International Glance
A U.S. proposal to provide a United Nations mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza is facing opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries, which have expressed unease about a yet-to-be established board that would temporarily govern the territory and the lack of any transitional role for the Palestinian Authority.
The Chinese and the Russians — two veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — have called for the “Board of Peace” under President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan to be removed from the resolution entirely, according to four U.N. diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.
In the latest draft released late Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. maintains the language around the board while providing further commitment to Palestinian self-determination. although the language remains weak.
While some of the responses to the U.S. proposal reflect typical negotiations between countries — with detailed back-and-forth and revisions in language — the objection to the transitional board indicates that wide gaps have emerged between some members of the U.N.’s most powerful body and the U.S. following more than two years of war.
Gaza stabilization force proposal by U.S. gets pushback from Russia, China and Arabs
Heavy rain in Gaza leaves people sheltering in makeshift tents soaked and cold
Heavy rain across the Gaza Strip on Friday has drenched many tents where displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
A crew from NHK's Gaza office has found flooded roads in a wide area of Gaza City in the north and muddy water surrounding tents there.
In an area near the central city of Deir al-Balah, residents were using shovels to pile up mounds around their tents to prevent the inflow of rainwater.
As the rainy, cold winter will soon arrive in the enclave, a local NGO has asked Israel to open all crossings to allow the delivery of needed shelter materials.
It says items needed to survive winter are slow in arriving even after the ceasefire took effect last month.
One resident said it is unbearable to see his child freezing due to lack of a blanket and a mattress. The resident called for support with essentials like tarps and blankets.
‘Massive enemy attack’: Russia pounds Ukraine’s Kyiv, killing six
A “massive” Russian attack on Kyiv has killed at least six people with more than 30 others injured, according to the head of the Kyiv city military administration, Tymur Tkachenko.
More than 40 people had to be rescued as a result of the overnight assault into Friday, Ukraine’s emergency services added, with fires or damage to residential buildings reported in most of the Ukrainian capital’s 10 districts.
A separate Russian drone attack on Chornomorsk, a coastal city in the south, killed two people on Friday, according to Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper. Seven others were injured in the strike.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the Kyiv barrage was “a wicked attack” which killed several and injured dozens, including children and a pregnant woman. He said “about 430 drones and 18 missiles were used in the strike, including ballistic and aeroballistic missiles. This was a deliberately calculated attack aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure.
“The main target of the attack was Kyiv, and strikes also hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions,” he added.
Earlier, Kyiv police said an elderly woman was killed, while a 10-year-old boy was among the injured.
Trump administration seeks new restrictions on foreign students and media
President Donald Trump this week ignited a wave of criticism from conservatives when he suggested the United States needed a path for highly skilled foreign workers to enter the country.
Trump’s comments on the H-1B visa program echo the perspective of business leaders but have been controversial among members of his base who want a more hardline approach to immigration.
At the same time, the Trump administration has been quietly pushing a series of new restrictions on other visas targeting students and foreign journalists, raising a different set of concerns for some over the future of academic and press freedom.
A proposed Department of Homeland Security rule would change existing policy by granting visa holders with F, J or I classifications – academic students, exchange visitors and members of foreign media – admission to the U.S. for a fixed time period. Such individuals are currently permitted to stay indefinitely as long as they’re abiding by the terms of their visa.
Israeli settler attack on West Bank mosque draws international condemnation
An Israeli settler arson attack on a mosque in the occupied West Bank has drawn international condemnation, as a wave of intensified violence against Palestinians continues unabated across the area.
Israeli settlers set fire to the Hajja Hamida Mosque in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, near Salfit in the north of the West Bank, around dawn on Thursday, local residents told Al Jazeera.
Photographs taken at the scene showed racist, anti-Palestinian slogans sprayed on the walls of the mosque, which was damaged in the blaze. Copies of the Quran – the Islamic holy book – were also burned.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs condemned what it said was a “heinous crime” that highlights “the barbarity” with which Israel treats Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Separately, two Palestinian children were killed on Thursday when Israeli forces opened fire during a raid in the town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.
The violence comes amid a record-setting number of Israeli settler and military attacks on Palestinians across the West Bank so far this year, with many of the assaults taking place in the context of the 2025 olive harvest.
US designates four European anti-fascist groups as terrorist threats
The US state department has announced that it will designate four European self-described anti-fascist groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, as the Trump administration broadens its campaign against what it portrays as an international wave of leftist violence.
In a public statement on Thursday, the state department said it would designate Antifa Ost in Germany, the Italy-based International Revolutionary Front, and two organisations in Greece – Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self Defense – as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists … conspiring to undermine the foundations of Western Civilization through their brutal attacks”.
The designation was the first time that “antifa” groups had been deemed a foreign terrorist threat, allowing law enforcement to use more aggressive techniques to oppose them. It also could extend to those deemed leftist supporters of the groups in the United States, allowing federal authorities to use similar surveillance and financial oversight tools against US citizens.
“Groups affiliated with this movement ascribe to revolutionary anarchist or Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, ‘anti-capitalism’ and anti-Christianity, using these to incite and justify violent assaults domestically and overseas,” the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said in a statement.
Israeli president responds to Trump's letter asking him to pardon Netanyahu in corruption cases
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he received a letter from President Trump on Wednesday asking him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases, with no ruling yet delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.
In a speech to the Israeli parliament in October, Mr. Trump urged Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, telling the gathered lawmakers: "By the way, that was not in the speech, as you probably know! But I happen to like this gentleman right over here [Netanyahu], and it just seems to make so much sense."
"This morning, President Isaac Herzog received the attached letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, calling on him to consider granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," Herzog's office said in a statement, adding that the president could not initiate a pardon based on the American leader's request alone.
In his letter, Mr. Trump said he was writing to Herzog at a "historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years."
"I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister," it added. "While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System ... I believe that this 'case' against Bibi ... is political, unjustified prosecution."
Netanyahu has long been known by the nickname Bibi.
Mr. Trump also framed his request for Netanyahu's pardon as something his Israeli counterpart deserved for working with the White House to reach the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, saying: "Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes, and are keeping Hamas in check, it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending that lawfare once and for all."
He and his wife Sara are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods including cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors. He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favorable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.
TVNL Comment: Birds of a feather should be imprisoned together.
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