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Standing in the centre of rainy Kaliningrad, the isolated Russian exclave surrounded by Nato countries, Russian factory worker Alexander felt confident.Economically hit by being cut-off from its EU neighbours and physically isolated from the rest of Russia, officials and locals are putting on a brave face amid claims they are under siege from neighbours Poland and Lithuania.The Baltic states surrounding Kaliningrad, all Nato members, have been some of Ukraine's staunchest backers since Moscow launched its offensive in February 2022.Poland and Lithuania "want to show off, display their strength, reinforce their borders", said Alexander, 25, who did not give his surname.But his city is "certainly not one that surrenders", he added, taking pride that Russia had far more weapons than its smaller neighbours.His defiance echoes the Kremlin's relentless criticism of Nato.Russian leader Vladimir Putin has for years accused the military alliance of breaking an apparent promise not to expand eastwards.In June, he said Russians had been "tricked, duped on the subject of Nato's non-expansion".Ukraine and the West reject that narrative as a pretext advanced by Putin to justify the offensive, which has become Europe's largest conflict since World War II.In Russia's neighbours, the intensity of the confrontation is palpable.Poland and Lithuania, which have a land border with Kaliningrad, have virtually closed their borders for Russians, bar limited exceptions.In recent weeks, Estonia and Lithuania have reported Russian jets violating their airspace.And Poland's new president Karol Nawrocki said he believed Russia was "ready to hit at other countries" after Nato scrambled jets to shoot down Russian drones flying through Polish airspace.Kaliningrad — a previously German city called Konigsberg until it became Soviet after WWII — is strategic for Moscow.It is home to Russia's Baltic Fleet, as well as Iskander ballistic missiles, the same kind that Moscow regularly fires on Ukraine.The region's governor did not respond to an AFP request for an interview.The Kremlin's hardline messages run deep with many.Marina, a 63 year-old who works in a clothes shop, mocked the region's EU neighbours, saying they should focus on their own problems."Let them bark," she said. "I am 100 percent protected in Kaliningrad. I am not scared of Nato."Showing Russian tourists round the tomb of philosopher Immanuel Kant, guide Anna Dmitrik was relieved that Kaliningrad had not been targeted by the Ukrainian retaliatory drone attacks that have hit many other regions."It's calm here. We are not scared for now," she said, adding: "I don't know what will happen next."Still, reminders of the war are everywhere.Banners encouraged men to sign up to fight in Ukraine for Russia's "victorious army". Giant Zs — the symbol of Moscow's forces in Ukraine — decorated buildings.But behind the defiance, Kaliningrad's locals struggled with the feeling of being more isolated, and worse off, than before February 2022.Banned from EU airspace, planes connecting the exclave to the rest of Russia must take a long detour northwards via the Gulf of Finland.A train linking it to Moscow is physically sealed as it crosses Lithuania, with Russian passengers requiring a visa or transit permit to board.And Vilnius has closed its border with key Russian ally Belarus for at least a month over the intrusion of balloons carrying thousands of illegal cigarettes into the EU state.Before "you could go to Poland to shop or just take a walk. Buses and trucks were running", said mechanic Vitaly Tsypliankov, 48."Life was better then," he added."Now everything is closed. Everything is more expensive, absolutely everything has become costlier."Inflation has surged across Russia amid the Ukraine offensive, but complicated logistics hit Kaliningrad especially hard.While Poland's border is technically open, only Russians with EU residency can enter. Traffic into the country has virtually stopped.Most petrol stations near the border are empty if not shut down.The giant Baltia shopping mall, on the road to the airport, is sparsely frequented."Kaliningrad's economic situation is very bad," said Irina, a saleswoman there."Logistics are very complicated to bring in products from (the rest of) Russia," she said, puffing on a cigarette."Everything is more expensive."

The number of casualties from the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has surged to 67,074 fatalities and 169,430 injuries, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. In a statement issued Saturday, the ministry confirmed that hospitals across the enclave received 66 bodies and 256 wounded individuals over the past 24 hours. An additional 720 fatalities were added to the cumulative death toll following verification and approval by the judicial committee overseeing missing persons and notification records. The ministry further noted that between March 18 and today, the death toll reached 13,486, with 57,384 injuries. It emphasized that many victims remain trapped under rubble or on roadways, inaccessible to emergency and civil defense teams due to ongoing hostilities. Regarding casualties among aid workers and civilians seeking sustenance, the ministry reported that six fatalities and 40 injuries were recorded in the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of aid-related deaths to 2,603 and injuries to 19,094. Tragically, two children died within the last 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, raising the total number of malnutrition-related deaths to 459, including 154 children. The Israeli military continues its systematic campaign against the Palestinian population in Gaza, amid worsening humanitarian conditions and widespread devastation.

The death toll from the relentless offensive the Israeli occupation forces have been launching on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has soared to 65,344, with 166,795 reported wounded. Additionally, hospitals in the Gaza enclave have received 61 fatalities and 220 injuries in the past 24 hours, Gaza's Ministry of Health reported in a statement on Monday. The statement noted that several victims are still lingering under the rubble and in the roads, as medics and civil defense rescuers have hitherto been unable to reach them. The Israeli all-out aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has been embattled since Oct. 7, 2023, has caused major decimation in critical infrastructure, while Gazans are grappling with aggravated starvation.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul advocated for the immediate start of efforts to reach a two-state solution in the Middle East, while criticizing the Israeli offensive in Gaza City as completely misguided."For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state is more likely to come at the end of the process," the minister said. "But this process must begin now."On Monday afternoon, on the eve of the UN General Assembly, Wadephul plans to attend a conference organized by France and Saudi Arabia that aims to boost support for a two-state solution that envisions Israel and an independent, democratic Palestinian state living peacefully side by side."What the region needs now is an immediate ceasefire, significantly more humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza and the immediate, unconditional release of the hostages," Wadephul said.The Israeli offensive on Gaza City is completely the wrong approach, he added. "Any steps towards annexing occupied territories in violation of international law also undermine the chance of a lasting solution to the conflict." "As far as it may seem at the moment, a negotiated two-state solution is the way to enable Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace, security and dignity," Wadephul continued.

An Israeli strike flattened a high-rise in Gaza City Saturday — the second in as many days — after the military warned people to flee ahead of a planned offensive against the urban hub. Israel has been warning for weeks of a new assault on the territory's largest city, without issuing a timeline. It has stepped up air strikes and ground operations on the city's outskirts, sparking fears it could worsen already dire conditions. Saturday, Israeli aircraft dropped thousands of leaflets on western neighbourhoods calling on residents to evacuate, witnesses and an AFP journalist said. Nafez Anis, who has been living in a tent with his family in Gaza City, said he had read the leaflet, but was not planning on leaving. "Where should we go?" he told AFP. "We will wait, and when we see Israeli tanks approaching here, we will leave." Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 55 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire during the day, including 18 near an aid distribution centre in the north. Saturday, the military struck a Gaza City high-rise, saying Hamas was using it "to monitor" Israeli troops and adding that it had taken "measures to mitigate harm to civilians". Witnesses identified the building as the Sussi residential tower and said it was destroyed. Hamas condemned the attack and denied using residential or civilian buildings for military purposes. The Israeli military has said it will target structures being used by Hamas, particularly tall buildings. It also issued an evacuation order for another high-rise Saturday, warning of an imminent strike and telling people to leave for the south. A military spokesperson had earlier called on residents to leave for Al-Mawasi, on the Mediterranean coast to the south. Israel first declared Al-Mawasi a safe zone early in the war, but has carried out repeated strikes on it since then, saying they targeted Hamas. Gaza City residents said they believed it made little difference whether they stayed or fled. "Some say we should evacuate, others say we should stay," said Abdel Nasser Mushtaha, 48. "But everywhere in Gaza there are bombings and deaths" he added, pointing, in particular, to the strikes on Al-Mawasi. "It no longer makes any difference to us," said his daughter Samia Mushtaha, 20. "Wherever we go, death pursues us, whether by bombing or hunger." Israel has faced mounting domestic and international pressure to end the nearly two-year war. Thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday evening to call for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. In Tel Aviv, protesters unfurled a massive banner saying: "President Trump, save the hostages now!" Hamas agreed last month to a proposal for a temporary ceasefire and staggered hostage releases, but Israel has demanded the group release all the hostages at once, disarm and relinquish control of Gaza, among other conditions. The UN estimates nearly 1mn people remain in and around Gaza City, where it declared a famine last month. It has warned of a looming "disaster" if the assault proceeds. Israel's offensive has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the UN considers reliable.

A senior Israeli military official said Wednesday that authorities estimated that an imminent offensive in the Gaza Strip would displace one million Palestinians, planning a new "humanitarian area" for them.The vast majority of Gaza's more than 2mn people have been displaced at least once during nearly two years of war.The Israeli military has been gearing up to seize Gaza City, the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre, with the United Nations estimating that nearly a million people live in and around the northern city.A senior official from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said that in recent days, "we saw a movement of people from the north to the south.""Until now, approximately 70,000" Gazans left the north, the official said, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity.Without giving a specific timeframe, the official said Israeli authorities expected "a million people" to flee south.The Israeli official said that "we want to identify a humanitarian area" which would be formally announced in the coming days.The area would extend from a cluster of refugee camps in central Gaza to the southern area of Al-Mawasi and eastwards.Israel had designated the coastal area of Al-Mawasi a humanitarian zone in the early days of the war, but has repeatedly struck it since.In mid-August, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen al-Kheetan said Palestinians in Al-Mawasi had "little or no access to essential services and supplies, including food, water, electricity and tents".A statement from COGAT last week announced a raft of preparations for "moving the population southward for their protection", including a new water line from Egypt to Al-Mawasi, repair works on Israeli water lines, and the connection of a power line to a southern desalination plant.COGAT also said work had begun to reopen the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, which has been closed for several weeks.