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Canada to Pull Children of Diplomats Out of Israel

People walk past an Israeli flag at the beach in Tel Aviv, on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP)
People walk past an Israeli flag at the beach in Tel Aviv, on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP)
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Canada to Pull Children of Diplomats Out of Israel

People walk past an Israeli flag at the beach in Tel Aviv, on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP)
People walk past an Israeli flag at the beach in Tel Aviv, on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Oren ZIV / AFP)

The Canadian government said on Wednesday it has decided to pull the children and guardians of its diplomats out of Israel, amid fears of a widened conflict in the Middle East, the Canadian Press reported.
Israel's tensions with Iran and Hezbollah have fanned fears of a broader conflict in a region already on edge amid Israel's assault on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, including widespread hunger.
There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the group’s stronghold, drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
Global Affairs Canada, in a statement cited in the Canadian Press, said it has approved the temporary relocation of the diplomats' children and their guardians to a safe third country. It added that diplomats stationed in Ramallah in the West Bank and in Beirut do not have dependents living with them.
Canada on Saturday warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, citing the ongoing regional conflict and unpredictable security situation. It also urges its citizens to not travel to Gaza and the West Bank.
The embassies in Tel Aviv and Beirut and the representative office to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank "all remain fully operational and continue to provide essential services to Canadians," the Canadian government said in the statement cited by the Canadian Press.

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Russia Battles Ukrainian Troops for a Third Day after Major Incursion

Ukrainian Armed Forces shows servicemen of 24th Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo, firing an Easel Antitank Grenade Launcher SPG9 at a front line position near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 06 August 2024. EPA/Press service of 24 Mechanized brigade handout
Ukrainian Armed Forces shows servicemen of 24th Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo, firing an Easel Antitank Grenade Launcher SPG9 at a front line position near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 06 August 2024. EPA/Press service of 24 Mechanized brigade handout
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Russia Battles Ukrainian Troops for a Third Day after Major Incursion

Ukrainian Armed Forces shows servicemen of 24th Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo, firing an Easel Antitank Grenade Launcher SPG9 at a front line position near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 06 August 2024. EPA/Press service of 24 Mechanized brigade handout
Ukrainian Armed Forces shows servicemen of 24th Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo, firing an Easel Antitank Grenade Launcher SPG9 at a front line position near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 06 August 2024. EPA/Press service of 24 Mechanized brigade handout

Russian forces were battling Ukrainian troops for a third day on Thursday after they smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region, an audacious attack on the world's biggest nuclear power that has forced Moscow to call in reserves.
In one of the biggest Ukrainian attacks on Russia of the two-year war, around 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of Aug. 6 with tanks and armored vehicles, covered in the air by swarms of drones and pounding artillery, according to Russian officials, Reuters said.
Ukrainian forces swept through the fields and forests of the border towards the north of the border town of Sudzha, the last operational trans-shipping point for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin cast the attack as a "major provocation". The White House said the United States - Ukraine's biggest backer - had no prior knowledge of the attack and would seek more details from Kyiv.
Russia's most senior general, chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told Putin on Wednesday that the Ukrainian offensive had been halted in the border area.
But multiple pro-Russian military bloggers said the battles continued into Thursday and that civilians were being evacuated.
"Sudzha is basically lost to us. And this is an important logistics hub," said Yuri Podolyaka, a popular Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger, adding that Ukrainian forces were pushing north towards Lgov.
"In general, the situation is difficult and continues to deteriorate, despite the fact that the pace of the Ukrainian offensive has noticeably dropped."
The Ukrainian army has remained silent on the Kursk offensive. Some Russian bloggers criticized the state of border defense in the Kursk region, saying that it had been far too easy for Ukrainian forces to slice through them.
CRITICAL JUNCTURE
The battles around Sudzha come at a crucial juncture in the conflict, the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. Kyiv is concerned that US support could drop off if Republican Donald Trump wins the November presidential election.
Trump has said he would end the war, and both Russia and Ukraine are keen to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield.
Ukraine wants to pin down Russian forces, which control 18% of its territory, though the strategic significance of the border offensive was not immediately clear.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the Ukrainian attack was an attempt to force Russia to divert resources from the front and to show the West that Ukraine could still fight.
As a result of the Kursk attack, Medvedev said, Russia should expand its war aims to include taking all of Ukraine.
"From this moment on, the SVO (Special Military Operation) should acquire an openly extraterritorial character," Medvedev said, adding that Russian forces should go to Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolayiv, Kyiv "and beyond".
"We will stop only when we consider it acceptable and profitable for ourselves."
Gas was still flowing through Sudzha via the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline which carried about 14.65 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, about half of Russia's gas exports to Europe.
Russia's National Guard said it had beefed up security around the Kursk nuclear power station, which lies about 60 km northeast of the town.