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Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kyiv Wednesday there was a chance to end the war in Ukraine via negotiations "if common sense prevails", an option he said he preferred, but that he was ready to end it by force if that was the only way.Speaking in Beijing at the end of a visit that resulted in an agreement on a new gas pipeline to China, Putin said he perceived "a certain light at the end of the tunnel", given what he said were sincere efforts by the United States to find a settlement to Europe's biggest land war since World War Two."It seems to me that if common sense prevails, it will be possible to agree on an acceptable solution to end this conflict. That is my assumption," Putin told reporters."Especially since we can see the mood of the current US administration under President (Donald) Trump, and we see not just their statements, but their sincere desire to find this solution... And I think there is a certain light at the end of the tunnel. Let's see how the situation develops," he said."If not, then we will have to resolve all the tasks before us by force of arms." However, Putin indicated no willingness to soften his long-standing demands, including that Kyiv abandon any idea of joining Nato and that it end what Moscow says is discrimination against Russian speakers.He said he was ready to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy if the Ukrainian president came to Moscow, but that any such meeting had to be well prepared and lead to tangible results.Ukraine's foreign minister dismissed as "unacceptable" the suggestion of Moscow as a venue for such a meeting.FAR APARTZelenskiy has been pressing to meet Putin to discuss the terms of a possible deal even though the two sides remain far apart. He has urged Washington to impose further sanctions on Russia if Putin does not agree.Trump - who has been trying to broker a peace settlement - has also said he wants the two leaders to meet and has threatened, but not yet imposed, secondary sanctions on Russia.Putin, whose economy is showing signs of strain after being hit with sweeping Western sanctions, said he would prefer to end the war diplomatically, "by peaceful means", if possible.Russia claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions, a claim Kyiv and most Western countries reject as an illegal land grab backed by a colonial-style war of conquest.

Israeli reservists began responding to call-up orders Tuesday, swelling the military's ranks ahead of a planned offensive to capture Gaza City after nearly two years of devastating war. Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its campaign, Israel has recently been stepping up operations as it lays the groundwork for seizing the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre.Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 82 people Tuesday across the Strip, which has been in the grips of a major humanitarian crisis for months. Gaza's civil defence agency said 10 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential building in the southwest of Gaza City.AFP footage from the aftermath of the strike in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood showed Palestinians carrying a dead girl from the rubble of the top floor. "We were sleeping safely in our homes and suddenly we woke up to the sound of bombing and destruction and found most of our neighbours murdered and injured," said Sanaa al-Dreimli. In Tel Aviv Tuesday, a group of reservists refusing to serve in the war who called themselves "Soldiers for the Hostages" held a public event urging their fellow reservists and active-duty soldiers not to report for service.Israeli media has reported that around 40,000 reservists were being mobilised in the first wave. The UN estimates that nearly a million people live in and around Gaza City, where a famine has been declared. Army chief Eyal Zamir told reservists reporting for duty Tuesday they were being deployed to "enhance the strikes of our operation".The military has intensified its bombardment of Gaza City, and has been operating on its outskirts in recent days. "We are already entering places we have never entered before," Zamir said. Weary Palestinians in Gaza City told AFP they felt helpless and desperate ahead of the looming offensive. "There is no place for us to go, and no means to get there.We are exhausted physically and mentally from displacement and from the war," 60-year-old Amal Abdel-Aal, who lives in a tent in the city's west, told AFP by telephone. In a post on X Tuesday, a military spokesman warned Gazans of the upcoming "expansion of combat operations towards Gaza City". "We wish to remind you that in Al-Mawasi enhanced services will be provided, with an emphasis on access to medical care, water and food," Avichay Adraee said, referring to an area in the south that Israel has designated a humanitarian zone but which has been hit by repeated strikes.In mid-August, the UN human rights office said Palestinians in Al-Mawasi had "little or no access to essential services and supplies". Khalil al-Madhoun, 37, who lives in a partially destroyed apartment in western Gaza City said he had travelled twice to the south looking for somewhere to pitch a tent but found no space. "The centre and the south are completely overcrowded," he told AFP by telephone. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war.

A post-war plan for Gaza is circulating within President Donald Trump's administration that would see the US administer the war-torn enclave for at least a decade, the relocation of Gaza's population and its rebuilding as a tourist resort and manufacturing hub, the Washington Post reported Sunday.The Washington Post said that according to a 38-page prospectus it had seen, Gaza's 2mn population would at least temporarily leave either through "voluntary" departures to another country or into restricted areas within the territory during reconstruction. Reuters previously reported there is a proposal to build large-scale camps called "Humanitarian Transit Areas" inside — and possibly outside — Gaza to house the Palestinian population. That plan carried the name of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, a controversial US-backed aid group.Anyone who owns land would be offered a "digital token" in exchange for rights to redevelop their property, the Post reported, adding that each Palestinian who left would be provided with $5,000 in cash and subsidies to cover four years of rent. They would also be provided with a year of food, it added.The Post said the plan is called the "Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, or GREAT Trust," and was developed by the GHF.GHF coordinates with the Israeli military and uses private US security and logistics companies to get food aid into Gaza. It is favoured by the Trump administration and Israel to carry out humanitarian efforts in Gaza as opposed to the UN-led system. In early August, the UN said more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the plan to rebuild Gaza appears to fall in line with previous comments made by Trump.On February 4, Trump first publicly said that the US should "take over" the war-battered enclave and rebuild it as "the Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling the Palestinian population elsewhere.Trump's comments angered many Palestinians and humanitarian groups about the possible forced relocation from Gaza.

HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani affirmed Thursday Qatar and Egypt’s commitment to reach a solution that ends the Israeli war on Gaza, despite all attempts to distort, disrupt, and undermine these efforts.His Excellency stressed that without the bilateral partnership and the scale of their efforts, the previous ceasefire agreement in the Strip would not have been achieved.He made these remarks during a joint press conference with Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdel Aatty on the sidelines of the Sixth Session of the Qatari-Egyptian Joint Higher Committee in Cairo.The PM stated that the international community must exert pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and stop the famine currently affecting the Palestinian people, expressing hope for a ceasefire agreement to be reached as soon as possible.He noted that his visit to Cairo comes within the framework of the Committee's sixth session and reflects the vision of both countries' leadership to deepen bilateral relations, which have witnessed remarkable development in recent years, adding that the recent visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to Qatar was a significant milestone in advancing these relations.HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the Committee's discussions covered various issues, confirming the alignment of views between Qatar and Egypt on many regional matters.He emphasised their joint efforts to de-escalate tensions in several Arab countries, including Lebanon, Syria and Sudan.He also highlighted that Lebanon and Syria are witnessing irresponsible Israeli actions that threaten the security of the entire region, unfortunately without any deterrent response.In another context, the PM underscored the strong fraternal ties between Qatar and Egypt, rooted in solid relations between the two peoples and leaderships, as well as the economic foundations currently being built to establish a new phase of joint economic co-operation.He reviewed the package of direct Qatari investments in Egypt previously announced in Doha, amounting to approximately US$7.5bn, noting that several bilateral agreements and projects will be finalised in the coming weeks.He praised the growth in trade volume between the two countries and looked forward to further expansion in the future, emphasising that joint co-operation is not limited to the economic field but also includes cultural, agricultural, social solidarity, and societal transformation sectors.He considered the memoranda of understanding signed Thursday with the Egyptian side an important step toward diversifying the base of co-operation between the two countries.The PM underlined that there is a valuable opportunity for consultation between the two countries, which has not stopped and is not limited to joint meetings, but also continues through daily communications.He commended the scale of efforts made by both sides to reach a halt to the genocide being inflicted on the Palestinian people in Gaza, adding that it is shameful that these conditions have persisted for months without any action from the international community, appreciating the partnership with the United States and all efforts by Arab and Islamic countries that support the Qatari and Egyptian initiatives.He also explained that the past period witnessed intensive work to reach common ground for an agreement on the release of hostages and detainees, the exchange of prisoners, and a ceasefire as a prelude to ending the war. However, these efforts were unfortunately met with further disregard.He affirmed the great responsibility that lies with the international community to act in ending the famine and siege affecting the Palestinian people in Gaza.The PM noted that the Committee also discussed developments with regard to Iranian nuclear file, which represents a critical security issue for all countries in the region, underscoring the importance of reaching a diplomatic solution that ensures regional stability, which cannot be achieved through war but through diplomatic means.He called on Arab countries and regional states to cooperate in reaching such solutions.The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Dr Badr Abdel Aatty affirmed that the Sixth Session of the Qatari-Egyptian Joint Higher Committee witnessed the signing of several agreements and memoranda of understanding, most notably a co-operation agreement in the field of social insurance between Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity and the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority of Qatar, in addition to a memorandum of understanding for co-operation in the agricultural sector between the two brotherly countries.During the conference, he announced the launch of a political consultation mechanism between the foreign ministries of both countries, as well as the signing of the minutes of the sixth session of the Committee, which saw broad ministerial participation from both sides, including the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, the Minister of Social Solidarity, and the Minister of Agriculture on the Egyptian side.He said that the convening of this session and its outcomes was a reflection of the commitment of both Qatar and Egypt to build on the results of the previous committee meeting, hosted in Doha in 2024, and the subsequent reciprocal high-level visits.He noted that the discussions addressed ways to enhance and develop bilateral relations while also pointing to an increase in excess of 54% in trade exchange between the two countries over the past year, in addition to Qatar's commitment to inject investments in Egypt amounting to $7.5bn, with work underway on specific projects to be announced in the coming weeks.Aatty said the Egyptian side presented promising investment opportunities and legislative and procedural reforms adopted by Egypt to facilitate the work of investors, including Qatari investors.He affirmed the commitment to empower the private sector in both countries and enhance its role in supporting the economy and development, confirming that the coming phase will witness the flow of more Qatari investments into priority sectors, including agriculture, food security, real estate development, tourism and hospitality, transport and logistics, industrial localisation, and renewable energy.Regarding regional and international issues, the Egyptian foreign minister said the discussions addressed developments in the Palestinian cause, affirming the alignment of Qatari and Egyptian views on the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, ensuring full access to humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages and a number of Palestinian detainees, paving the way for a permanent end to the aggression and a comprehensive political settlement that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.He also stressed the firm rejection by both countries of any attempts at forced displacement of the Palestinian people, considering it a red line that cannot be accepted under any pretext.He noted the continued Qatari-Egyptian efforts, in coordination with the United States and regional and international parties, to reach an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire during which negotiations would be held to end the war, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, and prepare for an early recovery and reconstruction conference for Gaza, with the participation of Qatar.Aatty highlighted that the discussions also covered the situations in Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Lebanon, in addition to developments in the Red Sea region, freedom of navigation, and the Iranian nuclear issue, affirming the alignment of Qatari and Egyptian positions on these issues and their commitment to resolve the same through peaceful means, away from military solutions.

The Qatar Press Center (QPC) condemns the killing of 20 Palestinians, including five journalists and several ambulance and civil defence crews while evacuating the wounded, in an Israeli air strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.Quoting a medical source, WAFA reported that the journalists killed were: Mohammed Salama, a photojournalist for Al Jazeera; Hussam al-Masri, a photojournalist for Reuters; journalist Mariam Dagga, who works for several media outlets, including Independent Arabia and AP; and journalist Moaz Abu Taha for the American NBC network. Fellow journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz succumbed to his wounds following the Israeli massacre.This brings the number of journalists killed since the beginning of the aggression on Gaza to 245. The QPC affirms that the new Israeli massacre of journalists while performing their professional duties is part of a systematic policy pursued by the occupation army since the beginning of its war of extermination against the people of Gaza on October 7, 2023, targeting journalists’ locations, homes, and tents to prevent them from conveying the truth to the world and to silence their voices forever. The QPC reiterates its call on the international community, UN, human rights, and media organisations, to condemn the targeting of journalists in Gaza and to take urgent action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable before international courts for war crimes against journalists and media professionals. Impunity has encouraged the Israeli occupation forces to continue their series of assassinations, arrests, and intimidation of journalists, in full view of the world.Cameras documented the martyrdom of the journalists live on air. A circulating video shows a group of journalists and paramedics rushing to Nasser Hospital after the fourth floor was bombed, to begin rescuing the victims and wounded.However, they were surprised by a second Israeli airstrike targeting them, resulting in an increase in the number of casualties among photographers and medical personnel.The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip condemned the recent Israeli massacre, noting that the number of journalist martyrs in the Strip had risen to 245 following the latest attack.The office called on the International Federation of Journalists to condemn the crimes against journalists and held Israel responsible for the brutal crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

Medical sources have reported that 70 Palestinians were killed in ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since the early hours of Tuesday.According to the sources, 30 Palestinians were killed in the northern part of the Strip, 20 in the central area, and 20 in the south.Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces have been waging an unprecedented aggression on the Gaza Strip, involving killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, while disregarding all international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the assault.So far, the Israeli aggression has killed 62,819, injured 158,629, the majority of whom are children and women. Over 9,000 are missing hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has killed 303 people, including 117 children to date is spreading.

Catholic and Greek Orthodox priests and nuns will remain in Gaza City despite Israel's plan for a military takeover, the religious communities said in a joint statement on Tuesday."At the time of this statement, evacuation orders were already in place for several neighbourhoods in Gaza City. Reports of heavy bombardment continue to be received," the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said."We do not know exactly what will happen on the ground, not only for our community, but for the entire population", they said.Hundreds of displaced people have sheltered since the outbreak of the war in the Greek Orthodox compound of Saint Porphyrius and the Catholic Holy Family compound, including children and those with special needs.Stray Israeli fire hit the Holy Family church in July, killing three and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest."Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months," the statement said."Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence."For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds".There are some 645 Catholic and Orthodox Christians left in the Gaza Strip, including five priests and five nuns, the Latin Patriarchate told AFP on Tuesday.Israel's cabinet approved in early August a plan for the military to take over Gaza City, despite mounting pressure both at home and abroad to wrap up a war which has created a humanitarian crisis and devastated much of the territory.The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza on Friday.Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 62,744 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

The State of Qatar condemned the Israeli occupation forces' bombing of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, which resulted in the deaths of innocent, defenseless civilians, and considered it a new episode in the ongoing series of heinous crimes committed by the occupation forces against the brotherly Palestinian people and a flagrant violation of international law.In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the occupation forces' targeting of journalists and relief and medical workers requires urgent and decisive international action to provide the necessary protection for civilians and ensure that the perpetrators of these atrocities do not escape punishment.The Ministry also reiterated the urgent need for global solidarity to end the brutal genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, address the catastrophic humanitarian conditions there, and move forward towards achieving a just and sustainable peace in the region, ensuring the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Starvation is the slow, silent unmaking of the body. Deprived of basic sustenance, the body first burns through sugar stores in the liver. Then it melts muscle and fat, breaking down tissue to keep the brain and other vital organs alive.As these reserves are depleted, the heart loses its strength, the immune system surrenders, and the mind begins to fade. The skin tightens over the bones, and breathing grows faint. Organs begin to fail in succession, vision fails, and the body, now empty, slips away. It is a prolonged, agonising way to die.We have all seen the images of emaciated Palestinian babies and children withering away from starvation in their mothers’ arms. Yet now that Israel is intensifying its war – embarking on a new campaign to seize control of Gaza City – thousands more Palestinian civilians may be killed, either by bombs or by starvation.“This is no longer a looming hunger crisis,” Ramesh Rajasingham, a senior UN humanitarian official, told the UN Security Council on Aug 10. “This is starvation, pure and simple.” Alex de Waal, an expert on famine, estimates that thousands of Gazan children are now too weak to eat, even if they had access to food. “They have got to that stage of severe acute malnutrition where their bodies just can’t digest food.”There is a growing consensus that Israel is committing the most serious of crimes in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Palestinian and international human-rights groups raised the alarm about this risk within months of the start of the war, and it has since been echoed by states on every continent, as well as by many in Israel. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for example, has decried what he describes as war crimes in Gaza, and leading Israeli human-rights groups say Israel’s actions in the territory amount to genocide.On Oct 9, 2023, then-Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.” The population of Gaza was dehumanised, and no distinction was made between civilians and combatants – a violation of a cardinal rule of international humanitarian law. The siege shut off all supplies into Gaza for 70 days, imposing collective punishment.This first siege was eased only slightly when Israel allowed supplies to trickle into Gaza in early 2024. By that April, Samantha Power, then the head of USAID, was already warning of famine in parts of Gaza. The following month, Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, announced “a full-blown famine” in northern Gaza.International law prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war. As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel must ensure that the civilian population receives adequate food, water, medical supplies, and other essentials. If those supplies cannot be located within Gaza itself, they must be sourced externally – including from Israel.Over the past 21 months, several governments and aid agencies have pleaded with Israel to let them deliver aid. Granting such permission is also a legal obligation: Israel has a duty to facilitate others’ relief schemes “by all means at its disposal.” But Israel has continuously thwarted these efforts. At this very moment, it is blocking humanitarian organisations from delivering aid.In January 2024, the International Court of Justice, through legally binding decisions ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.” Two months later, it reaffirmed that order and required that the measures be taken “in full co-operation with the UN.” The UN-led humanitarian system was the only one capable of preventing widespread famine in Gaza. During the cease-fire between January and March of this year, the UN and other humanitarian organisations were operating as many as 400 relief distribution sites. But after Israel broke the cease-fire in March, these were shut down, and another siege was unlawfully imposed.Israel justified the new siege by saying that it was cutting off aid to exert greater pressure on Hamas – thus acknowledging its use of starvation as a weapon. When aid resumed in May, the UN was replaced by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private food-distribution arrangement organised by Israel. But since then, nearly 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to obtain food at the GHF’s four distribution sites.Worse, the GHF scheme was never going to work. According to a report from the Famine Review Committee last month, “Our analysis of the food packages supplied by the GHF shows that their distribution plan would lead to mass starvation, even if it was able to function without the appalling levels of violence.”Under international law, the war crime of starvation begins at the point of deprivation. When it becomes a more expansive policy undertaken with the intent “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” it becomes genocide. Multiple senior Israeli officials have openly expressed such intent – including Gallant in October 2023, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in August 2024 remarked that “it might be justified and moral” to “cause 2mn civilians to die of hunger,” and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister for National Security, who tweeted that “food and aid depots should be bombed.”Palestinians are being intentionally starved to death. Although signs of the coming horrors were clear within months of the war’s onset, many governments averted their eyes. They rationalised the restrictions on aid by arguing that it was going to Hamas – a claim that Israel now says it has no evidence for – and transferred more tonnage in weapons to Israel than they delivered in aid to Gaza. Now, they are failing in their duty to prevent and stop a genocide.History will forever record this moment of global shame. It will archive the images of skeletal children alongside those from past episodes where the world did nothing. One can only hope that the world will act now to salvage at least a measure of our humanity, before even more children die. – Project SyndicateBinaifer Nowrojee is President of the Open Society Foundations.