Middle East Crisis

Strait of Hormuz
Tens of millions at risk of hunger as fertilizer is blocked

Tens of millions of people are at risk of hunger and starvation if fertilizer shipments are not soon allowed through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the UN tells AFP.

– We have a couple of weeks to prevent what is likely to be a massive humanitarian crisis, says Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services (Unops).

The crisis could affect more than 45 million people, he says.

While the UN hopes for a lasting agreement on peace and free trade through the strait, the planting season cannot wait, says Jorge Moreira da Silva. Before the war, about a third of the world's fertilizer was transported through the strait.

West Bank
Israel rages against EU settler sanctions

The EU has today decided on new sanctions against Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, AFP reports.

“The EU has today imposed sanctions on the main organizations that support extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank, as well as their leaders,” wrote French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

The sanctions have so far been lowered by Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Israel reacted strongly to the decision. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote in a post on X that Israel stands for the right of Jews to settle in the West Bank.

“The EU has chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens because of their political opinions and without basis,” he writes.
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