ISTANBUL
Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Tuesday with, including Israel's deadly airstrikes in Gaza, US President Donald Trump's warning to Iran, $6.3 billion pledge for Syria at Brussels donor conference, and Rwanda severing diplomatic ties with Belgium.
TOP STORIES
- Israel's 'large-scale' attack in Gaza kills 200 Palestinians
The Israeli army said early Tuesday that it has conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the largest since a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas took effect on Jan. 19.
"Based on directives from the political echelon, IDF and Shin Bet forces are launching a large-scale attack on Hamas terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
Local media, citing the Palestinian civil emergency service, said at least 200 people have been killed, including women and children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the army to take "strong action" against Hamas in Gaza, the Prime Ministry's Office said.
"This follows Hamas' repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators," it said in a statement.
- Trump warns Iran will be responsible for any further Houthi attacks
US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Iran will be held directly responsible for any additional attacks carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as tensions continue to mount in the Red Sea.
Amid continued tit-for-tat attacks between the US military and the Houthis, Trump said Iran has been directing “every move” taken by the group, and has been providing it with military equipment, financing and intelligence.
“Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN. Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there,” Trump said on his proprietary social media website.
At least 53 people were killed and 98 others injured in US-UK airstrikes on Yemen on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.
- $6.3B pledged for Syria at donor conference in Brussels
€5.8 billion ($6.3 billion) was pledged in aid to Syria at the 9th annual donor conference held Monday in Brussels.
“I have the honor to announce that together, we have pledged a total of €5.8 billion in grants and loans, and also €4.2 billion in grants and €1.6 billion in loans,” EU Commissioner Dubravka Suica announced.
She also underscored that the European Union and member states remained the biggest donor, accounting for 80% of the pledge for grants.
“Beyond grants, the international financial institutions and donors have announced the concessional loans at the amount of €1.6 billion,” Suica added.
- Rwanda severs diplomatic ties with Belgium
Rwanda on Monday cut diplomatic ties with Belgium amid the conflict in eastern DR Congo, according to an official statement.
The decision is “effective immediately,” the Rwandan Foreign Ministry said, and explained that it was “taken after careful consideration of several factors, all linked with Belgium’s pitiful attempts to sustain its neocolonial delusions.”
The Rwandan ministry required all Belgian diplomats in Rwanda to leave the country in 48 hours.
The ministry criticized Belgium for undermining Rwanda “both well before and during the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in which Belgium has a deep and violent historical role, especially in acting against Rwanda.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Tens of thousands of previously secret FBI files on the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy will be released this week, President Donald Trump announced Monday.
- Israeli warplanes killed two civilians and wounded 19 others in airstrikes on the southern Syrian city of Daraa late Monday, according to Syria’s official SANA news agency.
- Recent US strikes on the Houthi rebel group in Yemen are "not an endless offensive" and "not about regime change in the Middle East," the chief Pentagon spokesman said on Monday.
- A strong earthquake of magnitude 6 struck off Indonesia on Monday, the country’s geophysics agency said.
- Yemen’s Houthi group said late Monday that a series of US airstrikes had destroyed an iron factory in the Al Hudaydah province, western Yemen.
- Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes Monday, targeting several areas in southern Lebanon, with most strikes concentrated in the western Bekaa region of Bekaa province.
- The effect of the US funding cuts is already visible and will be "greater," the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Monday, asking Washing to reconsider its decision.
- Britain has said that over 30 countries will be involved in the "coalition of the willing" to help end the war in Ukraine, according to media reports on Monday.
- The White House said Monday that a deal to end Kremlin's war on Ukraine is closer that it has ever been ahead of an eagerly-awaited telephone call between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
- Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday expressed his commitment to strengthening relations with "reliable allies like France" to face an "increasingly unstable world together."
- Venezuela called the transfer of over 200 migrants from the US to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act invoked by President Donald Trump a "vulgar kidnapping."
- King Charles on Monday welcomed Mark Carney, Canada's new prime minister, to Buckingham Palace in a rare and symbolic meeting.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- EU to provide additional $3.8B aid to Ukraine
The Council of the EU has approved an additional €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) worth of financial aid in non-repayable grants and loans to Ukraine, according to a press release by the European Council on Monday.
"The main objective of the Facility is to support Ukraine's macro-financial stability and recovery, reconstruction and modernization," it said.
The aid is the third payment under the Ukraine Facility.
- Egypt loses $800 million monthly in Suez Canal revenue amid regional turmoil
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Monday evening that regional instability costs the country roughly $800 million monthly in Suez Canal revenue, though he noted the nation’s economy shows signs of improvement.
Speaking at an annual military-hosted iftar attended by senior officials, Sisi acknowledged the “difficult circumstances” facing the world and the Middle East, according to a presidency statement.
Despite these challenges, he said Egypt has moved forward “with steady, well-planned steps” over the past 15 years, overcoming economic crises that have affected the global economy as well.
