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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
❗️Lebanese Presidency responds to a circulating photo of President Joseph Aoun shaking hands with Israel's top Druze cleric, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif:
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In a statement, it claimed that Aoun does not know Tarif and had never met him before. The handshake occurred spontaneously at Pope Leo XIV's inauguration at the Vatican, when an unknown Druze cleric approached the president.
The presidency accused Israeli media of deliberately distributing the photo with misleading intent, stressing that such actions do not reflect Lebanon’s official stance.
Earlier today, Israeli media circulated the image, with Israel’s public broadcaster captioning it: “A photo we don’t see every day.”
❗️Israel's Channel 13 citing a senior official:
“We are discussing the issue of ending the war, but only on our terms, which include displacement and the disarmament of Gaza. The delegation will remain in Doha as long as it sees value in being there, and if it feels there is no longer any point, it will recommend to the Prime Minister to return.”
Israel kills five journalists, over 100 civilians in one night as ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ begins in Gaza
The Israeli army has intensified attacks on hospitals as part of the new operation, which aims to displace the entire population of Gaza
⭕️ Marco Rubio confirms US supports expansion of Israel's war on Gaza
When asked during an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS whether the US supports the expansion of Israel's war on Gaza, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio replied, "We expand the destruction of Hamas, the ending of Hamas."
Responding to Margaret Brennan's comment that President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin did not want to end the war, Rubio clarified, "Yeah- no- what the president's- no, no. I think what the president is saying is he doesn't want to end the war until Hamas is defeated."
"This war could end immediately. And Israel's made that clear, it can end immediately if Hamas surrenders and gives up their weapons and demilitarizes and releases all the hostages, including the deceased ones."
❗️Since Sunday morning, Al-Manar correspondent in south Lebanon Ali Shoeib has reported a series of Israeli aerial attacks across multiple southern towns. These include drone strikes on civilian vehicles, homes, and fishing areas, as well as the use of phosphorus shells and sound bombs in Naqoura, Aita al-Shaab, Kfar Kila, Markaba, and others.
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❗️Dr. Zakaria Sinwar, a professor of modern and contemporary history at the Islamic University, and brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, was killed along with three of his sons in the bombing of his tent in Nuseirat, central Gaza, last night.
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❗️Urgent Press Statement by the Ministry of Health in Gaza:
– "After the European Gaza Hospital was rendered out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza since dawn today."
– "A state of panic and confusion prevails among patients, the wounded, and medical staff, severely hindering the provision of emergency medical care."
– "Two patients were injured while attempting to exit the hospital."
– "The siege of the hospital is preventing the arrival of the wounded, amid escalating massacres committed by the occupation in northern Gaza against civilians."
– "The occupation is intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals and force them out of service."
– "The Ministry of Health urgently appeals to all relevant parties to intervene immediately to protect medical teams, patients, and the wounded inside the hospital."
UPDATE | 35 Palestinians killed in Israel's attack on tents and the displaced in Mawasi, Khan Yunis, south Gaza.
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❗️BREAKING | Sirens sound in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas due to launches from Yemen.
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❗️An estimated 600,000 people marched through central London to Downing Street today to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba and protest the thnic cleansing of Palestine.
(Photo: Middle East Eye)
Trump denies rift with Netanyahu, says PM 'fought hard and bravely'
The US president praised the work of the wanted premier as Israeli troops marched into Gaza, killing hundreds in their wake
❗️Israel has killed at least 54 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources to Al Jazeera)
⭕️ Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called on Israel to halt its brutal war on Gaza, stating that the people of Gaza are also victims of Hamas and should be left in peace.
"We have to tell the Israeli government 'that's enough'," Tajani said in a statement.
"We no longer want to see the Palestinian population suffer. Stop the attacks, let's secure a ceasefire, free the hostages, but leave in peace a people who are victims of Hamas," he added.
Israel expands north Gaza invasion killing over 150 in under 24 hours
The bloody assault escalated just as US President Trump departed West Asia to return to the US following meetings with Gulf leaders
❗️Qassam Brigades:
“We engaged Zionist forces who had taken cover inside a house in the Shujaiya neighborhood, using machine guns. Two enemy soldiers were killed and wounded in the clash, which occurred five days ago.”
Syria issues deadline for remaining armed groups to join defense ministry
Many violent extremist factions, including Jaish al-Islam and others, have already been incorporated into the new Syrian army
❗️Urgent Press Statement by the Ministry of Health in Gaza:
"The intensified siege by the occupation, including heavy fire around the Indonesian Hospital and its surroundings, and the prevention of patients, medical staff, and supplies from reaching it, has rendered the Indonesian Hospital out of service.
With the destruction of Beit Hanoun Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, and now the shutdown of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate are now out of service."
❗️Morocco announced it will reopen its embassy in Damascus, marking the restoration of ties with Syria after more than a decade.
The move came during the Arab League summit in Baghdad.
Rabat had severed diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.
Extensive destruction caused by the Israeli bombing of the tents of displaced people in Mawasi Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, yesterday, in which over 40 Palestinians were killed, many of them children.
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❗️The Yemeni Armed Forces announced this morning that it targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport with two ballistic missiles, a hypersonic "Palestine-2" and a "Zulfiqar," successfully halting air traffic for nearly an hour.
A day earlier, its forces also struck the same airport with a 'Yaffa' drone as part of ongoing support for Gaza.
⭕️ US crude oil imports from Iraq fell sharply last week, dropping by 77,000 barrels per day to 152,000 bpd, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Meanwhile, total US crude imports from ten key suppliers rose by 96,000 bpd to reach 5.365 million bpd.
⭕️ Israel killed 5 journalists and their families in a single night.
Just overnight, five more names were added to the long list of media workers systematically targeted in Gaza:
– Abdel Rahman al-Abadla
– Aziz al-Hajjar
– Ahmad al-Zeenati
– Khaled Abu Seif
– Nour Qandil
This brings the number of journalists killed by Israel since 7 October 2023 to at least 221.
Israeli army:
"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted."
BREAKING | Over a dozen Palestinians, most of them children, were just killed in Israeli attacks targeting tents and buildings sheltering the displaced in Mawasi, Khan Yunis.
Israel has killed over 95 Palestinians in strikes across Gaza since dawn.
❗️Palestinian Ministry of Health announces that the young man, Nael Sami Samara (36 years old), was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in Burqin, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces abducted his body.
Arab League pushes for Gaza ceasefire, reconstruction during Baghdad summit
Arab leaders rejected the forced displacement of Palestinians in strip, which has accelerated during Israel's latest military offensive
❗️The Syrian Ministry of Interior announces that a "special operation" was conducted where HTS-led security forces targeted ISIS cells in the eastern neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo.
It says that one ISIS member was killed and another arrested, and that weapons, explosive devices, and uniforms bearing the insignia of the security forces were seized. One security force fighter was killed in the clashes.
BREAKING | A fresh round of ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel is currently taking place in Doha, Qatar, according to Hamas official Taher al-Nono, who spoke to Reuters today.
He noted that discussions are ongoing on all matters without "pre-conditions."
Nono emphasized that Hamas is "keen to exert all the effort needed" to assist mediators in reaching a successful outcome, but clarified that there is "no certain offer on the table."
⭕️ Turkiye has uncovered a new natural gas reserve totaling 75 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the Black Sea, President Tayyip Erdogan announced today.
"With this discovery, we will meet the natural gas needs of homes in Turkey for 3.5 years," Erdogan stated at an event in Istanbul.
According to Erdogan, the reserve, estimated to be worth approximately $30 billion, was located at a depth of 3,500 meters in the Goktepe-3 well.
(Reuters)
❗️Hamas:
– “We call on the Arab Summit and the free world to stop the genocide in Gaza and impose urgent sanctions on the fascist occupation.”
– “What is happening in Gaza is a full-fledged genocide being perpetrated before the eyes of a helpless world.”
– “We call on the Arab Summit to assume its historical responsibilities and take practical steps to stop the aggression and lift the siege.”
– “We call on the peoples of the world and its free forces to escalate a global solidarity campaign to expose the crimes of the occupation and its policy of genocide and starvation.”
– “Northern Gaza is witnessing a systematic campaign of extermination with escalating aerial and artillery bombardment, forcing hundreds of families to flee.”