Browsing: Region
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Kuwait’s strongest condemnation of the repeated and egregious Iranian attacks, the latest of which occurred this morning, in a blatant act of aggression that disregards international calls to cease such practices.In a statement issued today, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry affirmed that these attacks constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of the State of Kuwait, and a blatant breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and Security Council Resolution 2817 of 2026. The Ministry added that these attacks represent a dangerous escalation that pushes the region toward further tension and instability at a time when the international community is making strenuous efforts to halt hostilities and prevent further escalation in the region. The Ministry stressed that these attacks cannot be justified or accepted under any pretext.Kuwait reiterated its full right to take all necessary measures to preserve its security and defend its territory and vital installations against any aggression or threat. Related Story Source link
Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced the reopening of the country’s airspace after a precautionary closure imposed following Iranian missile and drone attacks.In a statement issued on Saturday, the authority said Kuwaiti airspace had been closed for two hours beginning at 4:15 a.m. as a precautionary measure after the country was subjected to missile and drone attacks originating from Iran.During the closure, 11 flights operated by Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways were diverted to neighboring airports to ensure the safety of passengers and flight crews and to maintain operations in accordance with the highest security and safety standards, the statement said.The authority added that, following coordination with the relevant agencies and confirmation that conditions had stabilized and the threat had passed, air traffic operations and arriving flights resumed at 6:15 a.m.It also said that flights diverted to airports in Dammam and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, had returned to Kuwait International Airport after air traffic resumed and Kuwaiti airspace was reopened. Source link
Israel’s Supreme Court has said that Israel must allow visits to Palestinian prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ruling in favour of a petition against a ban that was brought in at the start of the Gaza war.In its judgment issued on Wednesday, the court found that the government had not offered sufficient justification for the blanket ban.The bar on Red Cross visits to Palestinian detainees has restricted independent verification of their treatment, following reports of systemic abuse, starvation, and denial of medical care towards Palestinian prisoners.”We take note of the decision of the court and stand ready to resume our work in visiting detainees in Israeli places of detention,” said Patrick Griffiths, a spokesperson for the ICRC.The ruling, which covers those held in Israeli prisons and military detention, followed a joint petition by several Israeli rights organisations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), to end the ban.The Israel Prison Service, the Israeli prime minister’s office and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The court found that the prohibition on ICRC prison visits had no adequate basis in Israeli law or in Israel’s binding international humanitarian obligations, the ACRI said in a statement on Wednesday.The Israeli state had argued that security interests demanded it suspend ICRC visits until all Israeli hostages were returned following the events of October 7, 2023. Source link
Palestinians mourn outside the morgue of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City yesterday during the funeral of people killed in Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings. (AFP) Israeli strikes killed at least 10 Palestinians, including five members of the same family, in separate attacks in the Gaza Strip yesterday, health officials said.Medics in Gaza said Israeli aircraft struck four apartments before dawn, including the family’s home, killing nine people and wounding at least 15.Later, a separate airstrike killed one person and wounded others near Wehda Street in Gaza City, medics said, taking the day’s death toll to at least 10.The Israeli military did not immediately comment.Reuters footage after the first strike showed a blown-out building with charred and damaged furniture, with debris strewn across the road.A video circulating on Palestinian social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed people entering an apartment with blankets to recover bodies.”We were woken up by the strike at 2:30am. We found pieces of flesh and people were sleeping. They say the war is over but the war is not over,” Khalil Batran, a neighbour of the family who were killed, told Reuters.A girl was the only survivor of the strike on the family home, medics said.”There is no safety in Gaza … Every day they fire at us from there and strike us with missiles. It’s futile,” Batran added.A ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli attacks and left Israel in control of more than half the enclave after October 2023.Indirect talks on a second phase of the deal — including Hamas disarmament and Israeli troop withdrawals — have stalled.Some 930 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce began, according to figures from Gaza health officials. …
Hezbollah’s chief has rejected a conditional truce announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys, demanding instead a comprehensive ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal as he threatened northern Israel with new attacks.Naim Qassem’s message came after Lebanese and Israeli representatives in the United States agreed to a conditional ceasefire that Lebanon’s president called the “last chance” for a durable end to the fighting.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said that the ceasefire would come into force within 24 hours of all concerned parties approving it.There was no immediate response from Israel, Lebanon or the US to Qassem’s remarks.Hezbollah is not a party to the US-brokered agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government on Wednesday, but would be required to halt attacks.Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the February 28 killing of Iran’s supreme leader.Hezbollah has rejected the Israel-Lebanon talks, and a previous ceasefire announced on April 17 has been breached daily, with Israeli troops deployed deep inside Lebanese territory and the Iran-backed militants continuing to attack Israel.”The ceasefire must be comprehensive… without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill,” Qassem said yesterday, urging the government to halt “the farce and humiliation called direct talks” with Israel.He also vowed that “as long as our villages are unsafe – being bombed, destroyed and our people killed – the settlements (north Israel) are unsafe”.The speech followed new Israeli strikes on Lebanon and fresh threats against Beirut by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said that the army will “at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations… without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure”.Israeli forces also retain the “freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory”, he added.Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Hezbollah official told AFP that the group had informed the Lebanese government of its rejection of the truce agreement.In south Lebanon, a United Nations peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded, the Unifil force said, after a base was hit the previous night.Belgrade said the slain peacekeeper was Serbian, with seven blue helmets now killed since the latest war erupted in March.Israel blamed Hezbollah for his death.Mohammad Chamseddine, 56, from Beirut’s southern suburbs, told AFP that “this isn’t the first time there’s been a ceasefire and Israel violates it”.As an Israeli drone buzzed overhead, Chamseddine said the ceasefire for now was just “words on paper. I won’t believe it until I see it on the ground. How can a ceasefire be on one side only?”Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes in more than 20 locations in Lebanon’s south and east yesterday, some causing casualties, including a couple and their daughter who were wounded in an attack on their car.Israel’s military renewed a warning to Lebanese not to cross the Zahrani River, around 45km from the border, after it last week declared all areas south of the river “combat zones”.Earlier yesterday the Israeli military said air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with one incident involving a “suspicious aerial target” resolved, while another incident was found to be a false alarm.Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded south Lebanon. Source link
Qatar Youth Hostels, in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipality, has announced the opening of registration for the 2026 Gulf Youth Day celebration, to be held at Al-Thakhira Reserve tomorrow (June 6).The event will feature a programme packed with environmental and recreational activities for young people.The event aims to raise awareness among Gulf youth about the importance of preserving the environment and natural resources, and to provide them with an opportunity to learn firsthand about Qatar’s rich environmental assets through a range of field activities and interactive experiences that combine entertainment and education.The celebration will include a diverse array of activities related to ecotourism and nature exploration, allowing participants to discover the biodiversity of Al-Thakhira Reserve, one of the country’s most prominent natural destinations.It will also foster a culture of teamwork and initiative among young people.The programme targets the 13-17 age group, with events running from 3pm-7pm.A large turnout of young people interested in environmental and exploratory activities is expected.This event is being organised in co-operation with Aquasports for Sustainable Environmental and Agricultural Tourism, as part of the celebration of Gulf Youth Day, which represents an opportunity to highlight the role of youth in the development process, and to encourage them to actively participate in community and environmental initiatives, in order to contribute to building a generation that is more aware of sustainability issues and environmental protection. Source link
Qatar has condemned the attack that targeted a post belonging to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) in southern Lebanon, and resulted in the death of a Serbian soldier and injuries to two others from El Salvador and Spain.Qatar considered the attack a serious violation of international humanitarian law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701.In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) reiterated Qatar’s complete rejection of any attack targeting Unifil, which plays a vital role in maintaining security and stability in Lebanon.The ministry stressed the need for an immediate investigation into the attack and for those responsible to be brought to justice.The MoFA expressed Qatar’s condolences to the family of the soldier and to the government and people of Serbia, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured. Source link
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam yesterday urged Iran to stop treating his country, where Israel and the Tehran-backed Hezbollah are at war, as a “bargaining chip” in its negotiations with Washington on the Middle East conflict.”If I may address a word to Iran, it is this: have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip to improve the terms of your negotiations,” Salam told a press conference for a UN aid appeal for Lebanon. Source link
A Palestinian worker repairs a skiff damaged in the Israeli offensive, in Gaza City, June 3, 2026. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj In a Gaza workshop, a group of men patch up pleasure dinghies with reclaimed fibreglass, wood and door frames pulled from the rubble, racing to get the boats ready for a tougher line of work.The small vessels, which were used by families and swimmers before the war, have become a lifeline for the enclave’s fishing industry which has been struggling to keep up its fleet.Israeli restrictions on new fibreglass and other materials entering Gaza have made it increasingly difficult and expensive to repair the larger, purpose-built boats, fishermen said.”A kilo of fibreglass in the era before the war was 50 or 60 shekels (approximately $17 or $21),” fisherman Mohammad al-Hissi told Reuters. The cost today was around 800 shekels, he added. Palestinian fishermen use a skiff off…
Iran’s World Cup soccer players have been granted visas to enter the United States, a White House official told Reuters yesterday, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between the two countries.Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said late on Thursday that the squad had still not received their US visas but these were granted overnight, the White House official said.Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico due to the visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum. They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early Sunday morning.Iran are due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.The Iran war has turned the World Cup — the biggest global sporting event — into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing. Source link