World News In Brief

World News from the last Week

(July 2, 2025)

US President Trump says Israel will agree to Gaza deal, warns Hamas

US President Trump says that Israel will agree to the terms of a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He shared this on his social media platform Truth Social, without giving specific details.
Trump also increases the pressure on Hamas in his message. According to him, the proposal is being conveyed to Hamas via Qatar and Egypt and, according to him, Hamas had better agree to it. Otherwise, things will not get any better, Trump warns in capital letters.
Israel and Hamas have not yet responded to Trump's words. Hamas has so far consistently stuck to its demand for a definitive end to the war, including the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza. In return, Hamas would release the remaining hostages. Hamas is still holding on to around fifty people, of whom probably around twenty are still alive. Trump wants the sixty-day period to be used to achieve a definitive end to the war.
According to a plan by Trump's Middle East envoy Witkoff, ten live hostages and 15 hostage bodies would first be handed over. The rest would then be released if a final agreement is reached.
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 29, 2025)

One of the largest Russian airstrikes on Ukraine since the start of the war, F-16 crashes

Russia carried out a large-scale airstrike on Ukraine last night. Explosions were heard in cities from eastern to western Ukraine. Authorities report that at least six people were injured, including a child. In Kherson, one person was killed by a drone attack and in Kharkiv, another was killed when a drone hit a car.
According to the Ukrainian army, 477 drones and 60 missiles were launched by Russia. Of these, 211 drones and 38 missiles were reportedly destroyed. This is one of the largest airstrikes since the start of the war. Some of the drones that were not destroyed were neutralized by Ukraine by disrupting them and diverting them.
The attacks were spread across the country. Air raid sirens sounded all over the country, including in areas further away from where the fighting is taking place, writes The Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian government officials share the impact of the attacks via Telegram. Two of them, among others, say that the attacks in their region targeted civilian infrastructure, which suffered damage. The wounded were in the Cherkasy region, in the center of the country.
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 29, 2025)

Iran says dozens killed in Israeli attack on Evin prison

Dozens of people have been killed in the Israeli airstrike on Evin prison, Iran says. The cell complex on the outskirts of Tehran was bombed last Monday. According to a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, the death toll has risen to 71.
Evin holds thousands of prisoners, some of whom are political prisoners. The prison is notorious for its appalling conditions and torture. According to the senior judiciary official, prisoners, guards, military personnel, administrative staff and visiting family members of detainees were killed in the airstrike. This information has not been independently confirmed.
The prison entrance was among the targets hit in the airstrike, as has been established based on public sources. The senior official states that surrounding buildings were also damaged. There are also said to have been fatalities, but no exact numbers are given.
The airstrike was condemned by UN human rights experts as a violation of international humanitarian law. The French government also lashed out at Israel, because two French citizens were held in Evin.
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 27, 2025)

Wave of arrests and executions in Iran, much fear after ceasefire with Israel

The Iranian regime has arrested hundreds of people on suspicion of espionage and other assistance to Israel during the recent air war. Arrests are reported in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan and the Kurdish region in the west. Human rights organizations speak of more than 700 arrests.

Iranian state media reported three executions earlier this week. Other sources speak of many more than three deaths and report that people have been executed without trial.
"Relatives of ours have fled Tehran to the Caspian Sea," says Sharareh Atabaki, a lecturer in society and law at the Hogeschool Utrecht, who emigrated to the Netherlands in 1982. "They are leaving out of fear. Also fear of being murdered."
Iran suspects the detainees of collusion with Israel. According to Kurdish sources, they are mainly Kurds. The Jerusalem Post reports hundreds of arrests in the Jewish community in Shiraz. Arrestees are accused of, among other things, smuggling drones that Israel remotely launched from Iranian territory.
"I sporadically get in touch with people in Iran," says Atabaki. "The internet and telephone are often down. But I know that our acquaintances there are aware of the many arrests and murders."
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 27, 2025)

'Israeli soldiers are ordered to shoot unarmed civilians'

Israeli soldiers are ordered to shoot Palestinians at distribution points in the Gaza Strip, even though they do not pose a threat. This is reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz based on conversations with Israeli soldiers.

According to the UN, at least 400 people have been killed at distribution points in the past month.
According to soldiers and officers who spoke to the Israeli newspaper, the army is firing at people who are still in the vicinity of distribution centers outside opening hours. "It has become a place with its own rules. The loss of a human life means nothing. It is not even an 'unfortunate incident,' as they used to say," Haaretz quotes a reservist who was active in the area until this week.
The indiscriminate shooting of civilians is indicative of genocidal violence, as is the blocking of humanitarian aid.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz strongly condemn the Haaretz article in a press statement. According to them, it is "vile lies" aimed at discrediting "the most moral army in the world."
(Source: NOS.nl)