#ceasefire

#ceasefire

The United Nations has made an urgent call for the protection and safe passage of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Sudan's el-Fasher as fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have claimed to have seized control of the besieged city. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Monday sounded the alarm amid reports of civilian casualties and forced displacement in the capital city of North Darfur state.

The Israeli military has killed at least 20 Palestinians in attacks across Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered powerful strikes following an exchange of gunfire in southern Rafah, during which one Israeli soldier was wounded. The attacks on Tuesday marked the most significant flare-up in violence since a ceasefire brokered by United States President Donald Trump came into effect in the war-devastated territory on October 10.

Lebanese state media identified the slain man as Ibrahim Salameh, an employee of the Blida municipality, a village near the border with Israel. The Israeli military confirmed the raid and said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure when it fired at a suspect. It said the incident was under review. Lebanon's state media said Israeli forces stormed the Blida municipality building, where employee Ibrahim Salameh was sleeping, and enemy soldiers proceeded to kill him.

Fresh clashes near the border with Afghanistan have killed at least five Pakistani soldiers and 25 fighters, Pakistan's army says, even as the two countries hold peace talks in Istanbul. The Pakistani military said armed men attempted to cross from Afghanistan into Kurram and North Waziristan on Friday and Saturday, accusing the Taliban authorities of failing to act against armed groups operating from Afghan territory.

Negotiating teams from Afghanistan and Pakistan are to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday in a bid to bolster a ceasefire along their shared border, where there have been several clashes over the past two weeks in which dozens have died. The confrontations started after explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which Afghanistan's Taliban rulers blamed on Pakistan and responded to with cross-border attacks, prompting Islamabad to respond with "precision strikes" against armed groups in Afghanistan.

Plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied behind the US in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv. The White House said there were now no plans for the US president to meet his Russian counterpart in the immediate future as a round of diplomacy at the end of last week failed to yield any significant progress towards ending the war.

Despite the staggering death toll and human suffering that Israel has inflicted on Gaza over the past two years, peace has still come too early for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at least in the eyes of some observers. Critics have accused the Israeli leader of using the war to deflect attention from challenges to his position, and even his freedom. With the ceasefire in Gaza now in place, none of those challenges has gone anywhere.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have implemented a ceasefire following the deadliest border clashes in years that killed dozens of people and led to evacuations on both sides. The 48-hour truce began Wednesday at 6:00pm Islamabad time (13:00 GMT), with each country claiming the other requested the pause in hostilities. Pakistan confirmed the ceasefire duration, stating: During this period, both sides will sincerely strive to find a positive solution to this complex but resolvable issue through constructive dialogue.

A US president, after months of tacit encouragement, has finally intervened to end an Israeli military offensive that has reduced swaths of a Middle Eastern city to rubble, leaving thousands dead and prompting global outrage. For months, the UN has looked on, impotent, as Israeli air raids and artillery shelling has pummelled apartment blocks and refugee camps beside the Mediterranean.

His response to ending the conflict has been far too slow, albeit a welcome intervention at this point. But his blunt approach and desire to have his ego preened have contributed towards the peace deal after two years of savage conflict, death and destruction. The October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas killed 1,200 people and resulted in retaliation so fierce that large tracts of Gaza were levelled and more than 67,000 people died.