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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
Khamenei rebuffs proposal for 'limited' uranium enrichment under US oversight
Iran is reportedly open to the establishment of a regional nuclear consortium, a key element of the new US proposal, as long as it is based ‘on Iranian soil’
❗️Nine freed Palestinian detainees arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, after months of being subjected to brutal conditions in Israeli prisons.
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⭕️ Norway could withdraw investments from Israeli companies in the occupied Palestinian territories
Norwegian lawmakers are discussing today whether Norway’s $1.9 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, should withdraw investments from all companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A formal vote was scheduled for around 3 PM, with Parliament anticipated to reject a complete boycott.
(Reuters)
❗️Israeli coalition at risk as ultra-Orthodox party threatens to withdraw over draft dispute
Israel’s ruling coalition is facing potential collapse after senior rabbis instructed the United Torah Judaism alliance to withdraw from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over a dispute on military conscription.
The alliance’s exit would reduce Netanyahu’s majority to just 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The crisis comes amid growing tension over the lapsed exemption from compulsory military service for the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community, an issue the government has yet to resolve through legislation.
❗️Israeli arms exports hits new peak in 2024 for fourth consecutive year
Israeli military exports reached a level twice as high as five years ago, based on data published today by the Defense Ministry.
The ministry’s International Defense Cooperation Directorate, known as SIBAT, reported that defense exports climbed to nearly $14.8 billion last year, up from the previous record of $13 billion in 2023. From 2018 to 2020, annual exports ranged between $7.5 billion and $8.5 billion.
BREAKING | Three Palestinians killed and several wounded in an Israeli raid on Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, according to medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital.
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⭕ UN: Fewer than 80% of aid trucks cleared by Israel have reached Gaza
The UN warned on 3 June that aid deliveries to Gaza remain critically obstructed, with less than 80 percent of pre-cleared trucks making it through Israeli checks. Of over 1,200 truckloads approved since mid-May, only about 620 reached the Palestinian side—and just 370 were distributed inside Gaza.
UN officials blamed scanning delays, lack of access for monitors, and repeated Israeli denials of humanitarian movement.
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "97 martyrs, including 2 recovered martyrs, and 440 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours."
– "The death toll and injuries since 18 March 2025 has reached 4,335 martyrs and 13,300 injuries."
Israel bombards southern Syria after rocket fire at occupied Golan Heights
A group called the Martyr Mohammad Deif Brigades claimed the rocket attack, which was the first launched from Syria in a year
📸 A photo from the scene where Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished 15 homes belonging to the Abu Al-Mask family in the village of Arab Al-Mask, in the Negev (occupied Naqab), earlier this morning.
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⭕ Iran's Supreme Leader denounces US nuclear proposal, vows to continue uranium enrichment
In a speech marking the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s death, Khamenei declared that uranium enrichment is central to Iran’s energy independence and self-reliance, slammed Washington’s offer as “100% against” the values of the 1979 revolution. Talks with the US over a new nuclear deal remain stalled over this issue.
❗️Palestinian child killed in Israeli strike west of Gaza City
A Palestinian mother was seen holding her daughter’s body after the child was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a displacement tent west of Gaza City on Tuesday night.
❗️Gaza Health Ministry: Israel strikes Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital roof in Deir al-Balah
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces targeted the roof of an administrative building at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, sparking panic among medical staff, patients, and their families.
The ministry condemned the strike as part of a “systematic policy” to cripple Gaza’s healthcare system and called for immediate international action to protect medical facilities.
⭕ Israeli forces have been raiding Al-Fara camp, southwest of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, since this morning. Reports of arrests, and destruction of private property and civilian infrastructure.
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UPDATE | The Israeli army announced earlier this morning that Master Sgt. Alon Farkas was killed in the Hamas drone attack that took place yesterday at night in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Three other soldiers were also wounded in the attack.
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❗️The Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), claimed responsibility for targeting a group of Israeli soldiers east of Jabalia in northern Gaza with two missiles.
The attack reportedly took place on Monday at 6 pm local time, according to a statement published on the group’s official channel. PIJ says its fighters “confirmed their success” in hitting the target.
❗️Israeli children taught to play ‘terrorist’ hunters at mock Palestinian town dubbed ‘Fauda Base’
An Israeli facility named “Fauda Base” is teaching children as young as six to simulate military raids on Palestinians, according to a report by HaMakom. Critics say the initiative reinforces a mindset where Palestinian identity is equated with terrorism, further entrenching dehumanization and occupation. Located in central Israel, the site mimics a Palestinian town and trains children and youth to act as undercover agents, use firearms, dress as “terrorists,” and carry out mock abductions and raids.
The facility is operated by former members of elite Israeli units and was launched in 2021 in collaboration with YES, the producer of the controversial Netflix series Fauda. The program is framed as a rescue mission and espionage training, drawing condemnation for militarizing Israeli youth and glorifying operations in occupied Palestinian territories.
❗️Greta Thunberg’s Gaza-bound flotilla issues distress call over drone threat
Activists aboard the Madleen aid ship, including Greta Thunberg, issued a mid-sea distress call last night after reporting a drone hovering above their vessel. “There’s a drone on top of our ship!” the crew warned late Tuesday, as the ship continued its journey toward Gaza.
The Madleen, which departed Sicily on 1 June, is carrying an aid cargo in a bid to challenge Israel’s blockade. The 12-person crew includes Greta Thunberg, Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, and MEP Rima Hassan. The source of the drone remains unknown, raising concerns over surveillance or possible attempts to obstruct the mission, or bomb the ship, as was done to the Conscience flotilla in April.
Spain cancels Israeli missile contract, looks to US arms dealers for alternative
Madrid continues to cooperate with Israel on defense and has facilitated the shipment of thousands of weapons via its ports since October 2023
⭕️ Iran’s oil shipments to China have dropped significantly due to tightening US sanctions and weakening refinery demand, according to Bloomberg.
Preliminary data from Vortexa Ltd. shows Iranian crude and condensate flows to China fell to just over 1.1 million barrels per day in May; about 20% lower than a year earlier.
The decline comes amid heightened scrutiny, with tankers increasingly turning off their transponders and rebranding shipments as Malaysian after ship-to-ship transfers.
China’s independent refineries, or “teapots,” are the primary buyers of discounted Iranian crude but have slowed processing due to delayed maintenance, now expected to extend through July. Vortexa analyst Emma Li notes that earlier stockpiling and cheaper Russian alternatives like Sokol and Novy Port are also displacing Iranian barrels in the Chinese market.
❗️Local sources in southern Lebanon report that the fisherman who was kidnapped by the Israelis near Ras al-Naqoura is the citizen Ali Fneish.
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⭕ Global airlines extend suspension of flights to Israel as Yemeni strikes continue
Lufthansa Group announced on 4 June it will keep all flights to Israel suspended until 22 June, citing ongoing operations by Yemen’s Armed Forces. The suspension affects all group airlines, including Swiss, Austrian, and Brussels Airlines.
Other carriers - including ITA Airways, United, Iberia, Air India, and British Airways - have also extended flight bans, some into late summer. The move follows Yemeni missile strikes on Lod Airport, part of a broader campaign in solidarity with Gaza that now includes an expanded air and naval blockade on Israeli infrastructure.
❗️Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz:
"We hold the President of Syria (Ahmad al-Sharaa) directly responsible for any threat or fire directed at the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon. We will not allow a return to the reality of 7 October."
❗️Senior Mujahideen Brigades commander assassinated in Israeli strike
The Mujahideen Brigades announced that Mahmoud Abu Nar, a senior military commander and head of its Central Governorate Brigade, was killed in an Israeli assassination in Gaza.
The group, which operates in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, is the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, a faction that broke away from Fatah in the mid-2000s.
⭕️ Gulf markets mixed as Trump tariffs take effect, oil dips
Gulf markets opened mixed Wednesday after US President Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs took effect, escalating trade tensions with China. Brent crude fell 0.3% to $65.46 amid rising OPEC+ output and Canadian wildfires disrupting over 7% of national supply.
Saudi stocks rose 0.49%, led by Arabian Pipes. UAE markets saw modest gains, while Qatar’s index fell 0.36% following a Q1 budget deficit of 0.5 billion riyals.
❗️Gaza hospital warns 50,000 pregnant and nursing women at serious risk
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza has warned that around 50,000 pregnant women and nursing mothers face life-threatening conditions amid severe shortages of food and medicine.
Hospital spokesperson Khalil al-Daqran told WAFA that miscarriage rates have increased six-fold since the war began, alongside a sharp rise in premature births, overwhelming Gaza’s already crippled neonatal units.
He said Israel’s repeated targeting of Gaza’s health system has pushed it to the brink of collapse, leaving over 23 hospitals non-operational and thousands of cancer and dialysis patients without care, resulting in an average of five cancer-related deaths per day.
❗️Local sources in south Lebanon report that four Israeli boats crossed into Lebanese territory and kidnapped a fisherman from his boat near the town Ras al-Naqoura.
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❗️"To the mayor who sold his village!"
Israel dropped leaflets in the southern Lebanese town of Yaroun, warning the newly elected mayor that he is being watched and must not cooperate with Hezbollah, or face severe consequences.
❗️Israeli forces detain 19 Palestinians in overnight West Bank raids
Israeli occupation troops detained 19 Palestinians during pre-dawn raids across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office. Among those arrested were activists, at least five former prisoners, and the wife of a released detainee in Nablus.
The office warned that the arrests reflect an ongoing campaign by Israel targeting freed prisoners and their families through intensified night raids.
🇾🇪 Yemeni Armed Forces announced yesterday night that it targeted Ben Gurion airport with a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile.
"The operation successfully achieved its goal, thanks to Allah, causing millions of herds of usurping Zionists to flee to shelters, halting airport operations, and preventing a US military cargo plane from landing at Lod Airport for the second consecutive day."