What is Egypt’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza?
Arab states have adopted Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan, providing a potential path forward after Israel’s devastating war on the Palestinian enclave. Egypt unveiled its plan on Tuesday while hosting an Arab League Summit in its capital Cairo. The plan offers an alternative to United States President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Gaza Strip be depopulated in order to “develop” the enclave, under US control, in what critics have called ethnic cleansing. Under the Egyptian plan, Gaza’s Palestinian population would not be forced to leave the territory. Trump had insisted that Egypt and Jordan take Palestinians forced out of Gaza by his plan, but that was quickly rejected, and the US has signalled that it is open to hearing what an Arab plan for Gaza’s post-war reconstruction would be. Speaking at the start of the summit, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that Trump would be able to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here’s everything you need to know about the plan, based on Al Jazeera’s own reporting, as well as drafts of the plan reported on by the Reuters news agency and the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. Advertisement What does the Egyptian plan call for? The plan consists of three major stages: Interim measures, reconstruction and governance. The first stage would last about six months while the next two phases would take place over a combined four to five years. The aim is to reconstruct Gaza – which Israel has almost completely destroyed – maintain peace and security and reassert the governance of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza, 17 years after it was kicked out following fighting between Fatah, which dominates the PA, and Hamas. How does the plan aim to rebuild Gaza? A six-month interim period would require a committee of Palestinian technocrats – operating under the management of the PA – to clear the rubble from Salah al-Din Street, which is the main north-south highway in the Gaza Strip. Once the roads are clear, 200,000 temporary housing units would be built to accommodate 1.2 million people and about 60,000 damaged buildings restored. According to the blueprint, longer-term reconstruction requires an additional four to five years after the interim measures are completed. Over that span, the plan aims to build at least 400,000 permanent homes, as well as rebuilding Gaza’s seaport and international airport. Gradually, basic provisions such as water, a waste system, telecommunication services and electricity would also be restored. The plan further calls for the establishment of a Steering and Management Council, which would be a financial fund supporting the interim governing body in Gaza. Advertisement In addition, conferences will be held for international donors to provide the necessary funding for reconstruction and long-term development in the Strip. Who would be in charge of Gaza? The plan calls for a group of “independent Palestinian technocrats” to manage affairs in Gaza, in effect replacing Hamas. The technocratic government would be responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid and to pave the way for the PA to administer Gaza, according to el-Sisi. The plan does not mention elections, but, speaking at Tuesday’s summit, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said that an election could take place next year if circumstances allowed. On the security front, Egypt and Jordan have both pledged to train Palestinian police officers and deploy them to Gaza. The two countries have also called on the United Nations Security Council to consider authorising a peacekeeping mission to oversee governance in Gaza until reconstruction is complete. How much is this going to cost? Egypt is calling for $53bn to fund the reconstruction of Gaza, with the money distributed over three phases. In the first six-month phase it would cost $3bn to clear rubble from Salah al-Din Street, construct temporary housing, and restore partially damaged homes. The second phase would take two years and cost $20bn. The work of rubble removal would continue in this phase, as well as the establishment of utility networks and the building of more housing units. Phase three would cost $30bn and take two and a half years. It would include completing housing for Gaza’s whole population, establishing the first phase of an industrial zone, building fishing and commercial ports, and building an airport, among other services. Advertisement According to the plan, the money will be sourced from a variety of international sources including the United Nations and international financial organisations as well as foreign and private sector investments. Is the plan going to work? There are still a number of variables that could complicate the plan. Perhaps most importantly, it’s unclear whether Hamas, Israel or the United States will agree to it. Hamas welcomed the reconstruction plan, and has previously agreed to a technocratic government. But it is less clear if it will accept the return of the PA, which itself would face the perception from its critics that it has returned to Gaza on the back of Israel’s tanks. And Hamas may be willing to discuss its removal from governance, but is adamantly against its disarmament – something that the Egyptian plan adopted by the Arab League did not discuss. Israel has made it clear that is a red line, and that Hamas will not be allowed to keep its weapons. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that he will not allow the PA to return to Gaza. In its response to the adoption of the Egyptian plan, Israel said that Arab states needed to “break free from past constraints and collaborate to create a future of stability and security in the region”. The statement from the Israeli foreign ministry instead backed Trump’s Gaza displacement plan – which echoes a long-standing call from the Israeli far-right to depopulate Gaza. There is also the question of whether US President Trump will abandon his idea of a US-controlled “Middle East Riviera” for the Egyptian plan. It is difficult to predict what Trump’s position will be, particularly if Israel signals its opposition to the Egyptian plan. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
More than 200 children, some as young as one, raped in Sudan, UNICEF says
Report says sexual violence, including rape, is ‘being used as a tactic of war’ in violation of international law and laws protecting children. Children in war-ravaged Sudan, some as young as a year old, have been raped since the beginning of 2024, according to the United Nations children’s agency. In a report published on Tuesday, UNICEF said at least 221 children, including boys, were raped by armed men, according to records compiled by gender-based violence service providers in the North African nation. Of those cases, 66 percent of the survivors were girls and the rest were boys. There were 16 survivors below the age of five, including four who were as young as one. UNICEF recorded an additional 77 reported cases of sexual assault against children – primarily attempted rape. The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between the military and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with battles in capital Khartoum and around the country. Since then, at least 20,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely much higher. The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine. Advertisement ‘Rape as war tactic’ According to rights groups, atrocities, including sexual violence and forced child marriages, have been committed by both sides. An estimated 61,800 children have been internally displaced since the war began, according to UNICEF. The agency reported documented cases involving children who were raped during attacks on cities. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in the report that sexual violence, including rape, is “being used as a tactic of war” in violation of international law and laws protecting children. Since December 2024, about 110,000 people have arrived in Renk County in neighbouring South Sudan amid continuing violence in Sudan, according to Doctors Without Borders [File: Diego Menjibar/EPA] The cases of rape were reported in the states of Gadarif, Kassala, Gezeira, Khartoum, River Nile, Northern State, South Kordofan, North Darfur and West Darfur. In South Kordofan, a boy was raped at gunpoint and several children, including a six-year-old, were also raped. They were all out picking fruit. “In a culture of really serious social stigma and at a time when access to services has been severely hampered, the fact that this group came forward tells us that it is only a small sample,” UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram told The Associated Press news agency. “It is only the tip of the iceberg of what are undoubtedly hundreds more children who have been raped.” Ingram, who was in Sudan in December, said she met with victims who “endured horrors that no person would want to experience in their lifetime, and in the aftermath of those horrors, their suffering doesn’t stop”. Advertisement Many of the victims dealt with physical injuries and “serious psychological scars”, Ingram said, adding that some have attempted suicide. Survivors are often reluctant to report that they were subjected to sexual violence due to social stigma and fear of retribution from armed groups and rejection from family. UNICEF urged the Sudanese government and all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations to protect civilians, especially children, while those providing services to survivors must be protected. “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action,” said Russell. Adblock test (Why?)
How will Trump’s tariffs impact Mexico and Canada’s exports?
United States President Donald Trump has implemented sweeping 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The tariffs on the US’s biggest trading partners took effect at 00:00 Eastern Time (05:00 GMT), causing markets across the globe to tumble. Washington has also imposed an additional 10 percent levy on Chinese imports, adding to the 10 percent imposed last month. Mexico and Canada are the top US trading partners, accounting for more than 30 percent of total goods traded. The value of trade among the three North American countries is more than $1.6 trillion. Tariffs would apply to imports from Mexico and Canada of almost $918bn. How did we get here? The tariffs on Mexico and Canada were among the first floated after Trump’s re-election in November. He said he is imposing them to get Mexico and Canada to curb immigration and drug trafficking into the US and to balance the trade deficit between the US and its biggest trading partners. On February 3, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to boost border security to prevent the trafficking of drugs and flow of migrants into the US in last-minute deals to postpone tariffs that had been set to come into effect on February 4. Advertisement Last month, Trump also announced 25 percent tariffs on aluminium and steel imports that are to come into effect on March 12, which Mexico and Canada will also be affected by. What are tariffs and how do they work? A tariff is a government-imposed tax on imported goods and services paid by businesses bringing them into the country. Designed to protect domestic industries, tariffs often drive up costs for consumers by making foreign products more expensive, potentially reducing demand. When the first Trump administration introduced tariffs in 2018, the aim was to strengthen US industries and penalise foreign exporters. However, American businesses and consumers bore the greatest burden from these tariffs rather than the foreign exporters. The 25 percent US tariff on Mexican and Canadian exports could raise costs, reduce trade, lead to job losses, create economic uncertainty and trigger retaliatory tariffs, escalating a trade war. (Al Jazeera) What is the US-Canada and US-Mexico trade deficit? The US is at a trade deficit with Canada and Mexico, meaning that it is buying more goods from those countries than it is selling to them. In a statement from the White House on February 1, Trump stated that tariffs are a powerful source of leverage for the US, arguing that while trade accounts for 67 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 73 percent of Mexico’s, it accounts for only 24 percent of US GDP. The US trade deficit in goods was the world’s largest at more than $1 trillion. Advertisement Mexico is the largest US trading partner. In 2024, the US imported $505.8bn in goods from Mexico and exported $334bn, resulting in a trade deficit of $171.8bn. As the volume of trade has increased over the years, the US has consistently run a deficit with Mexico, which has expanded in the past 10 years. The trade deficit between the two countries has increased by 12.7 percent from 2023 to 2024. Canada is the second largest US trading partner. In 2024, the US imported $412.7bn in goods from Canada and exported $349.4bn, resulting in a trade deficit of $63.3bn. While tariffs may aim to reduce trade deficits by reducing imports, the real impact of tariffs is more complex with the potential for retaliatory tariffs and higher prices for consumers. How will tariffs affect the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)? In 2018 during his first term, Trump announced the USMCA as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been signed in 1992 during President George HW Bush’s administration. The USMCA, which came into effect in 2020, aimed to modernise trade between the three countries by strengthening labour and environmental protections, increasing car-manufacturing requirements, expanding digital trade rules and enhancing intellectual property protections. A review of the USMCA is due in 2026, but the potential threat of tariffs could lead to these negotiations happening sooner. US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the USMCA during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2018 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters] What Mexican products will be affected by tariffs? Mexico is one of the largest foreign suppliers of goods to the US with cars, trucks and auto parts making up the largest share of exports. Machinery and electrical equipment follow as key exports, including industrial machinery, computers and household appliances. Other major exports include petroleum products, farm products, medical devices, plastics and textiles. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Mexico’s main exports to the US in 2023 were: Advertisement Vehicles and auto parts ($123bn): including cars, trucks and automotive components Electrical machinery and electronics ($86.1bn): including computers, telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics Machinery, mechanical appliances and parts ($78.7bn): including industrial machinery and equipment Mineral fuels and mineral oils ($25.2bn): including petrol and refined petrol Optical, photographic, technical and medical apparatuses ($22.5bn): including instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical and scientific applications Furniture, bedding and lighting ($13.3bn): including household and office furniture, mattresses and lighting fixtures Beverages, spirits and vinegars ($11.6bn): including beer and hard liquor Fruit, nuts and fruit peels ($9.38bn): including tomatoes, avocados and a variety of fruits and vegetables What Canadian products will be affected by tariffs? Canada is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US with energy products, including crude oil and petroleum products, accounting for about 30 percent of all Canadian exports to the US. Cars, tractors and auto parts are the second-largest export, followed by machinery and mechanical appliances. Other significant exports include medicines, plastics and wood products. According to the OEC, Canada’s main exports to the US in 2023 were: Energy products ($131bn): including crude oil and petroleum products Cars, tractors, trucks and car parts ($56.7bn) Machinery and mechanical appliances ($32.2bn): covering industrial machinery and
Most adults, a third of children will be overweight or obese by 2050: Study
A third of such people will be living in two regions – MENA and Latin America and the Caribbean, researchers warn. Nearly 60 percent of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, says a new study. The research published in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday used data from 204 countries to paint a grim picture of what it described as one of the great health challenges of the century. “The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,” lead author Emmanuela Gakidou, from the United States-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said in a statement. The number of overweight or obese people worldwide rose from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021, the study found. Without a serious change, the researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years – or nearly 60 percent of the global adult population in 2050. The world’s health systems will come under crippling pressure, the researchers warned, with about a quarter of the world’s obese expected to be aged more than 65 by that time. Advertisement They also predicted a 121 percent increase in obesity among children and adolescents around the world. A third of all obese young people will be living in two regions – the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Latin America and the Caribbean – by 2050, the researchers warned. But it is not too late to act, said study co-author Jessica Kerr from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia. “Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems,” she said. That commitment was also needed for strategies “that improve people’s nutrition, physical activity and living environments, whether it’s too much processed food or not enough parks, Kerr said. The study said more than half the world’s overweight or obese adults already live in just eight countries – China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt. While poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are clearly drivers of the obesity epidemic, “there remains doubt” about the underlying causes for this, said Thorkild Sorensen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen not involved in the study. For example, socially deprived groups have a “consistent and unexplained tendency” towards obesity, he said in a linked comment in The Lancet. A separate study published on Monday, the World Obesity Atlas from the World Obesity Federation, also raised this issue. “The most affected regions are developing countries,” said Simon Barquera, president of the federation. The Obesity Atlas suggested that 79 percent of adults and 88 percent of children with obesity and overweight will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2035, and only 7 percent of all countries have adequate health systems in place to deal with this. Advertisement “It’s really one of the main public health challenges around the world,” Barquera added. Adblock test (Why?)
Mexico, Canada say prepared as Trump’s tariff deadline looms
Mexico’s president says country is ready for anything ahead of Tuesday deadline, as Canadian officials warn retaliation. A day before US President’s Donald Trump’s tariffs are expected to go into effect, Mexico and Canada say they have plans in place for how to respond. Trump is expected to decide on Monday what levels of tariffs he will impose early on Tuesday on Canada and Mexico amid last-minute negotiations over border security and efforts to halt the inflow of fentanyl opioids. Trump has vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, with 10 percent for Canadian energy. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that Mexico had made a strong case for staving off the tariffs, but that it would be up to Trump and the US government to decide how they will proceed. “So whatever his decision is, we will make our decisions and there is a plan and there is unity in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference. Speaking on CNBC on Monday, Canadian Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson again vowed retaliatory measures if Trump went ahead with the tariffs. Canadian officials had previously drawn up a plan to target imports produced in stronghold’s of Trump’s Republican party before the tariffs were first averted last month. It was not clear if they would take a similar approach this time around. Advertisement CEOs and economists say the action, covering more than $900bn worth of annual US imports from its southern and northern neighbours, would deal a serious setback to the highly integrated North American economy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday signalled that Trump may not impose the full amount of tariffs, saying that the president would determine their exact levels. Mexico and Canada have “done a reasonable job” of securing their US borders and Trump is considering what the final tariff levels should be, Lutnick told Fox News. “He’s sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play with Mexico and Canada, and that is a fluid situation,” he said. “There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate.” ‘The path that he’s chosen’ Trump has broadly vowed to reshape nearly all trade relations since taking office, claiming the US was being treated unfairly in its constellation of agreements across the world. That has sparked fears of overlapping trade wars that could disrupt the global economy. But Trump’s emphasis on Mexico and Canada has been particularly surprising, given the deeply intertwined nature of the three countries’ industries and economies. In response to the threat, both Mexico and Canada last month announced a series of initiatives to meet Trump’s demands related to migration and drug trafficking. That has included Mexico sending 10,000 National Guard troops to its shared border with the US. Last week, Mexico also extradited 29 drug cartel members to the US. Advertisement Among other measures, Canada has appointed a so-called “fentanyl czar”, despite US authorities seizing less than 20kg (44 pounds) of the opioid smuggled from Canada from October 2023 to September 2024. Senior Canadian and Mexican officials also met with Trump cabinet members on Friday to discuss their response. Trump adviser Peter Navarro said it was unlikely that Trump would waiver, despite concerns over domestic economic blowback. “This is the path that he’s chosen,” he told CNBC. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli anger at ceasefire delay focused on captives, not Gaza’s aid crisis
As the Israeli government stalls on the Gaza ceasefire deal agreed between it and the Palestinian group Hamas, delaying progression to phase two of the agreement, protesters gathered outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night. Yes, they were angry at his decision to unilaterally extend phase one of the deal, and frustrated at his delays in fully implementing the agreement, brokered in January. But their banners and slogans had no references to the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, after Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. Instead, the focus was on the Israeli captives left behind in Gaza as Netanyahu drags his feet, seemingly focused on finding a way to avoid ending the war. The Israeli government’s actions on Sunday seemed to point in the direction of an end to the ceasefire and a resumption of all-out war on Gaza, even as the captives remain there. Although phase one of the ceasefire expired on Saturday, the agreement had stipulated that the terms of the truce – including the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza – would continue while negotiations for phase two continued. Advertisement However, Israel announced on Sunday the emergence of a “Witkoff plan” – referring to United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – that would see half of the captives released immediately and the other half after an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, essentially throwing away the original ceasefire deal. Israel used the opportunity of the deal – which neither the US nor Witkoff himself have confirmed the existence of – to reinstate its blockade of Gaza, sending food prices skyrocketing there. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the aid blockade carried “devastating consequences” for children and families in Gaza battered by 16 months of war. Collective punishment is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, Professor Gerry Simpson of the London School of Economics told Al Jazeera, irrespective of who was enforcing it. “The fact that it is being phrased as a form of punishment suggests a certain disregard for the laws of war, but that disregard does not render these laws null or unimportant,” he said. In addition to the suspension of aid, the Israeli government is also mulling approval of a bill that would allow it to call up 400,000 of its reserve soldiers in anticipation of renewed conflict in Gaza. In the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 300,000 reserve soldiers were called up, the largest mobilisation in Israel’s history at the time. Angry families While Israeli public anger towards Netanyahu over the current breakdown in negotiations is not yet widespread, former ambassador and consul general of Israel in New York, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera that it was likely to grow if the impasse continued, until it became “clear that he’s [Netanyahu] looking for a pretext to break the ceasefire and thus condemn hostages to death”. Advertisement The fate of the 251 or so captives taken prisoner during the October 7 attack has represented a throughline in Israeli public criticism of its prime minister. However, recent weeks – where images of captives returning to their families have dominated the media – have in turn elevated the voices of their families, who are often critical of Netanyahu. Those protesting outside of Netanyahu’s residence on Sunday night, led by the families of the captives, made it clear that they felt the prime minister was to blame for the impasse in completing the ceasefire agreement. At a press conference held by a number of the captives’ families earlier the same day, Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri Miran remains in Gaza, rejected the claims by some members of Israel’s cabinet, including Netanyahu, that no agreement is possible while Hamas remains in existence, telling reporters, “Hostages immediately, Hamas afterwards”. “Netanyahu knows he doesn’t have a monopoly over the narrative right now,” Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg said, “so there’s a risk that, with this delay, he could find himself under increased fire from the hostages’ families, which have a lot of public sympathy”. Goldberg suggested that this, among other factors tied directly to Netanyahu’s political survival, may limit how long the current impasse can continue. Bad faith Scepticism over Netanyahu’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement is not new. Since its inception, the prime minister has hinted at his willingness to break the agreement in order to placate its critics, while also using the ceasefire’s existence to reassure the captives’ families and their supporters. Advertisement In January, Netanyahu signalled his intention to break the agreement when negotiating with his hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to remain in the cabinet and not join fellow far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in resigning his post over the prospect of reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas. As part of his deal with Smotrich, Netanyahu was reported to have assured the finance minister that the ceasefire was temporary and that military operations in Gaza would resume aimed at dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities once the “temporary” truce was over. Negotiations on a permanent ceasefire were slated to be included in the second stage. “People don’t really trust Netanyahu,” analyst Nimrod Flashenberg said from Tel Aviv. “A lot of the public doubted that the ceasefire would hold from the start, but we really don’t know what will happen next. A lot of that depends upon the [US President Donald] Trump administration.” For many observers, everything from the delay in progressing to the second stage of the ceasefire deal to the ambiguity over who suggested its suspension was typical of a prime minister who had profited from sowing confusion among his critics for years. “This is what he does,” Goldberg said. “It’s what everyone in Israel expects of him. Politically, there’s no reason for it. He has no political rivals; he has the settlers on [his] side. It’s just what he does.” “For Netanyahu, these byzantine schemes are essential to keeping the Israeli ship of state on course,” he
UK says several Ukraine truce options on table after France floats plan
The United Kingdom has said there are several proposals for a potential Ukraine ceasefire after French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a limited initial one-month truce, as Kyiv reiterated its need for security guarantees as part of any agreement. European countries, led by the UK and France, are looking at options for a proposal to halt Russia’s war on Ukraine after last week’s Oval Office rupture between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday and said they had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the US. In an interview given on his way to the summit, Macron raised the possibility of a one-month ceasefire, although so far there has been no public endorsement from other allies. “Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said of Macron’s proposal. Advertisement “And that’s when real peace negotiations could start.” Starmer’s spokesperson on Monday said there are “clearly a number of options” on the table. “I’m just not getting into a running commentary on the options,” he added. UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard told Times Radio that no agreement has been made on “what a truce looks like”. “But we are working with France and European allies for a lasting peace,” Pollard said. Asked if he was aware of the plan raised by Macron, Zelenskyy said: “I’m aware of everything.” In comments on Monday, Zelenskyy accused Russia of not being serious about peace and said tough security guarantees were the only way to end more than three years of conflict in Ukraine. He called for “effective security guarantees that will make it impossible for Russian aggression to return” after predicting that Moscow would break any deal. “Anyone who wants to negotiate does not deliberately hit people with ballistic missiles,” he said in his statement. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, dismissed the Ukraine leader’s comments, accusing him of not wanting peace, echoing US criticisms after Zelenskyy was shouted down in the White House last week. “What happened at the White House on Friday, of course, demonstrated how difficult it will be to reach a settlement trajectory around Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “The Kyiv regime and Zelenskyy do not want peace. They want the war to continue. It is very important that someone forces Zelenskyy himself to change his position. Someone has to make Zelenskyy want peace. If the Europeans can do it, they should be honoured and praised.” Advertisement European countries are adjusting to what some leaders describe as the biggest policy reversal since World War II from Washington – especially after Friday’s bust-up, when Zelenskyy left the White House abruptly after a dressing down in front of cameras by Trump and US Vice President JD Vance. The Ukrainian leader had been in Washington to sign a deal to give the United States access to Ukrainian minerals, but left without signing it. Speaking to Fox News, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Zelenskyy should apologise. “What we need to hear from President Zelenskiy is that he has regret for what happened, he’s ready to sign this minerals deal and that he’s ready to engage in peace talks,” Waltz said. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask. We’ll see what happens in the next 48 hours, but we are certainly looking to move forward in a positive way.” European leaders have agreed they must spend more on defence to show Trump the continent can protect itself. The European Union is due to hold an emergency summit on Thursday. Reporting from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said that Ukrainians are bracing for uncertain times ahead. “They would have been buoyed by the level of support expressed by European leaders in London yesterday, but they are also aware there are a whole lot of hurdles yet that need to be overcome before we see anything real and concrete in terms of stopping the fighting in Ukraine,” Stratford said. “It’s all key on whether the US will agree to security guarantees both around this plan that Europe has and with respect to the minerals deal as well,” he added. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
RFK Jr, noted vaccine sceptic, backs measles jab amid deadly US outbreak
US health secretary says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about outbreak in Texas. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the top health official in the United States who is known for his scepticism of vaccines, has backed the measles jab amid a deadly outbreak of the infectious disease in Texas. In an opinion piece published by Fox News on Sunday, Kennedy said he was “deeply concerned” about the spread of the disease despite earlier suggesting that it was “not unusual”. “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Kennedy wrote, though he said the decision to vaccinate is “a personal one”. The US secretary of health and human services said that before the introduction of the MMR vaccine, “virtually every child” in the US contracted measles. “For example, in the United States, from 1953 to 1962, on average there were 530,217 confirmed cases and 440 deaths, a case fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases,” he wrote. US authorities last month reported the first measles death in the country in a decade after an unvaccinated school-aged child was hospitalised with the disease in northwest Texas. Advertisement As of Friday, 146 cases had been identified in the state since late January, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Health officials have said the cases have been concentrated in a community of Mennonites, a Christian sect that arose out of the radical factions of the 16th-century Reformation. Kennedy, who has promoted scientifically discredited research linking vaccines to autism, attracted criticism last month when he appeared to downplay the outbreak by pointing out there had been several outbreaks already this year. Measles can be highly dangerous for people who are not vaccinated, including young infants who are not typically eligible for immunisation. About one in five unvaccinated individuals in the US who gets measles is hospitalised, while about one out of every 20 children with the disease gets pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli-Palestinian film No Other Land wins Oscar for best documentary
The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers triumphed over Porcelain War, Sugarcane, Black Box Diaries and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. No Other Land, a film about Palestinians fighting to protect their homes from demolition by Israel’s military, has won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers triumphed on Sunday over Porcelain War, Sugarcane, Black Box Diaries and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. The film, produced between 2019 and 2023, follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown, Masafer Yatta, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone, at the southern edge of the West Bank. Adra’s pleas fall on deaf ears until he befriends a Jewish-Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham, who helps him amplify his story. Accepting the award, Adra said No Other Land reflects the harsh reality Palestinians have been enduring for decades. “About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now, always fearing settlers, violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements that my community is living and tasting every day under Israeli occupation,” said Adra. Advertisement He also called on the world to “take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”. #Oscars2025 🇵🇸 @basel_adra: “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.” #NoOtherLand pic.twitter.com/2yVfryoAWC — State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) March 3, 2025 ‘Together, our voices are stronger’ Abraham said they made the film because together, their voices were stronger. “We see each other: The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end. Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, which must be freed,” he said. Abraham criticised the Israeli regime that destroys Adra’s life, and said there is a different path, a “political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people”. But the United States’ foreign policy is helping block that path, he said. “Can’t you see that we’re intertwined – that my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way. It’s not too late for life for the living. There is no other way,” he added. The film has struggled to find a distributor in the US, so its makers arranged for it to have a one-week run at the Lincoln Center in November in order to qualify for tonight’s Oscars. The Oscar on Sunday is the latest high-profile honour that No Other Land has gained. It also won the audience award and documentary film award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Non-Fiction Film. Advertisement The film is heavily reliant on camcorder footage from Adra’s personal archive. He captures Israeli soldiers bulldozing the village school and filling water wells with cement to prevent people from rebuilding. It shows residents banding together after Adra films an Israeli soldier shooting a local man who is protesting the demolition of his home. The man becomes paralysed, and his mother struggles to take care of him while living in a cave. .@yuval_abraham: When I look at @basel_adra I see my brother, but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control, there is a different path…the foreign policy in 🇺🇸 is helping… pic.twitter.com/iWSLN5bs27 — Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 3, 2025 More than 500,000 settlers live in the occupied West Bank, which is home to about three million Palestinians. The settlers have Israeli citizenship while Palestinians live under military rule with the Palestinian Authority administering population centres. Major human rights groups have described the situation as apartheid, an allegation rejected by the Israeli government, which views the West Bank as the historical and biblical heartland of the Jewish people and is opposed to Palestinian statehood. Adblock test (Why?)
In post-war Lebanon, Hezbollah grapples with new relationship to the state
Beirut, Lebanon – Hezbollah rallied thousands of its supporters for the funeral of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in September. The funeral on February 23 was an opportunity for the Lebanese group to send a message: Despite the losses it has experienced in the past several months, it is still strong and should not be underestimated. But analysts told Al Jazeera the show of strength does not make up for the impact of Israel’s war against Hezbollah, which saw much of the group’s top leadership killed and a significant portion of its military arsenal reportedly destroyed. When a ceasefire was finally announced on November 27, Hezbollah was left battered and exhausted. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has ‘lent a hand’ to the new government, one analyst close to the group says [Manar TV via Reuters] The ceasefire stated that Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River and away from Lebanon’s border with Israel while Israeli forces would leave southern Lebanon and a newly empowered Lebanese military would control the south. Advertisement Days later, Hezbollah lost one of its most crucial allies, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, which fell in a lightning opposition offensive. It now finds itself at a crossroads. Hezbollah weakened “Hezbollah is in a difficult position,” Imad Salamey, a senior Middle East policy adviser and associate professor of political science and international affairs at Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera, adding that the group is “facing its weakest moment in decades”. Before September, Hezbollah was the most influential political actor in Lebanon and reportedly one of the world’s most heavily armed nonstate actors. It was formed to repel an Israeli invasion in the 1980s, held out against a major confrontation with Israel in 2006 and built its arsenal and manpower up since then. It has often been described as a “state within a state” and also provides key services to its predominantly Shia Muslim supporters – a community historically overlooked and underserved by the Lebanese state. A day after Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel and Israel’s launch of a genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Hezbollah entered the fray, engaging Israel along the border to pressure it to stop attacking Gaza. Its intervention was much anticipated, given that Hezbollah’s position has long been in support of Palestine and against Israel. In January, Joseph Aoun, right, was elected president, and Nawaf Salam, left, was chosen to be prime minister of Lebanon [Handout/Lebanese Presidency Press Office via Reuters] The conflict escalated in September when Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in attacks blamed on Israel. Israel also launched a day of air strikes across Lebanon on September 23 that killed at least 558 people, mostly civilians. The air attacks continued, and four days later, Nasrallah was killed. Many of Hezbollah’s military and religious leaders have also been killed since, including Nasrallah’s successor Hashem Safieddine in early October. Advertisement Israel destroyed infrastructure and homes across Lebanon, targeting parts of the country where Shia Muslims – Hezbollah’s support base – live, such as southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. It invaded Lebanon in October, particularly devastating the south, where it wiped out entire villages. Hezbollah was left militarily weakened and unable to now fight back against Israel in the same way it used to. “[New Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim] Qassem has inherited a weaker Hezbollah from his predecessor Nasrallah, and it will be interesting to see if he’d be as smart of a navigator given that so much of Nasrallah’s success was based on the party’s ability to project power,” Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese researcher and author of the Hauntologies newsletter, told Al Jazeera. “Whether or not they decide to adopt a completely different methodology or not is what we’ll see in the coming months.” A new political system and leveraging anger The other sources of Hezbollah’s strength have been the support it receives from Iran, both material through Syria and financial, manifested in the social support systems it ran and in its political representation and influence. However, as international attention increased on Lebanon after the ceasefire, its parliament was encouraged to select a new president and prime minister in early January, ending two years of government paralysis. For the first time since 2008, Hezbollah and its sister Shia party, Amal, were not able to nominate every Shia granted a ministerial portfolio in the new cabinet. Advertisement “Hezbollah no longer has the financial means, open Iranian backing or clear military options to resist these changes,” Salamey said. To make the best of the situation, Hezbollah has tried to leverage what it can, Karim Safieddine, a Lebanese political writer and doctoral student in sociology at Pittsburgh University, told Al Jazeera. “Hezbollah’s goal today is multifold,” Safieddine said. “[They want to] develop the resentment of the Shia community in the pursuit of consolidating control over it, find a way to navigate the fact that it’s facing extreme financial challenges – using international support to the government is one way but also while locating credit – [and] continue to justify holding arms in the name of state weakness and continued Israeli violations.” Thousands of people attend the funerals for Nasrallah and Safieddine at the Sports City Stadium in Beirut [Hassan Ammar/AP] While many displaced Lebanese started to return to the south after the ceasefire, Israel used the cessation of Hezbollah attacks to continue occupying many villages and enter others for the first time. The Lebanese government accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by not withdrawing from southern Lebanon and not stopping its attacks on people and villages. On February 18, Israel announced it would continue occupying at least five key points in Lebanon, but now, the Lebanese army is responsible for security in the south, not Hezbollah – and some have criticised the army for failing to liberate the land and properly protect the people of the south. Advertisement Cash-strapped Hezbollah has promised to pay for reconstruction and has already begun