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Arab World

US Criticizes Israel on Gaza Civilian Toll

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hold a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, December 7, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hold a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, December 7, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
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US Criticizes Israel on Gaza Civilian Toll

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hold a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, December 7, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hold a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, December 7, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government's declared intentions to protect Palestinian civilians and the casualties.

"As we stand here almost a week into this campaign into the south... it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection," Blinken told a press conference after meeting British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Washington on Thursday.

"And there does remain a gap between... the intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we're seeing on the ground."

Israel says it must wipe out Hamas after its attack on Israel two months ago and is doing everything possible to get civilians out of harm's way, including warnings about military operations.

A senior US State Department official said Blinken spoke earlier Thursday with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer to say the US is pleased with new deliveries of fuel to Gaza but still wants to see those and other assistance deliveries increased.

At the same time, Blinken told Dermer that civilian casualties remain too high and that Israel must step up its efforts to reduce them, according to the official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomatic discussion.

US President Joe Biden spoke separately by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah on Thursday.

Biden "emphasized the critical need to protect civilians and to separate the civilian population from Hamas including through corridors that allow people to move safely from defined areas of hostilities," the White House said.

More than 17,170 Palestinians have been killed and 46,000 wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry, since Oct. 7, when Israel began bombarding Gaza in response to a cross-border rampage by Hamas fighters. The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, with 240 people taken hostage, according to Israel's tally.

The Israeli military on Friday said 92 of its soldiers had been killed in Gaza fighting since its ground incursions began on Oct. 20.

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Arab World

Lebanese PM Says Premature to Talk of Any High-Level Meeting with Israel

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike in the south of Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 06 May 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike in the south of Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 06 May 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
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Lebanese PM Says Premature to Talk of Any High-Level Meeting with Israel

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike in the south of Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 06 May 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli strike in the south of Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 06 May 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it is premature to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel, comments underlining the dim chances of one being held soon as hoped for by US President Donald Trump.

Salam, in comments reported by Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) on Wednesday, said shoring up a ceasefire would be the basis for any new round of negotiations that might be held by Lebanese and Israeli government envoys in Washington.

Hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to rage in southern Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced on April 16.

Since ‌Hezbollah triggered the ‌war by opening fire in support of Iran on March ‌2, ⁠the Lebanese administration ⁠led by Salam and President Joseph Aoun has initiated Beirut's highest-level contacts with Israel in decades, reflecting deep divisions between the Shiite group and its Lebanese opponents.

Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. Hezbollah strongly objects to the contacts.

Announcing a three-week extension of the ceasefire on April 23, Trump said he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Aoun in the near future, and that he ⁠saw "a great chance" the countries would reach a peace deal ‌this year.

Salam said Lebanon was not seeking "normalization with Israel, but ‌rather achieving peace".

The current circumstances "are not ripe to talk about high-level meetings," he added, according to NNA.

"Our ‌minimum demand is a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal," he said, adding that the government ‌would develop its plan to restrict weapons to state control - an effort aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament.

Aoun said this week the timing was not right for a meeting with Netanyahu. Lebanon "must first reach a security agreement and a halt to the Israeli attacks, before we raise the issue of a meeting ‌between us," he said.

TRADING BLOWS

Israel has occupied a so-called security zone extending as deep as 10 km (6 miles) into southern ⁠Lebanon, saying it aims ⁠to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah militants embedded in civilian areas.

Hezbollah and Israel have continued to trade blows.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said on Wednesday an Israeli airstrike killed four people including two women and an elderly man in the town of Zelaya in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched explosive drones and rockets towards Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, injuring two Israeli soldiers.

It also said the Israeli air force intercepted a hostile aircraft before it crossed into Israel, and announced strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in Lebanon.

More than 2,700 people have been killed in the war in Lebanon since March 2, the Health Ministry says.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel since March 2. Israel has announced 17 soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel.

Arab World

EU Urged to 'Act Now' on West Bank Settlement Project

The Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background), north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are pictured on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
The Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background), north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are pictured on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
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EU Urged to 'Act Now' on West Bank Settlement Project

The Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background), north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are pictured on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
The Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background), north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, are pictured on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

More than 400 former diplomats, ministers, and senior officials on Wednesday urged the European Union to "act now" against Israel's "illegal" settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The open letter comes as Israel intends to move forward with E1, a new construction project covering around 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) with some 3,400 housing units in the occupied West Bank.

The move would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and predominantly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank.

"The EU and its member states, together with partners, must take immediate action to deter Israel from further advancing its illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank," said the letter signed by more than 440 figures, including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.

The signatories called for targeted sanctions, such as visa bans and business restrictions, on "all those engaged in illegal settlement activity", calling for measures against those promoting or implementing the E1 scheme.

The Israeli government plans to publish an initial tender on June 1 for the construction of housing for up to 15,000 "illegal settlers", AFP quoted the letter as saying, urging the EU and its member states to "act now".

The plan has been condemned by international leaders, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesman saying it would pose an "existential threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.

In 2025, the expansion of Israeli settlements reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking data, according to a UN report.

There has been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Arab World

Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Targets across Lebanon

An Israeli soldier gestures next to a tank, on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, May 3, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
An Israeli soldier gestures next to a tank, on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, May 3, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Targets across Lebanon

An Israeli soldier gestures next to a tank, on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, May 3, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
An Israeli soldier gestures next to a tank, on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, May 3, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Israel's army said Wednesday it had begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of Lebanon, despite a truce with the neighboring country intended to halt fighting with the Iran-backed militant group. 

"The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites in several areas in Lebanon," a military statement said. 

It came shortly after the army reported "several incidents" during which drones exploded near Israeli soldiers operating in Lebanon's south.  

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley killed four people, with local media reporting the attack took place before the Israeli army issued a warning to evacuate the area along with 11 other towns. 

"An Israeli enemy raid on the town of Zellaya in West Bekaa resulted in four martyrs, including two women and an elderly man," the ministry said. 

Lebanese state media said the attack struck the house of the town's mayor, killing him and three members of his family.