Netanyahu says decision made for full occupation of Gaza

According to media reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that a decision has been made for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip, including military operations in areas where hostages are believed to be held.

"We're committing to free Gaza from the tyranny of these terrorists," Netanyahu said in a video address posted on X. "Many Gazans come to us and they say 'Help us be free. Help us be free of Hamas.' and that's what we will do."

The Prime Minister's Office also said in a message to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, "If this does not suit you, then you should resign."

Netanyahu and Zamir have been at odds with the way the war in Gaza is being fought, with those tensions "having reached their peak" on Monday, according to a report on Israeli Army Radio.

Netanyahu's announcement comes after months of faltering talks in Qatar between Israel and Hamas as mediators scramble to overcome hurdles from both sides and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal as the humanitarian situation in the Strip deteriorates.

That proposal, in the form of a 32-page academic paper titled "Gaza Security and Recovery Program, How Should The Day After Look Like," was authored by the Israel Defence and Security Forum, a group of over 35,000 Israeli security force reservists and the think tank Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs.

The study was presented to the Israeli government at an unknown date and represents one of the future options currently under consideration by Israel for the Gaza Strip.

The proposal entails economic reconstruction, building infrastructure and, as the authors of the study say, "uprooting a murderous ideology," also labelled as a process of "de-Nazification."

"In order to prepare for the new state of affairs, even though the results of the military operation have not yet been achieved, it is necessary to prepare an orderly plan for the control of the Gaza Strip after the fall of Hamas," the document reads.

The plan explicitly excludes the sovereignty of Palestine, or more specifically the Palestinian Authority (PA), or the presence of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a source for humanitarian aid.

"No less serious is the foolhardy idea of establishing a Palestinian state in Gaza," the document reads.

However, it is not said in the document whether Israel intends to annex the Strip, although it is clearly stated that Israeli military (IDF) wants to have a greater say in the overall administration of Gaza's affairs.

Netanyahu's comments on Monday contradict those of Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, who told Euronews last month that Israel doesn’t have "any intention" of controlling Gaza long term.

"We don't have any intention to do so," Sa’ar said. "With regard to the Gaza Strip, we have only security concerns."

"We will implement President Trump's plan, it is a good plan and makes a difference, and it means something very simple, that the residents of Gaza who want to leave can leave," Netanyahu said, referring to a proposal floated by Trump of resettling all of Gaza's population in other countries.

The plan was met with horror by regional countries and international humanitarian groups, who said the forced resettlement of the population would be a violation of international law.

Trump said he had plans to re-develop Gaza in the "Riviera of the Middle East" with upmarket resort hotels and shopping malls.

Global voices condemn Israeli war and starvation campaign in Gaza

Protests condemning Israel’s devastating war and deliberate starvation campaign in Gaza continue to sweep across the globe, as activists, politicians, and ordinary citizens demand an end to the violence and immediate humanitarian aid.

On Sunday, demonstrators gathered outside the US consulate in Istanbul. They held Palestinian flags and shouted slogans denouncing the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has caused mass starvation. Their message was clear - the international community must hold Israel accountable for the ongoing atrocities.

Meanwhile, in Sydney, Australia, tens of thousands braved heavy winds and rain to march across the iconic Harbour Bridge in a massive “March for Humanity.” Protesters carried pots and pans, symbolic of the forced starvation endured by Gaza’s population, and called out for a ceasefire and unrestricted delivery of aid.

Police estimated attendance at around 90,000, while organizers said the number could be as high as 300,000.

New South Wales Senator Mehreen Faruqi addressed the crowd, demanding the “harshest sanctions on Israel” and condemning the “massacres” of Palestinians as crimes that must not go unpunished.

Author Antony Loewenstein, whose work exposes the Israeli arms industry, highlighted the Australian government’s role, accusing it of complicity through supplying fighter jets used in Gaza’s bombardment.

Loewenstein pointed out that Australia is deeply entangled in Israel’s war machine, enabling and profiting from the destruction.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels. Since October 2023, over 180 people—more than half children—have died from starvation caused by Israel’s siege. Israeli forces have also killed nearly 900 people near aid distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US- and Israel-backed initiative criticized by Human Rights Watch as “death traps” due to repeated deadly attacks.

Tragically, hundreds more have died attempting to access UN-led food convoys, further underscoring the brutal reality of the siege.

Overall, Israel’s war has claimed the lives of more than 60,800 Palestinians in Gaza, with reports from Israeli human rights groups confirming allegations of genocide—a charge already under investigation at the International Court of Justice.

The deliberate starvation, mass killings, and systematic destruction of Gaza reveal a state policy aimed at collective punishment and ethnic cleansing. This campaign cannot be dismissed as collateral damage or an unfortunate byproduct of war. It is a calculated effort to crush Palestinian resistance by any means necessary.

The world’s silence and inaction in the face of these crimes only embolden Israel’s apartheid regime. Without decisive global intervention, Israel will continue its path of genocide, supported by complicit governments and military suppliers around the world.

Justice for Palestinians demands not only condemnation but concrete measures to end Israel’s siege, hold its leaders accountable, and ensure freedom and dignity for Gaza’s people.

The protests spreading worldwide are a powerful reminder that the fight for Palestinian rights and liberation will not be silenced — and that the struggle against Israeli aggression and oppression must intensify until peace and justice prevail.

 

Pakistan condemns Israeli ministers storming Al Aqsa mosque

Pakistan on Monday unequivocally condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli ministers, calling Tel Aviv out for its “shameless actions which are inflaming tensions in Palestine and the wider region”.

Early on Sunday, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, shielded by Israeli police, led a large group of illegal settlers in a provocative march and mass incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, coinciding with the Jewish commemoration of Tisha B’Av, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, at least 1,251 illegal Israeli settlers stormed the mosque compound in the morning hours, performing Talmudic rituals, singing, and dancing under heavy police protection.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Makkah and Madina. Under a delicate decades-old “status quo” arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation, and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

“This sacrilege against one of Islam’s holiest sites is not only an affront to the faith of over a billion Muslims but also a direct assault on international law and the collective conscience of humanity,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X.

He said that such systematic provocations by the occupying power, coupled with reckless calls for annexation, imperiled the prospects for peace.

The prime minister said that Israel’s “shameless actions” were deliberately inflaming tensions in Palestine and the wider region, pushing the Middle East closer to further instability and conflict.

“Pakistan reiterates its urgent call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to all acts of aggression, and the revival of a credible peace process leading to an independent and viable State of Palestine, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions,” Shehbaz added.

The Foreign Office also issued a separate statement to condemn the Israeli move.

“The presence and statements of senior Israeli officials, and the repugnant declaration that ‘the Temple Mount is ours,’ are a dangerous and deliberate attempt to provoke religious sentiments across the world, escalate tensions, and alter the status of Al‑Aqsa Mosque,” the statement said.

It said that Israel’s expansionist attempts were a deliberate effort to destabilize the region and sabotage any meaningful path to peace.

“These provocations risk igniting a catastrophic spiral of violence across the region.”

The world must not remain silent in the face of such systemic, illegal, inhumane, and unlawful aggression. Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws, the United Nations Charter, as well as various UN and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Resolutions.

“We urge the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its illegal actions and to protect the religious sanctity of Al‑Aqsa Mosque and the rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination.

“Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the creation of a sovereign, independent, viable, and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”

Pakistan has consistently raised its voice for the people of Palestine, calling for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Last month, Pakistan urged the UNSC not to remain “a bystander” amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany should consider sanctions on Israel

According to Reuters, a senior lawmaker in German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition on Monday said Berlin should consider sanctions on Israel including a partial suspension of weapons exports or the suspension of a European Union-wide political agreement.

The call by Siemtje Moeller, the deputy leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) parliamentary faction, reflects a sharpening of rhetoric from Berlin against Israel which has yet to yield any major policy changes.

Moeller, whose SPD joined a coalition with Merz's conservatives this year, wrote a letter to SPD lawmakers after returning from a trip to Israel with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul last week.

"My assessment is that the Israeli government will move little without pressure. If such concrete improvements fail to materialize in the near future, there must be consequences," she said in the letter.

Recognition of a Palestinian state should not be "taboo", she said, adding that Israeli statements that there were no restrictions on aid to Gaza were not convincing.

At the same time, Moeller demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages held by Hamas. She said Hamas must no longer play a role in a political future in Gaza. "It must be disarmed, its reign of terror must end."

Western nations have intensified efforts to exert pressure on Israel, with Britain, Canada and France signalling their readiness to recognize a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory at the United Nations General Assembly this September.

Critics argue that Germany’s response remains overly cautious, shaped by an enduring sense of historical guilt for the Holocaust and reinforced by pro-Israel sentiment in influential media circles, weakening the West’s collective ability to apply meaningful pressure on Israel.

Israel's air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials.

A growing number of civilians are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and intensifying criticism of Israel over its curbs on aid into the enclave.

Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international outcry, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.

 

Pakistan and Iran term terror main hurdle to prosperity

Pakistan and Iran on Sunday agreed that peace and prosperity in their border regions hinged on effectively combating terrorism, as both countries renewed their commitment to increase annual bilateral trade to US$10 billion.

The consensus was rea­ched during a bilateral meeting at the Prime Mini­ster House in Islamabad and later emphasized at a joint press conference by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian Presi­dent Masoud Pezeshkian.

“The development of economic and trade ties will be achieved through peace, stability, and tranquility,” Pezeshkian said, underscoring that terrorism remains a key obstacle to mutual prosperity.

“Given the threats from terrorist groups in border areas, both sides emphasized the need to increase cooperation to ensure border security and safeguard the peace and well-being of citizens in border cities,” the Iranian president added.

The nearly 900-kilometre border between the two countries has long faced security threats from proscribed groups, such as Jaish al-Adl and the Baluchistan Liberation Army. Persistent issues, including terrorism, smuggling, and mutual accusations of harbouring militants, have periodically strained ties.

Shehbaz acknowledged that security was paramount for progress in bilateral relations. “There will be zero tolerance for all forms of terrorism. If anyone falls victim to terrorism in Iran, it is the same as someone being affected by terrorism in Pakistan,” he said.

“For peace and development in our region, and along our hundreds of kilometres-long shared border, we must cooperate against terrorism and take effective steps to eliminate the scourge of terrorism once and for all,” Shehbaz added.

While the two leaders voiced their commitment to deepening cooperation, specific operational details were reportedly discussed in President Pezeshkian’s meeting with Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Later in the evening, Pezeshkian met senior Pakistani military leaders, including Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Babar Sidhu, and ISI chief Lt Gen Asim Malik at the presidency before the dinner reception hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari. A naval representative was also in attendance.

The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to raising annual bilateral trade to US$10 billion — a target first set during the late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Pakistan in April 2024.

“We can easily, in a short time, increase the volume of trade from the current US$3 billion to the projected goal of US$10 billion,” Pezeshkian said during the joint media conference.

Shehbaz echoed the sentiment. “We also jointly hope that the US$10 billion trade target is achieved at the earliest,” he said.

Trade has been constrained by a range of factors, including international sanctions on Iran, security concerns along the border, inadequate infrastructure, and limited economic complementarity.

Diplomatic and political fluctuations, often shaped by broader geopolitical tensions, have also affected the implementation of trade agreements.

While neither leader offered a clear roadmap to resolve these issues, both underscored a shared political will to continue engaging on them.

“Our delegations will take these discussions forward very soon,” Shehbaz said.

Earlier, at the bilateral talks, he had emphasized the need to convene the long-delayed 22nd meeting of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic Commission at the earliest. The 21st meeting of the Commission was held in 2022.

Proposals discussed during the talks included facilitating barter trade, increasing export quotas for rice, fruits, and meat, operationalizing cross-border markets, and removing trade barriers.

Border market development remains a key focus. Although the two countries agreed several years ago to establish six such markets, only three have become operational so far.

“The development of transit routes – railway routes and sea routes – the expansion and equipping of border markets, the facilitation of trade, and the establishment of joint free economic zones are critical needs in the relationship between the two countries, and we had constructive discussions on these issues,” Pezeshkian said.

Pakistan and Iran signed and exchanged 12 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to enhance cooperation across a broad spectrum of areas. The documents covered trade, transit, science and technology, tourism, agriculture, cultural exchange, maritime safety, and judicial cooperation.

The agreements include collaboration on plant quarantine, joint use of the Mirjaveh-Taftan border crossing, ICT, tourism cooperation for 2025-27, and a joint ministerial statement on finalising a Free Trade Agreement.

“We reached agreements in political, economic, commercial, and cultural fields, and signed documents to facilitate and promote cooperation in commerce, culture, tourism, transportation, and scientific and educational exchanges,” Pezeshkian said.

 

More countries likely to recognize Palestine

According to The Jerusalem Post, many people in Israel are convinced that over the past week, Hamas has won a “hunger narrative”. Countries like France and Britain are talking about recognizing the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September.

Israel says Hamas are liars, they fake evidence, ride in ambulances, and hide in schools, and much of the world is fooled, and some UN agency workers are complicit.

The single image that may have shifted global perception most in recent weeks was of a supposedly starving Gaza boy, later revealed to have had a severe pre-existing condition. Millions saw the image; thousands saw the correction. Yes, it’s journalistic malpractice, and yes, it’s quite unfair.

Yet none of that changes the underlying reality. There is no winning the semantic argument over whether what’s happening in Gaza constitutes hunger, malnutrition, starvation, or famine. What’s beyond debate is that people are suffering – from lack of access to food, but also medicine, shelter, and a functioning infrastructure. Gaza, much of which is literally destroyed, is not self-sufficient.

Meanwhile, Israel is using its own narrative that is certainly no less dishonest. Many Israelis argue that no one should be required to send aid to their enemy. However, this war is nearly unprecedented, an enemy territory, fully sealed off, governed by a terrorist group that feeds off the suffering of its own population.

In addition, when Israeli ministers – including Itamar Ben-Gvir just last weekend – openly call for all aid to be halted, it becomes impossible to deny that collective punishment has been normalized. That call alone will be widely seen as a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Gaza is blockaded from every direction by both Israel and Egypt. Civilians can’t leave — not to Israel, not to Egypt. In Gaza, millions of innocents are trapped.

Meanwhile, Israel has been moving much of the population around, more or less like cattle, for 21 months. They’ve been herded here, told to concentrate there. There’s talk of a so-called “humanitarian city” that would be a tent camp for a million people. People speak seriously of getting the Gazans to all leave.

Yet no country has agreed to take them, and nobody serious will view people leaving a bombed-out ruin as having done so willingly. All of this will be viewed as massive ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the idea of Israeli settlements in Gaza is being floated again – another war crime, normalized in real time.

How many Israelis would have supported, after October 07, a war that drags on for two years, kills tens of thousands of innocent people and hundreds of IDF soldiers, and does not prioritize the return of the hostages?

How many are really prepared for the coming legal complications for everyday Israeli citizens as they travel?

Yet this madness has been normalized, not because the public truly supports it, but because of the nonstop propaganda drumbeat inside the country. Outside, Israel still has friends – because its case against Hamas is excellent – but only a few who agree with the war policy, and that includes Jews and Zionists who are in no way fooled by Hamas.

Inside Israel, the normalization of madness has been built on three main pillars.

First, the narrative that there are “no innocents in Gaza.” It’s probably true that most people in Gaza hate Israel. The idea that it makes them combatants – and that this extends to little children (something I’ve tried to argue against on TV panels with seemingly sane people who claimed it) – is grotesque. No one outside of Israel buys it, and it is exactly the kind of discourse that has driven the charges of genocide. Israel’s supporters are mostly reduced to claiming this is a fringe view; very sadly, it is not.

Second, the Israeli media rarely shows the full horror of what’s happening in Gaza. Editors know what their audience wants. Many Israelis lack patience for scenes of Palestinian suffering, in part because the “no innocents” narrative has taken root, in part because they have accepted that war is terrible, and in part due to their own trauma. So even if most people know what’s happening on some level, they don’t feel it.

Third, there’s the deeply embedded belief that this is all Hamas’s fault. Hamas started the war, and Hamas could end it by surrendering. But Hamas is a terrorist group that doesn’t care about people, and Israel is a sovereign state that thinks it’s a light unto the nations. Israel was supposed to be the adult in the room. It needed to find a better way – or at the very least to make this one quick and decisive.

Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has engineered a long war. Every off-ramp has been rejected. “Day after” planning has been blocked. The Palestinian Authority – the only plausible alternative to Hamas – has been relentlessly undermined and demonized (even as it continues, daily, its security coordination with the IDF in the West Bank).

The extremists who dominate the coalition don’t want an alternative. They want to occupy Gaza, resettle it, and push out its population.

Netanyahu has also insisted that accountability for October 7 must wait until the war ends. The strategy has been to gaslight, obfuscate, and confuse with propaganda and moral gray zones, to a tragic extent, it has worked. That’s why the streets are not full of people demanding an end.

The foreign media has had no unimpeded access to Gaza since the start of the war – only a small number of tightly controlled “embeds”. As a result, international outlets are forced to rely on reports from Palestinian journalists, and then Israel complains that those reports are biased.

Israel fears that letting foreign journalists in would put them at risk and that if any were killed, Israel would be blamed.

Bangladesh ends three-year spell of deficits

According to the Bangladesh Bank data, country’s balance of payments returned to a surplus in the fiscal year 2024-25, ending a three-year spell of deficits.

The turnaround has been attributed to stronger remittance inflows, foreign aid, a flexible exchange rate, and tighter fiscal measures.

The overall balance of payments posted a surplus of US$3.3 billion at the end of FY25, bouncing back from a US$4.3 billion deficit a year ago.

The country recorded deficits of US$8.22 billion in FY23 and US$5.38 billion in FY22. The last time the external balance was in surplus was in FY21, when it stood at US$9.27 billion.

The balance of payments tracks the difference between what the country earns from the rest of the world and what it spends abroad.

In its Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the July-December period of FY26, the central bank said the external sector’s recovery was evident in the return to a surplus, the rise in foreign exchange reserves, and a more stable exchange rate.

It also said the main driver of this improvement was the current account balance, which returned to surplus after a large deficit. The financial account also posted a surplus, though to a lesser extent than in previous years.

The current account recorded a US$1 billion surplus in FY25, which was US$6.6 billion in deficit in FY24. Meanwhile, the financial account ended the just-concluded year with a US$3.2 billion surplus.

The recovery was powered by higher remittance inflows and strong export earnings, while sluggish imports also played a role. The current account swung to a surplus of US$981 million, a remarkable improvement on the previous year’s shortfall.

“The current account turned positive because remittance inflows have been strong. That’s one aspect. The second aspect is the financial account, which previously had a large deficit,” Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at local think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The Daily Star.

He said the financial account benefited from loans and assistance from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

“With both the financial account and the current account now in surplus, the overall balance of payments has turned positive,” he said.

“This is certainly a positive development.”

“As a result, two things have happened. T exchange rate has become more stable, and if there is any pressure on the exchange rate, the Bangladesh Bank has also created a half-billion-dollar fund to intervene in the market, when necessary,” said the economist.

“So overall, this is definitely a good development for the economy, at least in terms of the external sector, where external balances have been stabilized. As a result, the exchange rate is stabilizing, the forex reserves are increasing because of this surplus, and the previous import restrictions are now being eased.”

The central bank stated that steady global demand and a market-driven exchange rate helped lift exports by 8.6% to US$48.3 billion in FY25, up from US$44.5 billion a year earlier.

Imports, which had dropped by 11.1% in FY24, began recovering in FY25 as the foreign exchange market became more liquid.

Total imports grew by 2.4%, led by consumer goods and raw materials for the garment sector. However, the import of capital machinery remained weak, reflecting a lack of investment appetite, it said.

Rahman pointed out that the private sector had not yet resumed capital machinery imports in any meaningful way. However, he said restrictions were no longer necessary.

“If the macro economy remains stable, we may then see an increase in capital machinery imports by the private sector, and that could put some pressure on overall imports,” he said.

“Now that our reserves are in a good position,” he added, “if import pressure increases, the economy is now in a position to handle it.”

“But we need to stay cautious, because demand might rise in the future.”

Rahman also observed that while the financial account’s surplus is a positive sign, it is largely debt-driven.

“The surplus is coming from the loans we are receiving,” he said. “Against this, we have to provide debt servicing. So, in that sense, the structure is also positive. It’s not just a surplus driven by a debt-creating financial account.”