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Senior EU Official Says Israel’s War in Gaza Is Genocide

Teresa Ribera, the European Union's competition commissioner, looks on during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, February 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Teresa Ribera, the European Union's competition commissioner, looks on during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, February 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Senior EU Official Says Israel’s War in Gaza Is Genocide

Teresa Ribera, the European Union's competition commissioner, looks on during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, February 17, 2025. (Reuters)
Teresa Ribera, the European Union's competition commissioner, looks on during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, February 17, 2025. (Reuters)

A senior European Union official said on Thursday that Israel's operations in Gaza constitute genocide, the first member of the bloc's commission to make that charge.

"The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe's failure to act and speak with one voice, even as protests spread across European cities and 14 UN Security Council members call for an immediate ceasefire," Teresa Ribera said at the opening ceremony of the academic year at the Sciences Po university in Paris.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel's mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ribera is the European Commission's Executive Vice President, second only in seniority to President Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish socialist, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy.

The comments were stronger than a statement she gave last month when she said the displacement and killing in Gaza looked "very much like" genocide.

The European Commission has accused Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing it of genocide.

South Africa has brought a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague accusing Israel of genocide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned that as "outrageous".

On Monday, the president of the world's largest academic association of genocide scholars announced that the association had passed a resolution affirming that the legal criteria have been met to determine that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel's Foreign Ministry called that statement disgraceful.

The current war began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities near the border, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, including children, into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were fighters but have said most of those killed have been women and children.

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World

Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
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Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo

Russia is in contact with the United States about a new round of talks on a Ukraine peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

"We remain open, we are in contact with the Americans, and we are counting on holding the next round of talks as soon ‌as circumstances permit," ‌Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov rejected ‌the ⁠thesis of a ⁠New York Times opinion piece that said the Iran war had caused President Vladimir Putin to lose interest in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.

"This is an absolutely false invention that does not correspond to reality. During the rounds of trilateral talks that ⁠have taken place, some progress was made ‌toward a settlement," Peskov told ‌reporters.

Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace ‌talks but added that key issues - including territory - had ‌yet to be settled.

The NYT opinion piece, by Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar, said Russia's economy had been faltering earlier this year, prompting Putin at that point to take negotiations on ‌a Ukraine settlement more seriously.

However, Zygar said the Iran war had reversed those dynamics by ⁠boosting ⁠oil prices, easing the economic pressure on Moscow and reducing the US focus on Ukraine, weakening any incentive for the Kremlin to seek a settlement.

Earlier this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the US had briefed Russia about Washington's latest round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, which took place last Saturday.

The last three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US took place last month, before the Trump administration and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28.

World

Pentagon Reportedly Weighs Diverting Ukraine Military Aid to the Middle East

FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
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Pentagon Reportedly Weighs Diverting Ukraine Military Aid to the Middle East

FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The Pentagon is weighing whether to redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, as the war in Iran strains supplies of some of the US military's most critical munitions, the Washington Post reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The weapons that could be redirected include air defense interceptor missiles purchased through a NATO initiative launched last year, under which ⁠partner countries buy ⁠US arms for Kyiv, the report said.

The consideration comes as US operations in the region intensify. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief leading US forces in the Middle East, on Wednesday said the US had hit ⁠over 10,000 targets inside Iran and was on track to limit Iran's ability to project power outside its borders.

A Pentagon spokesperson told the newspaper that the Defense Department would "ensure that US forces and those of our allies and partners have what they need to fight and win."

In response to a query about the report, a NATO official said members of ⁠the ⁠alliance and its partners continue to contribute to its Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program that funds the supply of US arms for Kyiv.

"Equipment is continuously flowing into Ukraine," the official added. "The amount pledged to PURL so far is of several billion US dollars and we expect more contributions to follow."

The Pentagon and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

World

Israel Defense Minister Says Iran Guards Navy Commander Killed in Strike

(FILES) This handout photo provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website Sepah News on February 1, 2025, shows navy commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. (Photo by SEPAH NEWS / AFP)
(FILES) This handout photo provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website Sepah News on February 1, 2025, shows navy commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. (Photo by SEPAH NEWS / AFP)
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Israel Defense Minister Says Iran Guards Navy Commander Killed in Strike

(FILES) This handout photo provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website Sepah News on February 1, 2025, shows navy commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. (Photo by SEPAH NEWS / AFP)
(FILES) This handout photo provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official website Sepah News on February 1, 2025, shows navy commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. (Photo by SEPAH NEWS / AFP)

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Thursday that an Israeli airstrike had killed Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy.

"Last night, in a precise and lethal operation, the IDF eliminated the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, Tangsiri, along with senior officers of the naval command," Katz said in a video statement.

"The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping was blown up and eliminated."

Since the start of the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Israel has announced the killing of several top Iranian officials, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the security chief, Ali Larijani.

In recent days, Israeli forces have carried out several strikes targeting the naval assets of Iran.

Last week, Israeli airstrikes hit several Iranian naval ships in the Caspian Sea, including ones equipped with missile systems, support vessels and patrol craft.