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Colombia Plans to Provide Medical Treatment to Palestinian Children Injured in Israel-Hamas War 

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro shakes hands in Stockholm, Sweden on June 13, 2024, as the Colombian navy's flagship ARC Gloria seen in the background is docked at the Skeppsbron during the president's visit to Sweden. (TT News Agency / AFP)
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro shakes hands in Stockholm, Sweden on June 13, 2024, as the Colombian navy's flagship ARC Gloria seen in the background is docked at the Skeppsbron during the president's visit to Sweden. (TT News Agency / AFP)
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Colombia Plans to Provide Medical Treatment to Palestinian Children Injured in Israel-Hamas War 

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro shakes hands in Stockholm, Sweden on June 13, 2024, as the Colombian navy's flagship ARC Gloria seen in the background is docked at the Skeppsbron during the president's visit to Sweden. (TT News Agency / AFP)
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro shakes hands in Stockholm, Sweden on June 13, 2024, as the Colombian navy's flagship ARC Gloria seen in the background is docked at the Skeppsbron during the president's visit to Sweden. (TT News Agency / AFP)

A Colombian military hospital would provide medical treatment to Palestinian children injured in the Israel-Hamas war under a plan announced Thursday by the country’s Foreign Ministry.

Colombia’s Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs Elizabeth Taylor Jay told reporters the children would travel with their families to Colombia for rehabilitation. She did not provide further details, including the number of children who would receive treatment, when they would arrive in Colombia or how long they would remain in the country.

Neither the foreign ministry nor the office of President Gustavo Petro immediately responded to a request for additional information from The Associated Press. Taylor Jay made the announcement during Petro’s trip to Sweden.

The United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Germany have been receiving Palestinians in need of medical treatment as a result of the war that began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Historically, Colombia had been one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations have cooled since Petro was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022.

Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Petro recalled Colombia’s ambassador to Israel as he criticized the country’s military offensive. In May, he broke diplomatic ties with Israel saying that he could not maintain relations with the “genocidal” government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Taylor Jay on Thursday said the government believes injured children can be treated by Colombian military doctors in part due to “the expertise” they have acquired while caring for people wounded during Colombia’s decadeslong internal conflict.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke, Colombia has repatriated 310 of its citizens on three humanitarian flights. Petro also granted Colombian nationality to a Palestinian woman, married to a Colombian man, who was trapped in Gaza with two of her Colombian children. The family settled in the South American country in November.

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World

No Date Set for Next Round of Iran-US Talks, Says Iran Deputy FM

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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No Date Set for Next Round of Iran-US Talks, Says Iran Deputy FM

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

No date has been set for the next round of Iran-US peace talks brokered by Pakistan following the failure of an initial round, Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Saturday.

"Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set a date," Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of an annual diplomatic forum in Türkiye's southern Antalya province.

"We hope that as soon as we can finalise that, then we can move on to the next step".

Khatibzadeh said both sides were currently focused on finalizing a framework of understanding before proceeding with further negotiations.

"We do not want to enter into any negotiation or meeting that is destined to fail and could serve as a pretext for another round of escalation," he said.

"I can assure you that Iran is very much committed to diplomacy".

Pakistan's powerful military chief and prime minister concluded separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Asim Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz Sharif headed home from Türkiye.

Munir met Iran's top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a Pakistani military statement said.

Egypt and Pakistan were working "very hard" as mediators to bring about "a final agreement between the United States and Iran", Egypt's foreign minister told journalists at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Egypt and Türkiye has joined diplomatic efforts with Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict.

"We hope to do so (reach an agreement) in the coming days," Badr Abdelatty said, noting that "not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war".

"We are pushing very hard in order to move forward," he said.

Iran dismissed US threats of fresh military action, with the senior Iranian official saying that Washington's statements were inconsistent.

"The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory," Khatibzadeh said, referring to US President Donald Trump and his frequent social media posts.

"It is up to the American people to decide whether these statements are consistent and in accordance with international law," he added.

Khatibzadeh said Iran's position was clear and vowed resistance to pressure from Washington.

"What we are going to do is quite clear. We will defend heroically and patriotically (our country) ... as the oldest civilisation on earth," he said.

The deputy minister also rejected US accusations that Iran was threatening freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments, after Iran's military again declared the waterway closed.

"Americans cannot impose their will to do a siege over Iran while Iran, with good intention, is trying to facilitate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz," Khatibzadeh said.

He said Iran had announced safe passage for commercial vessels for the duration of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, provided there was prior coordination with Iranian maritime authorities.

However, Khatibzadeh accused Washington of attempting to "sabotage" those efforts.

"If ceasefire terms are violated and Americans do not honor their commitments, there will be repercussions for them," he said.

World

France Blames Hezbollah for French Peacekeeper's Death in Lebanon

FILED - 08 August 2025, France, Paris: The French flag, also known as the tricolor, flies against a blue sky in central Paris. Photo: Rachel Sommer/dpa
FILED - 08 August 2025, France, Paris: The French flag, also known as the tricolor, flies against a blue sky in central Paris. Photo: Rachel Sommer/dpa
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France Blames Hezbollah for French Peacekeeper's Death in Lebanon

FILED - 08 August 2025, France, Paris: The French flag, also known as the tricolor, flies against a blue sky in central Paris. Photo: Rachel Sommer/dpa
FILED - 08 August 2025, France, Paris: The French flag, also known as the tricolor, flies against a blue sky in central Paris. Photo: Rachel Sommer/dpa

A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack Saturday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that appeared to have been carried out by Hezbollah, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

"Everything points to Hezbollah being responsible for this attack," he said on X, urging Lebanese authorities to arrest the perpetrators.

Macron urged Lebanon's leaders to "guarantee the security of UNIFIL soldiers" in calls with the country's president and prime minister, the Elysee said, AFP reported.

The fighting in Lebanon -- one of the fronts in the Middle East war -- has seen the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed there repeatedly targeted, by both Israeli and Hezbollah forces.

The peacekeeper killed, identified as staff sergeant Florian Montorio, was caught in an "ambush" as his unit headed to a UNIFIL outpost and he died from a "direct gunshot", France's armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin said on X.

She said the outpost they had been heading to had been "cut off for several days by combat in the area".

The ambush was carried out "by an armed group at very close range", she said.

Vautrin added that Montorio was "picked up by his comrades under fire" but they were unable to resuscitate him.

UNIFIL patrols in south Lebanon near the Israeli border where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since last month after the Iran-backed militant group drew Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed last month, with a preliminary UN investigation finding one was killed by Israeli tank fire, while the two others were killed by an improvised explosive device likely planted by Hezbollah.

Other UNIFIL peacekeepers have also been wounded since the war erupted, and in April, Israeli soldiers destroyed surveillance cameras in UNIFIL's headquarters, the peacekeeping body said.

Last week, an Israeli tank twice rammed peacekeeping vehicles, causing damage but no injuries, according to UNIFIL.

United Nations peacekeepers have served as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel for decades, but their mandate concludes at the end of this year.

World

Türkiye Says Israel Using Security as Pretext to Acquire 'More Land'

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Türkiye Says Israel Using Security as Pretext to Acquire 'More Land'

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Türkiye's top diplomat on Saturday accused Israel of creating an international "illusion" and using security concerns as a pretext to seize "more land," in the latest flare-up in escalating tensions between the two regional powers.

Israel and Türkiye have been trading near-daily diplomatic barbs over a range of regional conflicts, from Israel's war in Gaza to rising tensions linked to Iran.

"Israel is not after its own security. Israel is after more land," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in the Mediterranean resort city.

"Security is being used by the Netanyahu government as an excuse to occupy more land," he added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking in English at a panel discussion, Fidan said Israel had created an "illusion" internationally by portraying itself as acting purely in its own defense.

"It has become very clear, especially in recent years, that it is more than that," he said.

From Palestinian lands including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and now extending towards Lebanon and Syria, Israel was pursuing "an onward occupation and expansionism in the region," Fidan said, according to AFP.

"I think this has to stop."

"Israel has to know that the only way to live peacefully in the region is to let other countries enjoy their own security, territorial integrity and freedom, and not to use power against them," he added.

Türkiye and Israel have frequently been at odds, including over Israel's military campaign in Gaza and differences over Syria's future.