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Hamas and the Israeli government have responded to an interview on Sky News in which a former official in the Biden White House said Israel had “without a doubt” committed war crimes in Gaza.

A statement from Hamas said comments by Matt Miller, who as State Department Spokesman articulated the views of the US government, amounted to a “significant admission that condemns the occupation and exposes its crimes”.

On the Trump 100 podcast, Mr Miller was asked if he agreed with the view that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide.

“I don’t think it’s a genocide, but I think, I think it is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes,” Mr Miller said.

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Former Biden official: Israel ‘committed war crimes’

In a written statement, Hamas said Mr Miller’s words reveal that he was, quote, “not allowed to speak the truth while in office and was forced to adhere to the US government’s official narrative regarding the occupation’s practices”.

“This exposes the deep political complicity of US administrations with the occupation and their criminal cover-up of its brutal violations,” it added.

And the proscribed terror group said his words “reveal attempts by successive US administrations to obscure the truth about this brutal war against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip”.

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A Hamas spokesperson said: “This admission does not only condemn the occupation but also holds Washington directly responsible as an active partner in the war crimes and genocide committed against our Palestinian people in Gaza, through funding, arming, providing political and diplomatic protection, along with spreading misleading media coverage.”

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27 reported killed by Israeli fire

Sky News challenged Mr Miller on why he didn’t speak up while in government, to which he said: “When you’re at the podium, you’re not expressing your personal opinion.

“You’re expressing the conclusions of the United States government. The United States government had not concluded that they committed war crimes, still have not concluded [that].”

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From February 2024: Matthew Miller challenged on Palestinian death toll

Pressed further on why he didn’t offer such views while serving as State Department spokesman, Mr Miller told Trump100: “The State Department did release a report in the spring of last year where, look, there was a bunch of bureaucratic legalese language as the government always [uses] where they did say it’s reasonable to assess that Israel has at times acted in violation of the laws of war, or something similar.”

He continued: “So the State department itself had concluded – they didn’t phrase it in these terms – but I think I did it at the podium, a few times, conclude that it was likely that Israel had committed war crimes, but I do think it’s almost certain that they have.”

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From December 2023: ‘Take our words at face value’

Mr Miller offered a qualifying distinction between state-sanctioned war crimes and individual illegal acts by soldiers.

“There are two ways to think about the commission of war crimes: One is if the state has pursued a policy to deliberately commit war crimes or is acting reckless in a way that aids and abets war crimes.

“Is the [Israeli] state committing war crimes? That, I think, is an open question. I think what is almost certainly not an open question is that there have been individual incidents that have been war crimes where Israeli soldiers, members of the Israeli military, have committed war crimes.”

Sky News put Mr Miller’s accusations to Israeli government spokesman David Mencer.

“Of course, when there are claims like that, they need to be fairly investigated, but I can tell you that Israel upholds the highest levels of international law that is key in the strategy of releasing our hostages and destroying this terrorist organisation,” he said.

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But to that, Mr Miller, out of office, now echoes a point repeatedly put to him by journalists while he was in office, at the podium: that Israeli investigations so often go nowhere.

At the podium, he repeated phrases like “…we are asking the Israelis to investigate…”, “…we are concerned by what we have seen…”, “…we are waiting for the results of the Israeli investigation…”.

Now, Mr Miller says: “We do know that Israel has opened investigations, but look, we are many months into those investigations and we’re not seeing Israeli soldiers held accountable.

“We have not yet seen them hold sufficient numbers of the military accountable and I think it’s an open question whether they are going to.”

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At least 25 killed as bus bursts into flames after crash with motorbike in India

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At least 25 killed as bus bursts into flames after crash with motorbike in India

A passenger bus burst into flames after a motorbike crashed into it, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India.

A fire ripped through the bus within minutes early on Friday, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh state.

Some people managed to break windows, leaping to safety with minor injuries, while others were charred to death, senior police official Vikrant Patil said.

Volunteers working amid the debris of the bus. Pic: AP
Image:
Volunteers working amid the debris of the bus. Pic: AP

There were 44 passengers on board, most of whom were asleep at the time of the crash.

The bus was gutted and the unidentified bike rider also died, Mr Patil said.

The accident occurred in Chinnatekuru village near Kurnool, around 130 miles (210 kilometres) south of Hyderabad.

The bus was travelling between the cities of Hyderabad in Telangana state and Bengaluru in Karnataka state.

The motorbike rammed into the speeding bus from behind and became stuck, Mr Patil said. It was dragged for some distance, causing sparks that engulfed the bus’s fuel tank.

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“As the smoke started spreading, the driver stopped the bus and tried to put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher, but the fire was so intense he couldn’t control it,” Mr Patil said.

A team of forensic experts was investigating the incident.

India‘s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered his condolences to the bereaved families.

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Makers of lift used by Louvre thieves reveal tongue-in-cheek advert

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Makers of lift used by Louvre thieves reveal tongue-in-cheek advert

The makers of the furniture lift used by the Louvre thieves have told Sky News the device is “certainly not intended for burglaries” after publishing a tongue-in-cheek advert making the most of the product’s sudden fame.

Bocker manufactures the Agilo furniture lift that was used in Sunday’s daring daytime heist.

The day after thieves made off with a haul of France’s Crown Jewels worth €88m (£76m), the firm posted a photograph showing the lift inside the police cordon next to the Paris museum with the tagline “when you need to move fast”.

Posted on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, it shows the vehicle’s ladder propped up against the side of the building, telling prospective buyers the lift can carry “up to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute – as quiet as a whisper”.

CEO Alexander Bocker told Sky News he and his wife, marketing manager Julia Scharwatz, realised their product had been used in the heist when they saw photos from the scene on Sunday afternoon.

“We were shocked that our lift had been completely misused for this robbery, as it is not approved for transporting people,” he said. “And certainly not intended for burglaries.

“Once the initial shock had subsided and it was clear that no one had been injured, black humour took over.

“We brainstormed a bit and played slogan ping pong. My wife finalised it with her marketing team on Monday morning.”

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Moment thieves escape Louvre in jewel heist

Users have generally seen the funny side, with one Instagram comment saying the post “might be the best ad I’ve seen this year” and another suggesting the company deserves “the Oscar for the cleverest advertising”.

Mr Bocker said “99% of the feedback ” has been “thoroughly positive”. “We understand that not everyone shares this sense of humour. Humour rarely, if ever, appeals to everyone, but the vast majority laughed heartily.”

As of Friday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had liked the post on Instagram.

The CEO said his company has had enquiries from around the world and “many congratulations on our successful marketing campaign”.

A police officer swabs the lift for any traces of evidence. Pic: Louvre
Image:
A police officer swabs the lift for any traces of evidence. Pic: Louvre

The lift used by the thieves belonged to one of the firm’s customers, who rents out furniture lifts in the Greater Paris area, he explained.

“During a demonstration on how to use the furniture lift, it was apparently stolen and reported as such by our customer,” Mr Bocker said. “It appears that the company’s branding has been removed and the number plates replaced.”

Read more from Sky News:
Louvre: UK museums could be next
What will happen to stolen jewels?

The Louvre reopened to visitors on Wednesday, having shut shortly after the heist took place on Sunday morning.

The eight stolen objects remain missing and the thieves, who escaped on motorbikes, are still at large.

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Louvre: How ‘heist of the century’ unfolded

Museum director Laurence des Cars offered to resign when she appeared before French senators on Wednesday, admitting that the four-minute raid was a “terrible failure” and that the site’s security cameras, which do not offer full coverage of the building’s facade, were inadequate.

It came just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and under-resourcing, and saying there were too few eyes on too many rooms.

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Power of Russia sanctions lies in US financial system that greases the wheels

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Power of Russia sanctions lies in US financial system that greases the wheels

US sanctions against Russia’s two largest energy companies, the state-owned Rosneft and privately held Lukoil, are perhaps the most significant economic measures imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.

If fully implemented, they have the potential to significantly choke off the flow of fossil fuel revenue that funds Russia’s war machine, but their power lies not in directly denying Russia access to the tankers, ports and refineries that make the oil trade turn, but the US financial system that greases the wheels.

Ever since the invasion, the Russian government has proved masterful at evading sanctions, aided and abetted by allies of economic convenience and an oil industry with decades of experience.

Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy expresses relief at Trump move

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New US sanctions on Russia: What do we know?

While the West, principally the EU, has largely turned off the taps and stopped buying Russian oil, China, India and Turkey became the largest consumers, with a shadow fleet of tankers ensuring exports continued to flow.

Data from the Centre for Research into Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that while fossil fuel revenues have fallen from more than €1bn a day before the war, they have remained above €600m since the start of 2023, only dipping towards €500m in the last month.

None of that oil has been heading for the US, but these sanctions will directly impact the ability of the Russian companies, and anyone doing business with them, to operate within America’s financial orbit.

According to the order from the US Office for Foreign Asset Control, the sanctions block all assets of the two companies, their subsidiaries and a number of named individuals, as well as preventing US citizens or financial institutions from doing business with them.

It also threatens foreign financial institutions that “facilitate transactions… involving Russia’s military-industrial base” with direct or secondary sanctions.

Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Moscow.
Pic: Sputnik/Reuters
Image:
Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Moscow.
Pic: Sputnik/Reuters

In practice, the measures should prevent the two companies from accessing not just dollars, but trading markets, insurance and other services with any financial connection to the US.

Taken in harness with similar steps announced by the UK earlier this month, analysts believe they can have a genuinely chilling effect on the market for Russian oil and gas.

Russia’s customers for oil in China, India and Turkey will also be affected, with the largest companies, state-owned and private, expected to be unwilling to take the risk of engaging directly with sanctioned entities.

Indian companies are already reported to be “recalibrating” their imports following the announcement, which came just a week after Donald Trump announced an additional 25% import tariff on Indian goods as punishment for the country’s reliance on Russian oil.

Read more:
Russia has responded with bravado to US sanctions
Trump imposes sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil firms

That does not mean that Russian oil and gas exports will cease. There are other unsanctioned Russian energy companies that can still trade, and ever since the first barrel of oil was tapped, the industry has proved adept at evading sanctions intended to interrupt its flow from one country or another.

Any significant increase in the oil price beyond the 5% seen in the aftermath of the announcement could also put pressure on the White House, which is at least as sensitive to fuel prices at home as it is to foreign wars.

But analysts Kpler expect the sanctions to cause “an immediate, short-term hiatus in Russian crude exports, as it will take time for sellers to reorganise and rebuild their trading systems to circumvent restrictions and ease buyers’ concerns”.

And Russian gas will, for now, continue to flow into Europe, where distaste for Vladimir Putin‘s imperial ambitions has not killed the appetite for his fuel. While the EU has this week imposed sanctions on liquified natural gas (LNG), they will not be fully enforced until 2027.

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