Middle East crisis

Israel-Palestine conflict
Palestinian Authority condemns US UN snub

The Palestinian Authority condemns the US decision to deny its representative visas to the UN General Assembly in September, where, among other things, the issue of a two-state solution is to be discussed. This is reported by the AP.

– We call on the US administration to withdraw the decision. It will only increase tensions and escalation, says President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman.

He adds that talks with other countries are being held around the clock and calls on the outside world to put pressure on the US.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also protests the decision, saying that the UN headquarters is a "neutral place and peaceful sanctuary" where no one should be excluded. 

Israel-Iran
Israel Hacks Iranian Bodyguards' Cell Phones

On June 16, four days into Israel's 12-Day War against Iran, the Iranian president and other military and government leaders gathered in a bunker 100 meters underground outside Tehran. Shortly thereafter, Israeli fighter jets dropped six bombs on the entrances and killed the bodyguards outside, the New York Times reports.

The Iranian leaders arrived in separate cars and did not have cell phones - but their bodyguards did. The leadership is aware of Israel's spy techniques and smartphones are banned for senior politicians, military commanders and nuclear scientists, among others.

The bodyguards are often even more sloppy, and can be tracked through social media apps, among other things.

- The fact that they use so many bodyguards is a weakness we have caused in them, and we have been able to exploit it, says an Israeli defense source.
 

Gaza War
Red Cross: Impossible to Evacuate Gaza City Safely

Safely evacuating Gaza City ahead of a military offensive to take over the city is not possible, says Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, AFP reports.

In a statement, she calls the evacuation plan “not only unfeasible but also incomprehensible”. She writes that an evacuation would cause a flood of refugees that no area in the Gaza Strip can handle, given the extensive destruction of infrastructure and the lack of food, water and healthcare.

The statement comes after Israel on Friday declared the city a “dangerous combat zone”. The Israeli military has not formally ordered the city to be emptied, but a spokesperson said earlier this week that an evacuation is “inevitable”.

Report: Israel to Cut Off Aid Soon

Israel will soon slow down or stop humanitarian aid to parts of northern Gaza as the offensive against Hamas intensifies, a source told the AP.

According to the source, airlifts of aid over Gaza City will be completely halted in the coming days and the number of trucks carrying aid into the northern part of the strip will be further limited. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people are planned to be evacuated south.

On Friday, the Israeli military declared Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” and halted ceasefires aimed at bringing in humanitarian aid.