World
Netanyahu clarifies Israel's war goal is not 'permanently occupying Gaza' or to displace Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that his country’s war against Hamas in Gaza is in “full compliance” with international law and reiterated that his goal is not to expel the Palestinian population living there.
“I want to make a few points absolutely clear: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” Netanyahu said in a video statement shared on the social media platform X.
He repeated his position that Israel is fighting a war of self-defense “in full compliance with international law.”
“Our goal is to rid Gaza of Hamas terrorists and free our hostages. Once this is achieved Gaza can be demilitarized and deradicalized, thereby creating a possibility for a better future for Israel and Palestinians alike,” Netanyahu continued on X.
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU CALLS FOR DESTRUCTION OF HAMAS, LISTS THREE ‘PREREQUISITES’ FOR PEACE
People attend a mass public prayer calling for the hostages held in the Gaza Strip to be released in front of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. In its Oct. 7 attack, Hamas and other militants took captive roughly 250 people, including men, women, children and older people. Around 110 people have been released and some 110 remain, along with about 20 people who were killed while in captivity, Israeli authorities say. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Netanyahu also defended that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were utilizing leaflets among other actions to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties.
“The IDF is doing its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas is doing its utmost to maximize them by using Palestinian civilians as human shields,” he said.
HAMAS SAYS ‘NO TALK ABOUT PRISONERS OR EXCHANGE DEALS’ UNTIL ISRAEL STOPS GAZA CAMPAIGN: REPORT
“The IDF urges Palestinian civilians to leave war zones by disseminating leaflets, making phone calls, providing safe passage corridors, while Hamas prevents Palestinians from leaving at gunpoint and often, with gunfire,” the prime minister continued.
Several members of Netanyahu’s government have called for Israel to retake the Gaza Strip and to force Palestinians to be resettled elsewhere. However, Netanyahu has said such calls do not reflect his policy.
Netanyahu’s statement was released the day before the International Court of Justice considers a complaint filed by South Africa, alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
This allegation has been repeatedly denied by Israel.
People attend a mass public prayer calling for the hostages held in the Gaza Strip to be released in front of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. In its Oct. 7 attack, Hamas and other militants took captive roughly 250 people, including men, women, children and older people. Around 110 people have been released and some 110 remain, along with about 20 people who were killed while in captivity, Israeli authorities say. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
On Thursday morning, the U.S. State Department also dismissed allegations of Israel committing genocide as “unfounded.”
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: IDF UNCOVERS EVIDENCE OF HAMAS DEVELOPING PRECISION MISSILE CAPABILITIES WITH IRAN’S HELP
“The United States recognizes that, as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) plays a vital role in the peaceful settlement of disputes. This week, the ICJ is holding hearings on South Africa’s request that the ICJ exercise its authority to indicate provisional measures requiring Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza and take other steps to ensure its compliance with the Genocide Convention,” read a statement from spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Palestinians look at a damaged residential building after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
“Allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded,” he continued. “In fact, it is those who are violently attacking Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews. Genocide is one of the most heinous acts any entity or individual can commit, and such allegations should only be made with the greatest of care. Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’ terrorist acts — acts that Hamas has vowed to repeat again and again until Israel is completely destroyed. Israel is operating in an exceptionally challenging environment in Gaza, an urban battlespace where Hamas intentionally embeds itself with and hides behind civilians.”
And, “The United States reiterates that it condemns Hamas’ brutal attacks and hostage taking and supports Israel’s right to ensure the terrorist attacks of October 7 cannot be repeated. We have also made clear Israel must not only comply with international humanitarian law in its operations against Hamas, but also look for more ways to prevent civilian harm and to investigate credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law when they arise. Finally, we continue to condemn dehumanizing rhetoric on all sides.”
It has been an interesting year and a half for the relationship between Canada and the United States, two countries marking birthdays this week. Canada turned 159 on Wednesday, and America is 250 on Saturday. It got us thinking about how much Americans really know about Canada.
Take our quiz and find out. To our American friends, because it’s your birthday we made it a little bit about you. And if you find it difficult, we’re sorry. Let’s start with an easy one.
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Keiko Fujimori, the conservative politician and daughter of the former president, was declared the winner Friday of Peru’s presidential runoff election.
Fujimori, 51, will take office later this month as Peru’s ninth president in 10 years. This was her fourth bid for the position following years of political instability in the country.
Fujimori thanked her supporters in a post on X announcing the conclusion of the election.
STATE DEPARTMENT CONGRATULATES KEIKO FUJIMORI AS PERU’S PRESIDENT-ELECT FOLLOWING RAZOR-THIN VOTE COUNT
Peru’s conservative Keiko Fujimori addresses the media at her party’s Popular Force headquarters. On Friday, she was declared the winner in the country’s presidential runoff. (Reuters)
“I receive with profound gratitude the trust that millions of Peruvians have placed in me. A new stage begins. We assume it with responsibility, humility, and a deep sense of duty,” she wrote. “Each day of this transition process is an opportunity to listen, engage in dialogue, and arrive prepared at the start of the new government. Through these accounts, we will share the progress of this stage and the work we have been carrying out. I invite you to join us.”
The Plenary of the National Elections Jury on Friday proclaimed Keiko Fujimori the winner of the presidential runoff after the June 7 election in Lima, Peru. (Reuters)
Peru’s top election authority certified the results Friday. Fujimori received 9,223,000 votes, or 50.14% of the total, while nationalist Congressman Roberto Sánchez earned over 9,173,000 votes, or 49.87%, The Associated Press reported.
Fujimori made it to the runoff after defeating 33 other candidates in April.
TRUMP ADMIN BACKS BOLIVIA STATE OF EMERGENCY AS LEFTIST EX-LEADER’S LOYALISTS FRACTURE NATION
Supporters of Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular party shout slogans outside the Lima Convention Center ahead of her debate with Roberto Sánchez in Lima May 31, 2026. (Connie France/AFP via Getty Images)
Her election came amid concerns from voters about surging crime, especially extortion by violent organized crime gangs. Fujimori has pledged to act tough on crime with an “iron fist.”
She is the daughter of the late Alberto Fujimori, the former president whose government in the 1990s defeated the Shining Path extremist rebel group but also took an authoritarian turn.
He was convicted in 2009 of human rights abuses in the fight against the rebels and, later on, corruption charges. His legacy within Peru remains deeply divisive.
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waves at his home in Santiago after leaving the academy for the training of corrections officers in Santiago, Chile, May 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Claudio Santana, File)
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On Tuesday, the State Department congratulated the younger Fujimori.
“The Trump administration looks forward to deepening collaboration with the Fujimori administration to advance security cooperation and to strengthen bilateral cooperation on investment and trade in our region,” the statement read.
Dozens of diamonds spell out two giant letter “T” next to the Stars and Stripes and “1776” and “2026.”
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Dozens more frame the numbers 45 and 47 in the shape of Superman’s logo.
A diamond-winged eagle carries a ruby shield and clutches an olive branch of emeralds, below a radiant “250” and atop the phrase “250 YEARS USA” etched in 18-karat gold.
All told, 321 diamonds, 56 sapphires, 13 emeralds and six rubies encrust the watch-sized gold ring presented this week to Bill White, the US ambassador to Belgium, to give to President Donald Trump.
“A very special thank you to my friends from Antwerp for the magnificent Freedom 250 ring,” Trump said in a prerecorded video message during an event marking America’s 250th birthday in Brussels.
Isidore Mörsel, president of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) gifted the ring on behalf of the centuries-old diamond community in the Belgian port city, a central hub in the worldwide trade of the precious stones that found itself struggling last year under the weight of Trump’s sweeping trade war.
“May this ring serve as a lasting reminder that true partnership like the finest natural diamonds are formed under pressure, endure the test of time, and shine brightest when built on trust,” Mörsel said.
The ring’s interior is engraved with the phrase “Crafted in Antwerp for Donald John Trump.”
In dollar terms, the ring’s value pales beside gifts like the $400 million (€349 million) plane donated by Qatar that Trump ordered converted into a new Air Force One.
But it’s a glitzy window into the role that ostentatious, and almost always gilded, gifts are playing by those seeking to curry favour with the US president.
A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said Thursday that the ring has not been presented to Trump yet.
Latest break with White House custom
The gift comes months after Belgium’s diamond industry won the removal of US tariffs on diamond imports.
In September, AWDC said it had “succeeded in securing a zero percent import tariff” on Antwerp’s annual export of more than $2 billion (€1.7 billion) of polished diamonds to the US.
A spokesperson for the group said on Thursday that the AWDC provided “input” to the European Commission as it negotiated with Trump on a broad deal on tariffs in 2025, but did not itself lobby the administration.
US presidents have considerable discretion to accept gifts from domestic and foreign sources and may determine themselves whether a gift was meant for them personally or the nation.
The exception is those from foreign governments, which are prohibited by the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution without congressional assent, though presidents could use personal funds to reimburse the Treasury for the full value of an official gift if they wish to retain them.
Personal gifts are also supposed to be registered on the president’s annual financial disclosure.
Trump’s 2025 disclosure, released this week, revealed a $250,000 (€218,000) gift of a sculpture depicting his triumphal gesture after surviving a 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and tickets to 10 sporting events, including 10 to the upcoming World Cup final in New Jersey from FIFA’s Gianni Infantino, valued at a collective $15,000 (€13,000).
Four US ethics experts told the Associated Press news agency that Trump has broken with decades-old custom in the White House to avoid accepting such gifts.
Ring’s value estimated at $25,000-35,000
To forge the ring, the AWDC turned to David Gotlib, an Antwerp-based high-end jeweller whose cufflinks can sell for more than €15,000.
Neither AWDC nor Gotlib would provide a valuation of the ring, but two independent jewellers told AP they estimated the value between $25,000-35,000 (€21,000-30,000).
After the ring was presented on a star-spangled stage in Brussels, musician Alexis Wilkins, the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, sang the US national anthem to more than 8,000 people drinking Budweiser and bourbon from Tennessee and Kentucky.
White said he raised more than $5.5 million (€4.8 million) for the 250th anniversary event from corporate sponsors like defence industry titans Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, tech firms like Intel, Google and Meta, as well as the European chocolate companies Leonidas and Ferrero. AWDC said it contributed funds, too.
“The media was asking, ‘Why does it have to be so big?’” White said of the event. “Because we are the United States of America!”
Meanwhile, the fate of the ring is not clear.
On Wednesday, White posted a photo online of himself wearing the ring and giving a thumbs-up. The post has since been deleted.
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