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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
⭕️ Jonatan Urich, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, is now considered the main suspect in the 'Qatargate' scandal after reports by Channel 12 and Channel 13 revealed he received payments from Qatar shortly after Israel's brutal war on Gaza began.
Urich initially denied involvement but later admitted to assisting with Qatar’s 2022 World Cup. According to Channel 13, police possess documents, messages, and bank records confirming the payments.
⭕️ Citing US officials, NBC reported that the war against Yemen has cost the United States over $1 billion since March. The report suggests the US administration was actively seeking an exit strategy.
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BREAKING | The Israeli army announces that its 'combat operations' in Rafah, southern Gaza, are now concentrated in the Jenina neighborhood, stating that "it is the last location where combat against terrorists is taking place in Hamas’ Rafah Brigade area."
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❗️Israeli gunboats opened fire on Gazan fishermen this morning, killing two and injuring others near the shore.
Israel’s blockade by land, air, and sea continues to starve Gaza’s population. As residents turn to sea turtles and marine life for survival, they are met with point-blank fire from Israel.
❗️Tulkarem Media Committee: “The Israeli occupation continues its assault on Tulkarem and its refugee camps for the 104th day (91st in Nour Shams) marked by intensified raids, demolitions, and forced evacuations.”
Key updates:
– New evacuation orders issued for homes near Tulkarem camp, including Abu Safieh and Abu Aql residences.
– Explosions, gunfire, and drone activity reported overnight.
– Demolitions intensified in Nour Shams neighborhoods: Al-Manshiyah, Al-Maslak, Al-Jami’, Al-Iyada, Al-Shuhada.
– Plan underway to demolish 106 structures in both camps.
– Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali detained; surveillance cameras destroyed near Dhannaba schools.
– 13 killed, including a child and two women (one 8 months pregnant); dozens injured and arrested.
– Over 25,000 displaced; 400+ homes destroyed, 2,573 damaged; camps sealed off and isolated.
❗️On the occasion of National Workers’ Week, Imam Khamenei met with Iranian laborers on 10 May at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah. He condemned global efforts to distract attention from Gaza and stressed that the Palestinian cause must remain a core priority for the Muslim world. Key points from the speech:
– Biased global policies are attempting to erase Palestine from public focus. Muslim nations must not be swayed by rumors or distractions.
– Minds must not be diverted from the Palestinian cause.
– The Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza and Palestine cannot be ignored.
– The world must take a firm stand against these atrocities.
⭕️ The US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) plans to use private security at aid sites—a move critics say undermines core humanitarian principles.
International law requires aid to be neutral, civilian-led, and independent. Militarizing relief violates these standards.
Under Article 59 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel must allow impartial aid into Gaza—but with hundreds of trucks still blocked, and GHF’s lack of independence, those obligations remain unmet.
⭕️ Over 600 health workers have accused the BBC of “censorship by omission” after it delayed airing Gaza: Medics Under Fire, a documentary about doctors in Gaza.
The film, ready since February, was pulled following backlash over another BBC documentary narrated by a 13-year-old whose father works in Gaza’s administration.
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "23 martyrs and 124 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours."
– "The death toll and injuries since 18 March 2025 has reached 2,701 martyrs and 7,432 injuries."
BREAKING | Israel bombs a house in Nour Shams Camp, Tulkarem, occupied West Bank.
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⭕️ United Arab Emirates declines Israeli request to fund new aid initiative for Gaza
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer’s aide, Moran Stav, traveled to the UAE on Thursday to seek support from Emirati Minister for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy. However, she told the Israeli delegation that the UAE could not support the plan in its current form, as it fails to adequately address Gaza’s needs. The official noted that the UAE’s stance could shift if the plan is revised to meet urgent needs.
(Times of Israel)
❗️Quds Brigades mourns Nour Abdul Karim al-Baytawi, commander of the Jenin Brigade, and fighter Hekmat Abdul Nabi, who were assassinated in an Israeli airstrike yesterday following a siege on a home in Nablus, occupied West Bank.
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⭕️ China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Geneva today, marking the start of talks between the two countries after weeks of tariff hikes surpassing 100%.
(Xinhua)
⭕️ A Qatari team has launched a new effort to locate the remains of US captives killed by Islamic State in Syria around ten years ago. The search began Wednesday, led by Qatar’s international search and rescue unit and joined by several Americans. The same unit had previously been deployed to disaster zones in Morocco and Turkiye, and has so far uncovered three sets of remains.
(Reuters)
⭕️ When asked about Israeli involvement in the US-backed aid mechanism for Gaza, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said, “The Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security because it is a war zone but they will not be involved in the distribution of the food or even bringing the food into Gaza."
(Al-Arabiya)
❗️Footage captures the moment Israeli forces blew up a residential building during today’s raid on Nour Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
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⭕️ A Tel Aviv University study found that 1 in 8 Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza is mentally unfit to return to service.
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BREAKING | US President Donald Trump announces "FULL AND IMMEDIATE" ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
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❗️Israel has killed at least 13 Palestinians in strikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources to Al Jazeera)
❗️Co-Secretary General of the Transatlantic Parliamentary Group (TAG), Walid Phares, says that a new Syria deal is circulating among US congressional staff.
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⭕️ On 9 May, 2025, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traoré stood alongside global leaders at Moscow’s Victory Day parade—not just in commemoration, but in defiance. His presence signaled Africa’s growing break from western dominance.
Traore, who rose to power after ousting France-backed elites, joins Mali and Niger in rejecting neocolonialism—military bases, the CFA franc, and foreign control—in favor of sovereign partnerships.
His visit underscores Russia’s strategic pivot to Africa, offering military, economic, and diplomatic ties without the strings of western aid.
US President Donald Trump will recognize Palestine, Gulf source tells Media Line
Regarding US President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia and his 'surprise' announcement, a Gulf diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Media Line, “President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it, and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas.”
The source further stated, “If an announcement of American recognition of the State of Palestine is made, it will be the most important declaration that will change the balance of power in the Middle East, and more countries will join the Abraham Accords.”
He also noted that while economic agreements will be part of the process, many have already been made public, and Gulf states may receive tariff exemptions.
UPDATE | Israeli media reports, citing the army, that 9 soldiers, including two senior officers, were injured by an explosive device in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City overnight.
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⭕️ Iran has agreed to a fourth round of nuclear negotiations with the United States, set to take place on Sunday in Oman, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday, noting that the talks are progressing.
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⭕️ Alon Ben David writes in Israeli newspaper Maariv that Netanyahu is increasingly isolated, sidelined by Trump who is pursuing deals in West Asia, including with Iran and Saudi Arabia, without Israel’s input.
Trump’s disregard for detail, eagerness for a quick win, and ongoing negotiations could lead to a new nuclear deal with Iran that Israel neither supports nor can influence.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu faces internal pressure as public confidence in the Gaza war wanes, with reservist turnout seen as a key referendum on his government.
❗️Israel has killed at least 10 Palestinians in strikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources)
❗️Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, was released from immigration detention on Friday after a federal judge expressed concern that holding her could suppress “the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens.”
During a hearing at the Federal District Court in Vermont, Judge William K. Sessions III ordered her immediate release, stating, “Her continued detention cannot stand.”
Ozturk was detained for 45 days after coauthoring an op-ed critical of her university’s response to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.
(NY Times)
⭕️ A new Amnesty International report says that the United Arab Emirates supplied Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with advanced Chinese-made weaponry.
"By analysing pictures and videos showing the aftermath of attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Amnesty International identified Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers. This is the first time GB50A bombs have been documented in active use in any conflict worldwide, " adding that "the weapons were almost certainly re-exported to Sudan by the UAE."
❗️Israeli media reports that at dawn, an Israeli military vehicle in the Shujaiya neighborhood was hit by an anti-tank missile, injuring several soldiers. Helicopters evacuated the wounded, and the Israeli army responded with artillery fire.
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⭕️ According to Reuters, Iran is planning to send Russia Fath-360 launchers for short-range ballistic missiles that the US says were already sent to Russia last year for use in Ukraine.
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