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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
WATCH | Qassam Brigades publishes, as part of the "David's Stones" series of operations, footage from a complex ambush that targeted Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the area of Al-Aqsa School in the town of al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
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UK prosecutors collaborate with Israel to persecute anti-genocide activists as 'terrorists': Report
Activists disrupting the production of Elbit drones used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza are being prosecuted under UK counterterror laws
US envoy meets Syrian president in Damascus, promotes 'dialogue' with Israel
Thomas Barrack said the US must 'give this young government a chance' amid its continued abduction and killing of members of the Alawite religious minority
❗️Israeli forces climbed onto the roof of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in Tulkarem's Nour Shams refugee camp, located in the northern occupied West Bank, and raised the Israeli flag atop the mosque.
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❗️Multiple explosions have been heard near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) food distribution point
Multiple explosions have been reported near a food distribution point operated by the US-Israeli 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' in the center of the Strip.
This comes after Israeli forces fired shots near one of the foundation’s aid points in the south on Wednesday.
❗️Israel orders al-Awda hospital evacuation
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says the Israeli army has ordered the forced evacuation of al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia.
The ministry called on the international community to protect Gaza’s health system and uphold international humanitarian law.
❗️Yesterday, two Merkava tanks and an Israeli military bulldozer, accompanied by an infantry unit, crossed the border near Bir Shuaib, east of the town of Blida, entering Lebanese territory with the aim of leveling the land.
In response, the Lebanese army dispatched reinforcements to its position near the area of the Israeli breach, as the enemy carried out a bulldozing operation in an olive grove directly across the border.
Following the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the site of the breach at dawn, it was revealed that Israeli bulldozers had destroyed and uprooted the Lebanese road adjacent to the border, along with the paved area surrounding the Bi’r Shuaib site, which is hundreds of years old, penetrating 50 meters into Lebanese territory.
(Al-Manar correspondent in south Lebanon Ali Shoeib)
⭕️ Syria agrees with Qatar’s UCC Holding to advance large-scale power generation projects, with foreign investment estimated at around $7 billion, UCC announced in a statement today.
The deal includes the construction of four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants with a total output of 4,000 megawatts, along with a 1,000 MW solar power facility in southern Syria.
WATCH | US 'aid' mercenaries operating under the GHF fire stun grenades at Palestinians seeking aid, according to a circulating video and local reports from Gaza.
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⭕️ Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia are considering allowing more cross-border financial products
An exchange-traded fund tracking bonds issued by the Saudi government started trading in Hong Kong on Thursday, the first fixed-income fund listed in the territory to offer such exposure.
Apart from the fund, more products are "in the pipeline" for approval to trade between Hong Kong and Riyadh, said Julia Leung, CEO of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission.
"We're very comfortable in the cross listing of whatever products," Leung told those attending the Capital Markets Forum organised by Saudi exchange operator Tadawul Group.
(Reuters)
⭕️ Ireland officially approved the drafting of a legislation to cut off trade with Israeli settlements on Tuesday
Although Ireland's trade with the settlements is minimal, Prime Minister Micheal Martin described the initiative as a "symbolic move," building on the country’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state last year, alongside a few other European nations.
According to Foreign Minister Simon Harris, the proposed law will be reviewed by a parliamentary committee in the coming weeks. The finalized version will then undergo full parliamentary review before being put to a vote in both chambers, likely before the end of the year.
(Reuters)
❗️US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack raised the US flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus today, marking the first time it has flown there since the embassy was shut down in 2012.
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BREAKING | An Israeli drone targeted and killed a Lebanese man shortly after he arrived to operate a water station in the Ali al-Taher forest near Nabatiye, southern Lebanon.
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❗️Israel has killed at least 55 Palestinians in attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources to Al Jazeera)
❗️"600 days of fighting. Thankful for the privilege to kill, murder and annihilate the ugliest creatures in nature."
Found on an Israeli soldier's Instagram account.
Breaking | Khader Faqih, a paramedic with the Al-Risala Scout Association, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces while inspecting his home in the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, near the Lebanon-Palestine border.
His killing marks a new violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, signed in November 2024.
❗️Netanyahu backs Witkoff’s Gaza proposal, but only for temporary ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the captives families on Thursday that he accepts US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s temporary ceasefire proposal, Axios reported.
Hamas has confirmed it is studying the offer, reiterating its longstanding position that any agreement must lead to a full and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The Witkoff proposal only introduces another temporary truce.
❗️12-year-old Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces during West Bank raid
A 12-year-old Palestinian boy was wounded after Israeli forces opened fire during a military incursion into the town of Birzeit, north of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on Thursday evening.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the child suffered gunshot injuries to both legs and was treated by emergency medical teams at the scene.
❗️Palestinian farmers warn of growing threat as Israel moves to expand settlements
Palestinian farmers are raising the alarm over Israel’s latest plan to construct nearly two dozen new settlements across the occupied West Bank, warning that it will further threaten their ability to survive on their own land.
Abbas Milhem, head of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union, says the expansion will further restrict access to farmland and intensify settler violence, which has already included harassment and deadly assaults. “This is just the beginning,” Milhem warned, stressing that farming under occupation is not only a livelihood but an act of resistance. He called on the international community to intervene before conditions become even more dire.
Turkish president urges SDF to ‘quit stalling,’ implement integration deal with Damascus
Negotiations are expected to be held soon between Kurdish authorities and the Syrian government
⭕️ Over 300 public figures urge UK prime minister to end support for Gaza atrocities
More than 300 public figures, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Annie Lennox, and Gary Lineker, have signed an open letter urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take action over the crisis in Gaza. The letter, coordinated by refugee charity Choose Love, accuses the UK government of being complicit in war crimes through its inaction.
“You can’t call it ‘intolerable’ and do nothing,” the letter states, challenging Starmer to choose between “complicity in war crimes, or the courage to act.”
❗️Israeli journalist Amit Segal (Channel 12) reveals new details about the Witkoff proposal — with clarification from an Israeli source:
– Ten living captives will be released — not nine as previously stated.
– On the first day, 5 living captives and 9 deceased captives will be released.
– On the seventh day, another 5 living captives and 9 deceased captives will be released.
– US President Donald Trump will announce the ceasefire and guarantee that all parties honor the agreement.
– Israel will immediately halt all offensive military operations in Gaza.
– In exchange for the release of the ten living captives, Israel will release 125 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,111 prisoners from Gaza who were detained after 7 October, 2023.
– In exchange for the release of the 18 deceased captives, Israel will return 180 bodies of Gaza residents, also in two phases.
– On the tenth day, Hamas will provide a full list and detailed medical reports on the condition of the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza.
– The United States, Egypt, and Qatar will act as guarantors of the temporary ceasefire, and US envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive in the region to finalize the details of the agreement.
UPDATE | According to Gaza's Interior Ministry, Israel bombed a number of police officers at the Saraya Junction in central Gaza City while they were carrying out their duty to confront a group of thieves this afternoon. The attack resulted in the deaths of several police officers and passersby.
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Israel greenlights 22 new illegal West Bank settlements to 'block Palestinian state'
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel is seeking to expand its borders and eliminate the indigenous Palestinian population
BREAKING | At least 9 Palestinians were massacred when Israeli warplanes bombed the Saraya area in Gaza.
According to medical sources to Al Jazeera, Israel has killed at least 64 Palestinians in attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
Lebanon using Israeli intel to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure: Report
The intelligence is being passed along to the Lebanese army by the US, which has been heavily pressuring Beirut to fully disarm Hezbollah
⭕️ Archaeology as Annexation
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked outrage across the region after publishing a video of himself walking through a massive underground tunnel beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday.
The tunnel, part of the "City of David" project, stretches from the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan to the area directly underneath the mosque.
The "City of David" project has been widely condemned as an attempt to reshape Jerusalem's identity through politicized archaeology and illegal settler expansion. It promotes a narrative that prioritizes Jewish biblical claims while erasing Islamic and Palestinian heritage, with carefully curated tours and infrastructure designed to appeal to Jewish and international tourists.
Backed by the settler organization Elad, the project has led to home demolitions and forced evictions in Silwan to make way for archaeological digs and Jewish settlement growth.
The project emphasizes biblical archaeology to substantiate Jewish claims to Jerusalem, often highlighting discoveries tied to King David and ancient Israelite civilization. Critics argue that it selectively interprets archaeological findings, downplaying non-Jewish or later Islamic and Christian histories of the area.
Netanyahu's appearance in the tunnel was seen as a deliberate provocation. The video was released on the so-called "Jerusalem Day," the anniversary of Israel's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem, a date routinely marked by settler incursions, racist slogans, and violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. It also coincided with a cabinet meeting in Silwan, where Netanyahu pledged to "preserve a united and complete Jerusalem."
⭕️ Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan says the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are employing "stalling tactics" when it comes to the agreement of integrating into Syria's armed forces.
During a conversation with reporters on his return flight from Azerbaijan, Erdogan reiterated Turkiye's stance on maintaining Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, stressing that the SDF-Damascus agreement must be carried out within the set timeline.
(Reuters)
⭕️ The Iraqi Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee rejected recent claims by US lawmakers alleging Iranian control over Iraq’s institutions.
MP Mukhtar al-Moussawi dismissed the accusations as “media-driven appeals that lack any real substance,” adding, “There is no Iranian hegemony over Iraq.” He emphasized that Iraq’s ties with Iran are like those with other countries, and that Baghdad-Washington relations remain strong and strategic, unaffected by “suspicious appeals from certain hardline figures in the US Congress.”
BREAKING | Preliminary information about a security incident in Gaza, involving the killing of an Israeli soldier after an explosive device detonated in a military bulldozer that was demolishing citizens' homes in Gaza.
The details are not yet confirmed.