US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state in an unannounced visit to the West Bank – as Hamas claims Israel struck a refugee camp in Gaza.
Continuing his tour of the region, Mr Blinken met the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the city of Ramallah on Sunday.
Mr Abbas demanded an “immediate ceasefire” to allow humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which Israel continues to bombard in response to Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians on 7 October.
“We demand that you stop them from committing these crimes immediately,” Mr Abbas told Mr Blinken, according to a spokesperson.
It comes as Hamas, which has run Gaza independently of the Palestinian Authority since 2007, claimed on Sunday that an Israeli airstrike killed at least 47 people in the Maghazi refugee camp.
Mr Blinken said the US is committed to getting aid into Gaza and restoring essential services there, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a readout of the meeting.
“The secretary also expressed the commitment of the United States to working toward the realisation of the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he added.
Other key developments: • Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s parents-in-law have arrived in Scotland after fleeing Gaza; • Israeli minister reportedly suspended after suggesting atomic bomb on Gaza is an option; • Boris Johnson meets Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem to “express solidarity”; • Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK claims Israel has used white phosphorus in southern Lebanon.
Image: Palestinians search for casualties at the site of a blast at Maghazi refugee camp
Violence has continued in the West Bank, with 121 Palestinians killed there since the war in Gaza began, according to UN figures.
About 200 people gathered in Ramallah on Sunday to protest Mr Blinken’s arrival, which follows visits to Israel and Jordan.
Mr Blinken and Mr Abbas “discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians and hold those accountable responsible”, Mr Miller said.
Mr Blinken has already suggested an “effective and revitalised Palestinian Authority” would make the most sense to ultimately run Gaza.
He repeated his belief on Sunday, telling Mr Abbas the Palestinian Authority should play a central role in what comes next in the Gaza Strip, according to a senior State Department official.
The official added: “[The] future of Gaza was not the focus of the meeting but the Palestinian Authority seemed willing to play a role.”
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Sky News enters Gaza
Mr Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has seen its popularity drop amid allegations of incompetence and unpopular security arrangements with Israel.
It is unclear who would succeed Mr Abbas, 87, who is a staunch opponent of Hamas.
Demonstration in Turkey after global protests
As Mr Blinken headed to Turkey for talks over Gaza on Sunday afternoon, police fired tear gas and water cannon at pro-Palestine protesters near a US air base, according to Turkish media.
According to the Karar newspaper and other outlets, the intervention came as demonstrators tried to cross fields to enter the base at Incirlik, in southern Turkey.
Protesters were seen hurling plastic chairs, rocks, and other items at police, who fired smoke bombs at crowds as scuffles broke out.
Image: People clashed with riot police in Turkey. Pic: AP
Hundreds of vehicles arrived in Incirlik on Sunday afternoon for the protest, which was the culmination of a convoy that set off on a 940-kilometre (585-mile) journey from Istanbul on Friday.
The demonstration was organised by the IHH aid group, which Israel has accused of links to Hamas, and came just hours before Mr Blinken was due to arrive in the country.
Israel’s siege of Gaza has also stirred global alarm at humanitarian conditions, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting around the world on Saturday.
Demonstrations were held in cities including London, Berlin, Paris, Istanbul and Jakarta, with hundreds of thousands calling for a ceasefire.
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Protests were held around the world
There was also a protest in Washington to denounce President Biden’s war policy and demand a ceasefire.
The Hamas-run health ministry has said 21 Palestinians from the same family were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight.
It said in a post on its Facebook page that they belonged to the family of Abu Hasira and that the strike targeted a house that was “full of women and children”.
Sky News has not independently verified the claim.
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 Ukrainianleader 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.
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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.
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.
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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”.
At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.
The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.
Image: Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
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The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the US met for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.
Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.
Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.
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Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.
Image: Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP
According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.
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The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.
It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.
Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.
Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.
Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.
“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”
They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.
Image: People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica. Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini
Image: A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican
And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.
Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”
The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.
More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.
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Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.
All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.
Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.
Image: Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope
He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.
“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.
“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”
Image: People attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters/Yara Nardi
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Video shows Pope’s tomb
What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.
“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”
That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.
Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.
Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.
Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.
Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.
You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.
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The farewell to Pope Francis
“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.
“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”