An astonishing unravelling of a situation that’s long been forgotten, ignored, or tolerated. What next?
It was 2.30am in Washington DC when White House officials were first alerted to a situation which will come to represent a truly bloody turning point.
Throughout the remainder of the night, the phone lines were hot. Israel’s most important ally was in constant contact with military officials in Tel Aviv and the political leaders in Jerusalem trying to determine what was unfolding.
By 7am, America’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was speaking by phone to his Israeli counterpart. By just after 8am, the full national security team including the secretary of state, the defence secretary, the CIA chief and others were talking to President Biden relaying the unprecedented gravity of the situation.
The president then called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and made clear his total commitment and full unequivocal support for Israel.
Joe Biden and Antony Blinken at the White House in Washington on Saturday
By mid-morning, US time, as the attacks in Israel continued, President Biden spoke to King Abdullah of Jordan, a key conduit for all sides in this long conflict now taking a new alarming twist.
In parallel, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was on the phone to his counterparts in the UK, Germany and Italy as well as key calls to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and to Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas in the West Bank.
Airstrike flattens high-rise in Gaza; follow Israel-Gaza latest
This was a Saturday morning of high diplomatic tension to reflect an astonishing unravelling of a situation that’s been forgotten, ignored, or tolerated by too many for too long.
There is no question that this multi-layered Palestinian attack represents a huge Israeli intelligence failure. Israel has been too consumed in its internal political meltdown. It reflects badly on the intelligence capabilities of America too. They didn’t have Israel’s back.
A Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip
But does it also reflect failure of diplomacy too? A rush to cement the Abraham Accords (a hugely significant Trump-era normalisation deal between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain) by expanding it to include Saudi Arabia.
American officials insist they have been central in keeping the Palestinians a key part of the conversation. True, maybe, for West Bank Palestinians. But as always, the Palestinian Gaza situation was a nettle no one would, or could, grasp.
Short term, we can predict what will happen. The civilian loss of life will be huge. The consequence of Saturday’s terrorism against Israel will be truly terrifying for the people of Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s overnight statement spelt out with characteristic blunt clarity what it will look like.
“We will destroy [Hamas] and we will forcefully avenge this dark day…” he said, adding “As Bialik [a Jewish poet] wrote: ‘Revenge for the blood of a little child has yet been devised by Satan’.”
To the residents of Gaza, he said: “Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere.”
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Israel: How the attack unfolded
The problem is, where do they go? They cannot leave the Gaza Strip. Could Egypt open its Rafah border crossing? Would they allow nearly a million people across?
This is a key question which American officials are trying to answer. A presidential call between Joe Biden and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt is likely.
Through previous iterations of this long conflict, Western unequivocal support for Israel becomes more nuanced as the civilian casualties mount.
This Saturday, the Israeli civilian casualties have been unprecedented. We can expect the Israeli response to be equally unprecedented.
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‘Israel has right to defend itself’
On this point, an American administration official said: “I am not going to comment on what the Israelis might do, might not do, should do, should not do. I am just not going to get into that tonight.”
You can bet though that they will want to know precisely what the Israelis will do.
Read more:
Explainer: How Hamas attack unfolded
Analysis: Unprecedented attack has caused chaos
Sunak says Israel has ‘right to defend itself’
Beyond the immediate focus on Gaza, there are so many unknowns.
To what extent will the West Bank be drawn into the conflict? The Palestinian Authority which runs the West Bank (and cooperates with Israel) is distinct from Hamas who run Gaza. But across the West Bank, hopelessness has pushed people away from the moderation of their own leaders to the extremism of Hamas.
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Israel attack: What we know so far
To the north, how will Hezbollah in Lebanon respond? Their well-rehearsed opportunist tactics are to attack from the north, to pressure Israel on another front. Lebanon’s broken politics and economy make things even more dangerous.
Then there is Iran. How will Israel respond to their conviction that all this is, in the end, an Iran problem?
The potential for spillover in the Israel-Palestinian conflict is always there. It’s just got so much more real.
US
Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’
Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.
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From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral
Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.
“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.
However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.
He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.
“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.
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It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.
State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.
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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”
It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.
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From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit
The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
Follow live updates: Zelenskyy among world leaders joining thousands of mourners
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
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