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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "92 martyrs and 219 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 48 hours."
– "The death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 51,157 martyrs and 116,724 injuries since 7 October 2023."
– "The death toll and injuries since 18 March 2025 has reached 1,783 martyrs and 4,683 injuries."
⭕️ Two US lawmakers, Representatives Cory Mills of Florida and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, arrived in Damascus on Friday—marking the first visit by American congressional representatives since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.
A member of the delegation said Mills met with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) on Friday evening. The two held a 90-minute discussion focused on US sanctions and Iran.
The source added that Stutzman is expected to meet with Sharaa today, despite the Syrian leader remaining under both US and UN sanctions.
When questioned about engaging with a sanctioned figure, Stutzman pointed to the Trump administration’s previous outreach to Iran and North Korea. “We shouldn’t be afraid to talk to anybody,” he said.
“There’s an opportunity here—these opportunities come around once in a lifetime,” Stutzman added. “I don’t want Syria pushed into the arms of China, or back into the arms of Russia and Iran.”
(Reuters)
⭕️ The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has granted Israel an extension to respond to South Africa's ongoing genocide case regarding Israel's 'war' on Gaza.
Originally due by 28 July, Israel now has until 12 January 2026 to submit its response to the ICJ.
WATCH | On 18 April 1996, Israel massacred over 100 Lebanese civilians taking shelter in a UN compound in the southern Lebanese village of Qana.
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UPDATE | At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
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❗️Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz:
“When I was appointed Minister of Defense, I pledged to lead two central goals: preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and winning the war.
The IDF is currently working towards a decisive victory in all arenas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are committed, together with all parties, to leading a clear line that will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
We will not allow threats of annihilation against the State of Israel.
This is our responsibility and historic role, and we will do whatever it takes to realize them.”
🇾🇪 BREAKING | Yemeni Armed Forces announces the downing of a US MQ-9 drone over Hajjah Governorate, the 20th since 7 October, 2023.
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❗️Highlights from Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem's latest speech (2/2):
– "We have options. We fear nothing. If you want to keep pushing and testing us, go ahead — you’ll see our response at the right time, which we will determine."
– "Lebanon cannot operate under American guardianship. For us, the US is evil and it sponsors Israel, the cancerous tumor that must be eradicated."
– "The primary problem in Lebanon is not the resistance’s weapons — it is the expulsion of the Israeli occupation."
– "Once Israel fulfills its commitments, Lebanon can begin discussing the remaining points of Resolution 1701."
– "The defensive strategy is about building Lebanon’s strength — how to strengthen the army and how to benefit from the resistance and its weapons."
– "The defensive strategy is not about withdrawing weapons, but about discussing diplomatic, economic, and military dimensions of a comprehensive defense policy."
– "Hezbollah has fully implemented its part of the agreement — now Israel and the Lebanese state must fulfill their obligations."
– "If the Lebanese state decides today to expel Israel by force and launch a battle, we are ready to fight at the border."
– "We hope the American-Iranian talks will reach a conclusion — that would benefit everyone."
Yemeni army targets Tel Aviv, US warships in retaliation to deadly Hodeidah attack
At least 250 Yemenis have been killed by indiscriminate US airstrikes across Yemen since mid-March
Diego Garcia: ethnically cleansed for US forever wars
As Trump threatens war on Iran, Washington weaponizes Diego Garcia – a Chagos island in the Indian Ocean built on ethnic cleansing, British colonialism, and military adventurism.
By Aidan J. Simardone
BREAKING | Israeli airstrikes on the eastern part of Gaza City.
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❗️Israeli Channel 13 quoting the commander of the 51st Battalion in the Golani Brigade:
– "The goal of our operations is to return 59 kidnapped individuals, including our battalion's fighter, Edan Alexander."
– "We are committed to fighting until victory, and we will not stop until the mission is completed."
Germany blocks Turkiye arms deal over arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu
A Turkish court has rejected an appeal for the release of the Istanbul mayor, a top opposition figure considered a rival to President Erdogan
UPDATE | Sanaa's ministry of health reports that the death toll of the US attack on Ras Issa Port in Hodeidah last night has reached 74 Yemenis.
At least 171 others were injured.
Rescue teams from the ambulance and civil defense are still identifying missing persons and searching for victims.
At least ten Palestinians, including journalist Tamer Miqdad, his daughter, and several family members, were killed last night in an Israeli airstrike on Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
The number of Palestinian journalists killed since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has risen to 213.
❗️US envoy Morgan Ortagus responded with "Yawn," on X to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem’s statement that no one would be allowed to disarm Hezbollah.
She also addressed former Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt, replying “Crack is whack, Walid,” after he told Al-Araby TV that her demands were impossible to meet.
⭕️ The US army is set to streamline its operations in Syria over the next several weeks and months, cutting its troop presence there potentially up to half, according to Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell on Friday.
"This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than a thousand US forces in the coming months," Parnell stated.
⭕️ Iran and the US are set to resume nuclear talks in Rome today. According to Iranian officials, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the Trump administration’s West Asia envoy Steve Witkoff will engage in indirect discussions, with an Omani mediator relaying messages between the two sides. This follows a first round of indirect talks held in Muscat last week, which both parties reportedly found constructive.
While Araghchi and Witkoff exchanged a brief greeting at the conclusion of the previous talks, there have been no formal direct negotiations between US and Iranian officials since 2015, during the administration of former US President Barack Obama.
⭕️ According to Reuters, citing US and Israeli sources, Israel has not ruled out a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months, despite US President Trump's said unwillingness to back such an operation.
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❗️Palestinian Center for Human Rights:
“Since the collapse of the ceasefire, 595 children have been killed in Gaza, bringing the total number of child martyrs to 18,044 since the beginning of the war.”
Iran demands 'watertight guarantees' US will not ditch new nuclear deal: Report
Eight years after Trump unilaterally abandoned the JCPOA, Tehran has said a new nuclear deal is possible if Washington makes no 'unreasonable demands'
❗️BREAKING | US warplanes launch airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
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❗️Highlights from Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem's latest speech (1/2):
– "We will not allow anyone to disarm the resistance."
– "We will confront anyone who attacks the resistance or works to disarm it, just as we confronted Israel.”
– "The ceasefire agreement applies solely to south of the Litani River, and we have fulfilled all our obligations."
– "It [the resistance] is a reaction, especially in the event that the Lebanese state is unable to protect the Lebanese people."
– "The resistance in Lebanon is a response to the occupation, which occupies land and expands to impose a new reality."
– "Israel is expansionist — it is not satisfied with occupied Palestine; it wants to take Lebanon as well."
– "After the agreement, Israel no longer had any excuse — yet it continues its daily aggressions, which have now reached 2,700 violations."
– "We are giving diplomacy a chance — but that opportunity is not open-ended."
Palestinian women, children 'charred beyond recognition' as Israeli genocide campaign intensifies across Gaza
Israel’s defense minister publicly announced recently that Tel Aviv will continue to block humanitarian aid from entering the strip
A final goodbye ...
The grieving wife of Palestinian journalist Tamer Miqdad mourns her husband and young child, killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed their home in the Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood of Jabalia, northern Gaza.
US reinforces Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria amid reports of troop withdrawal
Approximately 600 US troops have reportedly withdrawn from Syria's two largest oil fields, days after Washington's Kurdish proxy reached an agreement with Turkish-backed extremists to end clashes in the Aleppo countryside
🇾🇪 BREAKING | Yemeni Armed Forces announces that it targeted Ben Gurion Airport with a 'Zulfiqar' ballistic missile, and attacked the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson—marking the first attack on the Vinson since its arrival in the Arabian Sea.
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"We stand unwavering with Gaza against the US-Israeli escalation."
Despite the US airstrikes killing and wounding over 250 people, Yemenis filled the streets of Sanaa in a massive million-person march, showing solidarity with the resistance and Palestine.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree revealed several key operations, including the dowing a US MQ-9 drone, targeting Tel Aviv with a "Zulfiqar" ballistic missile, and military operations targeting the US aircraft carriers Truman and Vinson and US warships in the Red and Arabian Seas with a number of cruise missiles and drones.
This is the YAF's first-ever targeting of the ship USS Vinson.
❗️Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) received Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the People's Palace today in Damascus, Syria.
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❗️Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Chief David Barnea have traveled to France to meet with US Special Envoy to west Asia, Steve Witkoff.
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