Day: October 17, 2023

A passenger on a rubber boat adrift in the Mediterranean Sea called a rescue hotline on June 23 to plead for help. The boat – carrying 14 migrants from the Middle East and Africa – was out of fuel in choppy waters. And a male passenger had just drowned.

The craft was about 70 nautical miles off the coast of Malta, within the small island country’s search and rescue zone, according to position data recorded by Alarm Phone, the hotline operator. Within these zones, countries are obligated under international law to coordinate search and rescue operations.

Still, Maltese authorities declined that distress call and at least 32 other communications about the situation, according to interviews with humanitarian groups involved in the rescue and a Reuters review of the groups’ notes, e-mails and recordings documenting the incident.

At one point, a person who answered the phone at Malta’s Rescue Coordination Centre rebuffed a call from a humanitarian worker regarding the boat. “You’re keeping my line busy,” the responder said, and hung up, according to a recording of the call provided to Reuters by Sea-Watch, a German non-profit search-and-rescue group, one of several that notified authorities about the distressed vessel.

A Maltese military boat did eventually reach the distressed vessel but refused the passengers’ direct pleas for rescue, survivors told interviewers from the medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). An MSF boat, the Geo Barents, later rescued the passengers, a Reuters review of MSF photos and video of the operation shows, and took them to Italy.

The incident is a recent example of Malta’s practice of declining to rescue vessels carrying migrants bound for Europe, according to humanitarian groups and non-governmental organisations operating in the region. The case was particularly troubling, international law experts say, because of the Maltese armed forces’ alleged refusal to aid the passengers.

Details of the incident, described to Reuters by humanitarian groups MSF, Sea-Watch and Alarm Phone, haven’t previously been reported.

By not responding promptly to distress calls and coordinating a rescue, Malta fell short of its duties under international law, said Ainhoa Campàs Velasco, a lecturer in maritime law at the University of Southampton. “The type of boat, the sea conditions, they are overcrowded – this is a clear situation of distress.”

Maltese authorities, including a spokesperson in the prime minister’s office, declined to answer questions about the incident. A spokesperson for Malta’s armed forces, which coordinates search and rescue efforts, said all reports of “irregular migrants” in Malta’s search and rescue zone “are followed up immediately.”

“Search and Rescue operations are coordinated in accordance with the applicable international conventions, regulations and through the competent authority,” spokesperson Sabrina Borg wrote in an email to Reuters. “As with all cases, the competent authorities exercise the duty of care.”

An Italian politician in April accused Malta of failing to rescue boats in distress within the country’s search and rescue zone. Maltese authorities “consistently pretend not to see and never intervene,” leading to more pressure on the Italian coast guard, Tommaso Foti, a member of the ruling Brothers of Italy party, told an Italian radio programme. Foti did not respond to a request for comment.

Humanitarian groups involved in Mediterranean rescues echoed that criticism. “From our experience, it’s highly unlikely that Malta will rescue,” said Oliver Kulikowski, spokesperson for Sea-Watch, which helped in the ultimate rescue of the boat in June. “Malta is trying everything to avoid having responsibility and having people arriving in Malta.”

A home affairs ministry spokesperson said Malta wants a fair and safe immigration and asylum system, in which people “genuinely in need of international protection are swiftly recognized” and those who lack a legal right to remain in Malta are returned to their countries of origin. Malta will continue working to reduce illegal crossings that result in thousands of deaths at sea, said the spokesperson, Neil Azzopardi Ferriggi.

“It is not acceptable that thousands of people continue risking their lives, trying to reach the EU, while smugglers continue profiting from the hopes and misery of migrants,” he said.

Thirty-nine hours after the first distress call, MSF rescued the three teenagers, two women and eight men who remained on the boat. The aid group collected testimonies from three survivors and shared them with Reuters. The news agency wasn’t able to independently interview the survivors or confirm the full details of their accounts. Their whereabouts are unknown.

The rubber boat left Sirte, Libya, around 3 a.m. on June 21, two survivors told MSF. On board were 14 people from Syria and South Sudan, including two women and three teenagers between 14 and 17 years old.

At 4:28 p.m. on June 22, after a day and a half at sea, someone aboard made a distress call to Alarm Phone, a network that relays distress calls from the Mediterranean to emergency services. Alarm Phone alerted Maltese and Italian authorities by email of the boat’s location, noting that it was out of fuel, according to a copy of the email provided to Reuters.

“The people on the boat are urgently asking for help,” the email said.

In the following hours, Alarm Phone updated Maltese and Italian authorities by email about the boat’s situation and called the Malta Search and Rescue Coordination Centre at least four times, according to Alarm Phone notes. None of the contacts elicited a response.

By the next morning, June 23, survivors told MSF, they had run out of food and water. They tied empty fuel containers to the sides of the boat to use as floatation devices in case they capsized.

Around 12:30 p.m., one of the empty fuel containers fell into the water and a 23-year-old Syrian man jumped in to retrieve it. The jug was only a metre away from the boat, but the waves were strong, and he was not wearing a life jacket, a 27-year-old man who witnessed the incident told MSF. Passengers told MSF they tried, to no avail, to move the boat closer to the Syrian man as he struggled to stay above water.

At 12:46 p.m., Alarm Phone called the Malta Search and Rescue Coordination Centre to report that one person was in the water. The boat was 74 nautical miles southeast of Malta, position data show, and within the country’s search and rescue zone.

The person answering the phone at the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre hung up immediately, according to Alarm Phone’s notes from the call.

The Syrian man eventually disappeared beneath the waves, survivors told MSF.

An hour later, a plane operated by Sea-Watch spotted the drifting boat. Only a few people wore life jackets, according to a copy of an email Sea-Watch sent to Maltese authorities. The closest vessel was a Maltese patrol boat, 15 nautical miles away, travelling toward Malta, according to position data and videos recorded by Sea-Watch staff and analysed by Reuters.

Sea-Watch radioed the Maltese boat, patrol vessel P51 of the Armed Forces of Malta, three times and got no response, Sea-Watch staff said. The Armed Forces of Malta runs the country’s Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, which is responsible for coordinating and directing rescues within Malta’s zone.

Sea-Watch also issued a May Day call, summoning any nearby ship to help the drifting vessel. No Maltese authority or patrol boat responded, Sea-Watch staff said.

“It’s like calling 911, and the emergency hotline is not responding,” said Kulikowski, the Sea-Watch spokesperson.

An oil tanker, the Laconia flagged to Gabon, did respond to the May Day call and altered course to pull up alongside the boat for more than two hours, according to ship tracking data. It left around 9:20 p.m. after a speed boat whose crew identified themselves as Maltese armed forces told the captain to hand over monitoring of the craft to them, according to a recording of a conversation between the tanker captain and Sea-Watch staff. The tanker’s captain and owners did not respond to a request for comment. Malta’s armed forces declined to comment on the tanker’s involvement.

Official counts of Mediterranean distress calls and sea rescues are not available. But Malta’s intake of migrants arriving by sea has declined sharply in recent years as arrivals soared elsewhere in Europe.

More than 152,000 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea in 2022, up 49% since 2019, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Italy recorded an 814% increase in sea arrivals over those years, from 11,500 to 105,131. Malta’s arrivals plunged 87%, from 3,406 to 444.

A 2020 report by Amnesty International accused Malta of delaying or denying rescues. Some of these incidents, according to the report, involved vessels that had already reached the Maltese search and rescue zone before being “pushed back” to Libya. The report cited migrant testimony, NGOs, government sources and press reports.

Malta has denied engaging in pushbacks, which the European Court of Human Rights has declared illegal under international law.

The tiny nation, with just over 500,000 people, cannot handle a huge influx of migrants as easily as wealthier nations such as Italy, which has more than 100 times its population, Malta’s leaders say. Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri took a hard line on undocumented migrants at an Oct. 7 meeting with other European Union officials. Camilleri said that 70% of migrants who landed in Malta had been returned and that it was important “to send a clear message they have no right to stay.”

Critics say this stance drives Malta’s search and rescue response. “What they’re interested in is closing the border and people not arriving rather than meeting their search and rescue obligations,” said Jean-Pierre Gauci, a Maltese scholar in migration law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

A Maltese patrol boat arrived at the drifting vessel after sunset on June 23, more than 10 hours after the young man had drowned, survivors told MSF. Three men in white hazmat suits gave the passengers energy biscuits, a flashlight and three gallons of fuel and urged them to continue to Italy. The boat was more than 78 nautical miles from Italy at the time, position data show.

The passengers told the men they were scared and didn’t want to remain on the boat, survivors told MSF.

Within a few hours, the rubber boat again ran out of fuel. The Maltese patrol boat came back and gave the passengers three more containers of fuel, survivors told MSF.

An MSF ship arrived in the region late at night on June 23, and its crew notified Maltese authorities that they could rescue the passengers. After waiting a few hours and getting no response, MSF picked up the 13 survivors and took them to La Spezia, Italy. MSF staff doesn’t know what happened to the passengers after that because the organisation does not track migrants after they leave the rescue ship.

MSF gave Reuters a copy of a drawing one of the survivors created en route. It depicts a man overboard with his arms raised high in the air. In the bottom corner, the artist wrote in Arabic: “May God rest his soul.”

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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

Thousands of people have gathered at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only remaining exit out of Gaza, hoping that diplomatic efforts will open the crossing before the expected Israeli ground incursion. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in discussions with Egypt and Israel to reopen the crossing. However, there has been no progress in negotiations, the U.N. said, with Egypt blaming Israel for “not cooperating.” Egypt has focused on allowing aid into Gaza and has said it could host medical evacuations and Gazans with permission to travel onwards. Israeli strikes have hit the Rafah crossing area at least three times since its air campaign began. Ece Goksedef reports for BBC News.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Iran foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian yesterday warned that an Iranian-backed network of militias would open “multiple fronts” against Israel if attacks killing civilians in Gaza continued. He said a “pre-emptive action” was possible “in the coming few hours.” The announcement comes after Abdollahian met with leaders from Hamas, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Abdollahian confirmed that Tehran received “deceitful messages” from the United States aimed at ensuring the conflict does not expand. Farnaz Fassihi reports for the New York Times.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – U.S. RESPONSE

President Biden will visit Israel tomorrow, signifying U.S. commitment to Israel. According to White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Biden will meet with top Israeli officials to discuss their strategy and humanitarian assistance for Palestinians inside Gaza. Biden will then travel to Jordan to meet Egyptian and Palestinian Authority leaders and address the “dire humanitarian needs.” Stephen Kalin, Summer Said, Fatima AbdulKarim, Tarini Parti, and William Mauldin report for the Wall Street Journal.

General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, Commander of the U.S. Central Command, has arrived in Israel to meet with Israel’s military leadership. “I’m here to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and am particularly focused on avoiding other parties expanding the conflict,” General Kurilla said. U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

A rapid response force, consisting of 2,000 U.S. Marines and sailors, is being deployed to the eastern Mediterranean, two defense officials said. The force is tasked with providing Israel medical and logistical support. Officials have stressed that the United States has no plans to deploy U.S. soldiers to fight in the Israel-Hamas war. Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.

U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Middle East appear to be failing, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with regional allies to ensure the conflict does not expand. Blinken was kept waiting for several hours by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who framed the conflict as “military operations that have claimed the lives of innocent people,” effectively siding against the Israeli offensive. Saudi Arabia is reportedly pausing U.S.-backed efforts to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. While Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said we “unequivocally condemn” Hamas’ attack, he also said, “we need to understand that this is the result of accumulated fury and hatred over four decades, where the Palestinians had no hope to find a solution.” Nahal Toosi reports for POLIITICO.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS 

The man who killed two Swedish nationals and injured a third in Brussels was shot dead by police yesterday evening. Brussels authorities have placed the city on maximum terror alert since the incident. The Brussels prosecutor’s office believes the attack was inspired by the self-styled Islamic State militant group. It is believed the gunman is of Tunisian origin and was in Belgium unlawfully following his asylum application being rejected. Sofia Bettiza and Gem O’Reilly report for BBC News.

Turkey has stalled the ratification of Sweden’s NATO bid as it hopes to leverage Sweden’s accession to gain U.S. support for its request to buy F-16 jets. The 17-month delay shows no signs of ending despite Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s promise during the NATO summit in July to send Sweden’s bid to parliament in October. The State Department may seek congressional approval to sell F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to Turkey worth $20 billion, two people familiar with the situation said. However, there is no clear timeline. Jonathan Spicer, Huseyin Hayatsever, and Tuvan Gumrukcu report for Reuters.

Poland’s ruling hard-right Law and Justice party has secured the most votes with over 35 percent in the national election but is likely to fall short of a governing majority. The centrist opposition party Civic Platform secured just over 30 percent and will likely be able to form a coalition government. Voter turnout was around 74 percent, the highest in Poland since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Anthony Faiola and Annabelle Chapman report for the Washington Post.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS

Russia is withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, citing the irresponsible attitude of the United States toward global security. Russia will remain a signatory to the treaty and continue participating in the global monitoring system. Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said, “I am not ready to say whether we really need to conduct tests or not, but it is possible theoretically to behave in the same way as the United States.” Guy Faulconbridge reports for Reuters.

Russia’s large-scale assault on the small east Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which began last week, has made little progress and led to heavy Russian losses. Russia lost 2,000 troops on the first day of the assault on Avdiivka, Col. Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said. Russia also lost at least 36 armored vehicles since the initial assault, according to open-source intelligence analysts. The Russian failure to gain much territory in the east mirrors Ukraine’s slow counter-offensive in the south. Ian Lovett reports for the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday said the United States would continue supporting Ukraine and pledged more aid during a meeting of European finance ministers. Yellen attempted to assuage European concerns that the standstill in the House of Representatives and the Israel-Hamas war would diminish U.S. resolve in supporting Ukraine. Yesterday, Yellen said, “I absolutely believe that we will get” funding for Ukraine and Israel through Congress. Alan Rappeport reports for the New York Times.

U.S. RELATIONS

The Venezuelan government and opposition will today resume discussions about electoral guarantees in the upcoming 2024 election, President Nicolas Maduro said. The two sides last met in November 2022. Two sources said that the United States could lift some restrictions on Venezuela’s banking sector if Maduro commits to a presidential election date and lifts the ban on opposition candidates. The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela after the Maduro regime came to power in what the United States considers a sham election. Mayela Armas, Matt Spetalnick and Marianna Parraga report for Reuters.

The United States and the Marshall Islands yesterday signed a 20-year agreement on economic assistance worth $2.3 billion, chief U.S. negotiator Joseph Yun said. Under the Compacts of Free Association, the United States will provide economic assistance to the Marshall Islands and will be responsible for its defense while gaining exclusive military access to strategic portions of the Pacific Ocean. Former officials said the agreement was delayed because State Department lawyers objected to the funding being used to address the U.S. nuclear legacy in the region out of fear more claims could be brought. David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina reports for Reuters.

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS – TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS

Former President Trump was placed under a limited gag order by District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing his federal election interference case. Trump must stop disparaging prosecutors, witnesses, and court personnel involved in the trial. However, Chutkan’s order falls short of what prosecutors sought, as Trump may continue verbally abusing President Biden. She also said, “Trump can certainly claim he’s being unfairly prosecuted,” provided he does not denigrate individual prosecutors. This is Trump’s second gag order this month, following a ruling in his civil fraud trial in New York, which bars him from discussing court personnel. Rachel Weiner, Perry Stein, Tom Jackman, Devlin Barrett, and Spencer S. Hsu report for the Washington Post.

Former President Trump seeks to give evidence in U.K. courts, where he is suing for “significant damage and distress” over the “Steele Dossier” that alleged Trump bribed officials and participated in sex parties in Russia. The allegations were gathered in a dossier by Orbis Business Intelligence, which was hired to investigate Russian election interference in 2016. Buzzfeed then published the allegations. A lawyer for Orbis said, “any reputational damage, and any resulting distress, allegedly suffered will have been caused by the BuzzFeed publication, for which the claimant accepts Orbis is not liable.” Dominic Casciani reports for BBC News.

OTHER DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

Federal prosecutors yesterday filed a notice to appeal the sentences of five far-right Proud Boys group members convicted for their role in the Jan. 6 attack. This marks the second such appeal, with the first relating to the sentencing of Oath Keepers members. While prosecutors are not required to give reasons for the appeal, it could reflect their dissatisfaction with the length of the sentences handed down. Tom Jackman reports for the Washington Post.

Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) has won the support of several of his most prominent opponents, offering a clearer path to becoming Speaker of the House. People close to Jordan said only 10 Republican holdouts remain. Jordan is a hard-line co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. Luke Broadwater reports for the New York Times.

The Supreme Court has barred two Texas-based manufacturers from selling products that can be converted into firearms called “ghost guns,” lifting an injunction that blocked enforcement of a 2022 federal regulation. The federal regulation expanded the definition of a firearm under the 1968 Gun Control Act to include gun parts and kits. The Supreme Court held that the injunction favoring ghost gun kit makers, despite the prior intervention by the justices, “openly flouted” the Supreme Court’s authority. Andrew Chung reports for Reuters.

Violent crime across the United States has dropped to pre-Covid-19 levels, while property crimes rose substantially, according to the FBI’s annual crime report published yesterday. The rates of murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased by 6.1 percent. Rape fell by 5.4 percent. Property crimes jumped 7.1 percent. Jim Salter reports for AP News.

The post Early Edition: October 17, 2023 appeared first on Just Security.

Political shift in Poland confirmed as final election results announced.

The report by RUSI, a British think tank, joins an earlier US intelligence report stating over 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions were transferred from North Korea to Russia.

Futures for Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Tuesday as investors assessed diplomatic efforts to contain the Middle East conflict, while awaiting a slew of corporate earnings and data to gauge the state of the U.S. economy.

U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, after Washington said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gazans.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel’s “genocide” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip should stop immediately, state TV reported, sparking concerns the conflict could escalate.

“Markets fear a ground offensive by Israel could ignite a larger and more complicated regional conflict that risks regional supply chains, energy output, economic growth and financial stability,” said Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday, pushing megacap stocks Apple (AAPL.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) down between 0.4% – 0.7% in premarket trading.

Bank of America‘s (BAC.N) profit rose in the third quarter as it joined rivals in earning more from interest payments by its customers, while investment banking and trading fared better than expected. Its shares were trading flat.

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) added 1.3% after raising its 2023 profit forecast.

Investors now await quarterly earnings from Goldman Sachs (GS.N), due before market open, after some major U.S. banks on Friday said higher interest rates had boosted profits amid a slowing economy and cautious consumer behavior.

U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) will also report quarterly earnings before the opening bell.

All three major U.S. stock indexes rose in the previous session on optimism over corporate earnings.

“We believe the profits recession is over and the U.S. economy is on track for a soft-ish landing following healthy consumer activity, cooling inflation, and solid growth,” said UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment officer, Mark Haefele.

Third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to increase 2.2% year-on-year, compared with 1.3% rise expected a week earlier, as per LSEG data.

Investors are also awaiting economic data including retail sales and industrial production for September, due at 08:30 a.m. ET and 09:15 a.m. ET, respectively.

Several Federal Reserve officials are set to speak during the day, including New York’s John Williams, Richmond’s Thomas Barkin, Minneapolis’ Neel Kashkari and Board Governor Michelle Bowman.

At 6:49 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 67 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 11 points, or 0.25%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 43.75 points, or 0.29%.

Among individual stocks, NetScout Systems (NTCT.O) dropped 23.2% after the enterprise software firm lowered its 2024 revenue and profit forecasts.

Dollar Tree (DLTR.O) rose 2.8% after a report said Goldman Sachs had upgraded the discount retail chain’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N) added 2.1% after beating third-quarter profit estimates.

#FBI FBI #CIA CIA #DIA DIA

Hypocrite Putin set up the Gaza fire via Wagner Group, and now he pretends to fight it! – GS https://t.co/WjPKRcdUub
Poroshenko: Wagner signature behind Hamas attack https://t.co/xTn0oKZEVc › He said the same Russian signature was seen in the… pic.twitter.com/BKKmmid2tB

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) October 17, 2023

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“The threat is high that this whole conflict gets out of control,” Ryabkov said.

Putin pushes need for talks in calls with Israeli, Arab and Iranian leaders

Full Text Articles

Putin pushes need for talks in calls with Israeli, Arab and Iranian leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with China Media Group anchor Wang Guan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this image released October 16, 2023. Sputnik/Sergei Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that Moscow wanted to help prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza as he waded into the Middle East crisis with a flurry of calls to key regional players.

The Kremlin said Putin expressed Russia’s willingness to work towards “ending the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation and achieving a peaceful settlement through political and diplomatic means”.

Its readout of the call did not include any mention of the ceasefire that Russia is trying to achieve by putting forward a resolution in the United Nations Security Council.

But Putin briefed Netanyahu on conversations with the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority in which the Kremlin said earlier that this had been discussed.

“A unanimous opinion was expressed on the need for an early ceasefire and the establishment of a humanitarian truce in order to urgently provide assistance to all those in need,” it said of those conversations.

“There was also serious concern about the likelihood of the conflict escalating into a regional war.”

The crisis has partly diverted the world’s attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine, providing Moscow with an opportunity to demonstrate its strong ties with all the key players in the Middle East and cast itself as a voice for peace and restraint.

It has repeatedly blamed past U.S. policy failures for creating the conditions that led to the latest explosion of violence in the Middle East.

The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to Netanyahu over the deaths of more than 1,300 Israelis in a wave of attacks launched from Gaza on Oct.7 by Islamist militant group Hamas.

He also told Netanyahu about “the steps Russia is taking to help normalize the situation, prevent further escalation of violence and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip”.

Israel has responded to the attacks with 10 days of intense bombing that Gaza authorities say has killed at least 2,750 people, mostly civilians. Putin said last week that Israel had the right to defend itself but that an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza would lead to an “absolutely unacceptable” number of civilian casualties.

Iranian state media said President Ebrahim Raisi told Putin in their conversation that supporting the Palestinians was Iran’s foreign policy priority but “resistance” groups made their own independent decisions.

They quoted Raisi as saying: “There is a possibility of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians expanding to other fronts.”

Putin also spoke to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Palestinan President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom he asked for assistance from Cairo in evacuating Russian citizens from Gaza, the Kremlin said.

The Kremlin leader was also shown discussing the Middle East and Ukraine at a televised meeting with officials including spy chiefs and his defence minister.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Putin that the situation was worsening and Israeli army actions were “indiscriminate”.

“The threat is high that this whole conflict gets out of control,” Ryabkov said.

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Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Mark Trevelyan in London, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian. Contact: +447825218698

Chief writer on Russia and CIS. Worked as a journalist on 7 continents and reported from 40+ countries, with postings in London, Wellington, Brussels, Warsaw, Moscow and Berlin. Covered the break-up of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Security correspondent from 2003 to 2008. Speaks French, Russian and (rusty) German and Polish.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with China Media Group anchor Wang Guan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this image released October 16, 2023. Sputnik/Sergei Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin entered the fevered diplomatic fray of the Middle East on Monday, speaking to five of the major players including Iran and leading Arab powers in an attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Russia, which has relationships with Iran, Hamas, major Arab powers as well as with the Palestinians and with Israel, has repeatedly said the United States and the West have ignored the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders.

Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by telephone, the Kremlin said. He also plans to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Putin that the situation was escalatory, that Israeli army actions were “indiscriminate” and that the risk was that Israel would begin a ground operation against Gaza.

“The threat is high that this whole conflict gets out of control,” Ryabkov told Putin at a meeting also attended by Russia’s spy chiefs and military leaders.

He said that the United States was ultimately responsible for the crisis due to its failed policy in the Middle East and that Washington was blocking a Russian resolution in the UN Security Council.

Putin, who says the West is seeking to cleave Russia apart by supporting Ukraine, says the current violence in the Middle East shows just how far U.S. policy in the region has failed.

Putin will meet Xi Jinping in China this week in a bid to deepen a partnership forged between the United States’ two biggest strategic competitors.

Russia and China, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have said that the fundamental issue at the heart of the conflict is the lack of justice for the Palestinians.

CHINA AND RUSSIA

The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital – all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

“We believe that the main thing right now in this situation is to immediately cease the fire and begin the process of a political settlement,” Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by state news outlets as saying.

China’s foreign minister on Monday called for a ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in Israel, suggesting at a meeting with his Russian counterpart that major world powers should work to avoid a humanitarian disaster.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing ahead of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to China.

“The United Nations Security Council must take action, and the major powers should play an active role,” Wang told Lavrov, according to a Chinese transcript of the meeting.

“It is imperative that a ceasefire be put in place, that the two sides be brought back to the negotiating table, and that an emergency humanitarian channel be established to prevent a further humanitarian disaster.”

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Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Ed Osmond

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian. Contact: +447825218698

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely speak during a phone call Monday evening, a senior official tells Fox News. 

The call will represent the first time the two leaders will speak since Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians prompted Israel to declare war against the Gaza-based terror group.

Netanyahu and Putin will speak before the Russian president is expected to meet this week with Chinese leaders in Beijing on a visit that underscores China’s support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine. Russia and China have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. 

China has sought to balance its ties with Israel with its economic relations with Iran and Syria, which are strongly backed by Russia. Putin’s visit is also a show of support for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure and expand China’s overseas influence.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN BLAMES US FOR CREATING CONDITIONS LEADING TO ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The Biden administration deployed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East to meet with Arab leaders in hopes of deterring a wider-ranging conflict amid the war in Israel, as Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israelis along the country’s northern border with Lebanon, raising concerns of the opening of a second front. 

Meanwhile, Netanyahu, whose forces have been pummeling the Gaza Strip with retaliatory air strikes, is readying a planned ground operation against Hamas this week. 

Blinken, while traveling in the Mideast over the weekend, called Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to ask Beijing to use whatever influence it has in the region to keep other countries and groups from entering the conflict and broadening it, according to the State Department, which declined to characterize Wang’s response. China is known to have close trade and political ties with Iran, which in turn supports Hamas and Hezbollah.

During a call with an adviser to the Brazilian president, Wang had come out more strongly for the Palestinians compared to his Chinese counterparts, saying that “the crux of the matter is that justice has not been done to the Palestinian people.”

“This conflict once again proved in an extremely tragic manner that the way to solve the Palestinian issue lies in resuming genuine peace talks as soon as possible and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation,” Wang said, according to The Associated Press. 

China’s Middle East envoy, Zhai Jun, talked to Palestinian and Egyptian officials by phone this past week, calling for an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian support for the Palestinian people. Zhai also called Israeli officials to say China “has no selfish interests on the Palestinian issue but has always stood on the side of peace, on the side of fairness and justice.” He said that “China is willing to work with the international community to promote peace and encourage talks.”

NETANYAHU TELLS BIDEN ‘WE HAVE TO GO IN’ TO GAZA FOLLOWING HAMAS ATTACKS: REPORT

Putin will be among the highest profile guests at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Xi’s announcement of the BRI policy, which has laden countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka with heavy debt after they signed contracts with Chinese companies to build roads, airports and other public works they could not otherwise afford.

Putin’s visit has not been officially confirmed, according to the AP, but Chinese officials have suggested he will arrive late Monday.

In June, Xi hosted the Palestinian president in Beijing and invited the Israeli prime minister for an official state visit. 

Netanyahu accepted, and China was on track for a bigger role in the region, but Hamas attacks against Israel have made Netanyahu’s planned late October trip uncertain. China’s stated neutrality on the war has upset Israel, but Beijing may gain in the long run by forging closer ties with Arab countries, experts told the AP. 

Netanyahu has invited President Biden to visit Israel amid the war against Hamas. 

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Just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, Putin met with Xi in Beijing and the sides signed an agreement pledging a “no-limits” relationship. Beijing’s attempts to present itself as a neutral peace broker in Russia’s war on Ukraine have been widely dismissed by the international community.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

This audio is created with AI assistance

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad received part of a $93 million payment through the sanctioned Russian crypto-exchange company Garantex, the Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 13.

The sources used in the reporting alleged that Hamas likely used a similar funding scheme as a means of disguising their transactions and evading sanctions.

Garantex customers in Russia can deposit cash in rubles and then receive the equivalent in cryptocurrency, which can then be withdrawn abroad in a foreign currency, effectively disguising the origin of the funds. According to the WSJ’s reporting, there is “little trackable record of the transactions,” making it difficult for international financial crime regulators to crack down on such exchanges.

After the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned more than 80% of the Russian banking industry following the full-scale invasion, crypto has become one of the primary ways that Russians can move money around in foreign banks. The gaps in enforcement also provide opportunities for terrorist groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad to fund their operations.

Unnamed Treasury Department sources told the WSJ that the U.S. was considering additional actions against Garantex to stop the flow of illegal or sanctioned money.

The WSJ estimates that as much as $7-30 billion have been funneled through Garantex since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The company was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in April 2022.

Investigation: Baltic-registered crypto firms service payments for Russian private army, allow sanctions evasion

Known for its innovative e-governing system and booming IT industry, Estonia made a supposedly groundbreaking move in 2017. By launching a licensing system for cryptocurrency companies, the Baltic country wanted to become the first in the European Union to regulate crypto business. Instead, Estonia…

Nate Ostiller

News Editor

Nate Ostiller is a News Editor. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

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Belgian police on Tuesday shot and wounded a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedes heading to a football match in Brussels on Monday, RTBF radio said on its website.

Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said earlier the wounded man was suspected of being the gunman. RTBF said he was shot in a cafe.

Two Swedish nationals were shot dead and a third person was wounded in central Brussels on Monday night and a man who identified himself as a member of the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online.

The suspect fled the scene after the shooting as a football match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start, triggering a massive manhunt and prompting Belgium to raise its terror alert to the highest level.

“The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in (the Brussels borough of) Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood that the perpetrator has been caught bigger,” Verlinden told VRT broadcaster.

“We are checking fingerprints to be 100% sure.”

She said the man was in intensive care in hospital.

Federal prosecutors said they could not yet confirm the identity of the person shot but the Belgian capital’s mayor Philippe Close told BFM TV: “It seems indeed the suspect has been neutralised.”

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called Monday’s shooting a brutal “terrorist attack”.

“Last night three people left for what was supposed to be a wonderful soccer party. Two of them lost their lives in a brutal terrorist attack,” De Croo told a news conference.

“The perpetrator targeted specifically Swedish supporters who were in Brussels to attend a Red Devils soccer match. Two Swedish compatriots passed away. A third person is recovering from severe injures,” de Croo said.

Belgium was hosting Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifying match on Monday evening. The match was abandoned at halftime.

The country has raised the security alert status of its capital city to the highest level, with increased police presence, particularly for Swedish people and institutions, and warned the public to be extra vigilant and avoid unnecessary travel.

A man who identified himself as a member of Islamic State claimed responsibility in a video posted online.

The attacker, who unsuccessfully sought asylum in Belgium in November 2019, was known to police in connection with people smuggling and illegal residence, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne told a news conference.

Sweden’s Sapo security police, who in August raised their terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of an increase in threats against Swedes at home and abroad, said they were in contact with their international counterparts.

“We are in a serious situation … Sweden has (over time) ended up in an increasingly clear focus of violent Islamist extremism,” a Sapo spokesperson said in a statement.

The suspected gunman, calling himself Abdesalem Al Guilani, claimed in a video on social media that he was a fighter for Allah.

The shooting comes at a time of heightened security concerns in some European countries linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict, though a Belgian federal prosecutor said there was no evidence that the attacker had any link to the recent renewed conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Video footage of the Brussels attack posted on the Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper website showed a man in an orange jacket on a scooter at a street intersection with a rifle first firing five shots, then following people fleeing into a building before firing again.

According to a media transcript of the video message recorded by the self-declared perpetrator, he said he had killed Swedes to take revenge in the name of Muslims.

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Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party won most votes in Sunday’s national election but fell short of a majority, final official results showed on Tuesday, confirming that the liberal, pro-EU opposition is on track to form the next government.

The official results from 100% of voting districts gave PiS, a nationalist, socially conservative party, 35.38% of the vote, while the liberal Civic Coalition (KO) was in second place with 30.70%.

The centre-right Third Way took third place with 14.40% and the New Left had 8.61% of the vote. The far-right Confederation had 7.16% of the vote, the results showed.

The Civic Coalition, New Left and Third Way have said they are ready to form a coalition government and that they will start talks once the official results are published.

President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, said before the vote that he would give the first shot at forming a new government to the winning party, but PiS will struggle to find allies, with the Confederation probably getting too few seats to help.

KO and its allies are also set to win a clear majority in the 100-seat upper chamber of parliament, the Senate, elected on a first-past-the-post system, the official results showed.

The three opposition parties had presented one list of candidates for the upper house.

The latest photographic evidence of the Kremlin’s disastrous attempt to take the town shows a destroyed BTR-50, an armored personnel carrier that ceased production in 1970.