with its share of GDP ranking second highest, following only Ukraine.
Overall, military budgets in West Asia surged by 15% from 2023, reaching an estimated $243 billion, the report noted.
❗️Iran's Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Behzad Akbari, announced today that a major and complex cyber attack on the country's infrastructure was detected yesterday, and preventive measures were successfully implemented.
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⭕️ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Rome on Tuesday for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The leaders will discuss the wars in Ukraine and West Asia ahead of a summit expected to produce agreements on energy, defense, and other sectors. Key topics include migration and collaboration on unmanned aerial systems. The two nations will also enhance cooperation in transport, infrastructure, space, and sport, as they prepare to co-host Euro 2032.
Bilateral trade reached $32.2 billion in 2024, making Italy Turkiye’s second-largest European trading partner.
(AFP)
❗️Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on X:
"I concluded my diplomatic visit to the United States, on Capitol Hill, in important meetings with a number of senior members of Congress. They expressed to me their full support for the State of Israel.
Between meetings, several pro-Palestinian protesters began shouting pro-Hamas and Gaza slogans at me. I responded by saying that they were supporting the murderers, just like on 9/11 - we will defeat them!"
Deadly clashes erupt between Druze fighters, Syrian security forces
Calls for sectarian violence flooded social media after a Druze cleric was accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad
US, Israel led record-breaking surge in military spending in 2024
Israel boosted its military spending by 65 percent, reaching 8.8 percent of its GDP, to finance its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
⭕️ A UN panel overseeing sanctions on Sudan is probing how mortar rounds originally exported from Bulgaria to the United Arab Emirates ended up in the hands of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
The mortar rounds, seized in November in Sudan’s North Darfur region, had serial numbers matching those that Bulgaria reported exporting to the UAE in 2019.
Bulgaria’s foreign affairs ministry informed Reuters that it had not received any request for permission to re-export the munitions to another country.
"We adamantly declare that the Bulgarian competent authority has not issued an export license for defense-related products to Sudan," the ministry stated.
⭕️ French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the UN Security Council that France will reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if the nuclear talks fail to reach an agreement.
"It goes without saying that when the Iranian nuclear deal expires in a few weeks, if European security interests are not guaranteed, we will not hesitate for a single second to reapply all the sanctions that were lifted 10 years ago."
❗️BREAKING | US warplanes launch two airstrikes east of the capital, Sanaa, Yemen.
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BREAKING | US warplanes bomb Al-Mahader in the Sahar district of Saada Governorate, Yemen.
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❗️US Navy announces that the USS Truman aircraft carrier, currently deployed in the Red Sea, lost an F-18 fighter jet.
"The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft," it said.
The Navy also reports that one sailor was injured as a result of the incident.
UK firm supplies engines for Israel's fleet of 'killer drones'
British arms manufacturers are exploiting legal loopholes to continue support for Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza
❗️Highlights from Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem's latest speech (1/2):
– "The first priority is to stop the Israeli aggression, ensure the withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and secure the release of captives."
– "The second priority is reconstruction, and the government has been severely delayed in reconstruction — this is our duty."
– "It is the state's right to assert its authority, but it is also its duty to protect the citizens. The state cannot take everything without doing anything. I tell them: 'Empower yourselves by intensifying your communications.'"
– "Some officials tell envoys that they are ready to restrict weapons while the other side has not fulfilled its obligations."
– "America has interests in Lebanon, and it must understand that its interests cannot be realized without Lebanon’s stability."
– "Israel seeks to dominate Lebanon, establish settlements, impose resettlement, and weaken the country — and so does America.
India–Pakistan standoff: Who is fanning nuclear flames?
Amid escalating tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, a deadly attack by unknown forces in Kashmir has sparked a dangerous chain of events, drawing in global powers and pushing the region closer to the brink of war – raising questions about who stands to gain from the conflict.
By F.M. Shakil
Saudi Arabia, Qatar pledge $15m to eliminate Syria's World Bank debt
The new Syrian government is seeking to open the country to international lenders and impose austerity measures such as slashing subsidies and mass public sector layoffs
UPDATE | The death toll from the Shahid Rajaee Port explosion in south Iran's Bandar Abbas has risen to at least 65 according to Iranian state media.
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❗️Soldiers from Israel's Givati Brigade filmed themselves throwing grenades at tents set up in the courtyard of a UN school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
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