Connect with us

Published

on

The Middle East is the closest it has been to regional war in 50 years, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK has warned. 

Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud told Sky News’s The World with Yalda Hakim that the situation on the ground is only getting worse and it is time to put in “renewed efforts” to stop fighting in places like Gaza.

“I’d like to say I was optimistic, but it is difficult to see where that optimism would come from,” he said, when asked his reaction to the conflict.

“The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse… I think this is the closest we’ve been to a regional war since 1973.”

Mr al Saud said it is down to both the Israelis and Palestinians to do all they can to prevent further escalation.

Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud
Image:
Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud

“The Israeli-Palestinian problem affects people all around the world in a way that very few conflicts have. You see in protests [around the world], everyone is affected and motivated by what is happening on the ground.

“So Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility – whether they like it or not – to the world.

This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
Image:
An image appears to show an exploded walkie-talkie inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon . ic: AP

Mourners carry the coffin of Mohammed Mahdi, son of Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar, who was killed Tuesday after his handheld pager exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Image:
Mourners in Lebanon after pager explosions. Pic: AP

“A conflict that spreads beyond where it is, spreads to the region. If it spreads to the region, it spreads to the world, and that’s not a scenario that anybody wants to see.

“It is time we put renewed efforts in to stop the fighting… we need more of the international community to push harder,” he said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Lebanon: How did the blasts happen?

‘Warning shots’

His caution comes after Israel’s defence minister announced a “new phase” of the war with troops moving up to the country’s northern border, where it has exchanged cross-border fire with Hezbollah for months.

Over the past two days, dozens of members of the Lebanese militant group have been killed after electronic devices – pagers and hand-held radios – exploded.

Despite Israel not yet confirming or denying its involvement in the attacks, many – including the UN secretary general – speculate this could prelude a more serious attack.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

Another of those is former senior Israeli intelligence official, Dr Eyal Pinko, who told The World with Yalda Hakim that the explosive pagers and radios were a “warning shot”.

He said the blasts were a “very successful tactical move”, although he claimed he did not know if Israel was responsible.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

“The way this operation was done – if it was by Israel or not – it’s a way of saying or signalling ‘let’s stop here… we can penetrate you… and let’s stop here’,” he added, claiming Israel did not want any further escalation.

A total of 32 people were killed in the two communication device explosions. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US is still assessing how the attacks in Lebanon could affect efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Continue Reading

World

Two bridges collapse in Russia – as seven people killed and dozens injured

Published

on

By

Two bridges collapse in Russia - as seven people killed and dozens injured

Seven people have been killed and dozens are injured after two bridges collapsed in Russia overnight.

A train derailed after a bridge collapsed on to it in the Bryansk region, killing the driver and six others.

Some 69 people were injured in the crash, with the train travelling from Moscow to Klimov at the time.

Earlier, local authorities blamed “illegal interference” for the incident.

Later, a bridge collapsed in Russia’s Kursk region while a freight train was passing over it.

Local officials said one of the train’s drivers was injured in the crash.

When a bridge collapsed in the Kursk region, part of the train fell down onto the road, and a fire started. Pic: RIA/Telegram
Image:
The scene of the train crash in Kursk region. Pic: RIA/Telegram

Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law
enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that the bridge in Bryansk was blown up, according to initial information.

More from World

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Since the start of the war that Russia launched more than three years ago, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert raids by Ukrainian forces into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine.

Photo: Official Telegram channel of the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office
Image:
Pic: Moscow Transport Prosecutor’s Office

Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said: “Everything is being done to provide all necessary assistance to the victims.”

Emergency workers are at the scene of the train derailment, attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Russia’s federal road transportation agency said the destroyed bridge passed above the railway tracks where the train was travelling.

Images from the scene show passenger cars ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge.

Other footage on social media appeared to be taken from inside vehicles which narrowly avoided driving onto the bridge before it collapsed.

Continue Reading

World

At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

Published

on

By

At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

At least 21 people have been killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid from an Israeli-backed foundation, according to a nearby hospital run by the Red Cross.

The hospital, which received the bodies, said another 175 people had been wounded in the incident in Rafah on Sunday morning.

The Associated Press also reports seeing dozens of people being treated at the hospital.

Witnesses have said those killed and injured were struck by gunfire which broke out at a roundabout near the distribution site.

The area is controlled by Israeli forces.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, an eyewitness, said Israeli forces opened fire at people moving toward the aid distribution centre.

“There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old man said. “We were about 300 meters (yards) away from the military.”

Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. “We weren’t able to help him,” he said.

The Gazans had been trying to receive aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an American organisation backed by both the US and Israeli governments.

It operates as part of a controversial aid system which Israel and the US claims is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance.

Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred.

Earlier, Hamas-linked media had also reported more than 20 deaths in Rafah, saying they were as a result of an Israeli strike on an aid distribution point. Israel is yet to comment.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory.

Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials.

The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites did not fire on the crowds, while the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots.

The foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the hospital’s claims.

In an earlier statement, it said it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early on Sunday “without incident”. It dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos”.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the full version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

World

Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed – as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

Published

on

By

Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed - as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

Israel has confirmed its forces have killed Hamas’s Gaza chief, Mohammad Sinwar, as US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called the group’s counter-offer on a ceasefire “totally unacceptable”.

Mohammad Sinwar became the leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip after his older brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last October.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar on 13 May, and was the target of a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he had been “eliminated”.

A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters
Image:
A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters

Who was ‘The Shadow’ Mohammed Sinwar?

Mohammed Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahyah Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas and mastermind behind the 7 October attacks, who was killed by IDF forces in Rafah last October.

In January of this year, Mohammed was confirmed as the new leader of Hamas in Gaza, following the death of his brother.

Among Palestinians, he never had the reputation of Yahya, but he was widely believed to have played a significant role in the kidnap and holding of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 and demanded the release of Yahya Sinwar from Israeli prison as part of a swap deal.

Born in Khan Younis, Mohammed Sinwar rose through the ranks of Hamas to become a senior commander in Al Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.

He was known as ‘The Shadow’, in part because of the junior role he played to his older brother and also because few images of him exist.

He survived multiple assassination attempts and was previously incorrectly declared dead during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Sinwar had a reputation for being stubborn, and Israeli sources in the ceasefire negotiations blamed him for slowing the process and changing his demands at the last minute.

The IDF has confirmed he was with the commander of the Rafah brigade, Mohammed Shabanah, in tunnels underneath the European Hospital in Gaza when the IDF struck in mid-May. Shabanah’s death is significant because he was a likely successor to Sinwar.

It would leave Azadi al-Hadad, the Gaza City Brigade Commander, as the only living Hamas commander from 7 October.

He would likely be in line as the next Hamas chief in Gaza.

Hamas seeks changes in US ceasefire proposal

It comes as Hamas said it was seeking amendments to a US-proposed ceasefire deal, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, the White House said Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal, which would see the release of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died over the course of a week.

More on Gaza

Israel and Hamas would then continue talks to bring the remaining hostages home, but Israel would retain the right to resume military action in Gaza if talks were to break down.

In a statement about the proposal on Saturday, Hamas said its response “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Israeli ambassador claims ‘no starvation in Gaza’

Hamas offer ‘totally unacceptable’ – Witkoff

Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff, said on social media that Hamas’s response is “totally unacceptable and only takes us backwards”.

“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group has not rejected the proposal but added Mr Witkoff’s response was “unfair” and showed “complete bias” towards Israel.

Israel has not yet responded to Hamas’ counter-offer, but has previously rejected the conditions and demanded the complete disarmament and dismantling of the group.

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈

Meanwhile, Gaza aid groups have said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people.

The WFP added: “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by.”

Read more:
Last hospital in northern Gaza out of service
How the new Gaza aid system collapsed into chaos
UK will ‘seek to do more if it can’ for Gaza children – Lammy

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.

Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies.

Continue Reading

Trending