International Glance
An Israeli drone attack on a cafe in the port area west of Gaza City on Tuesday killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, and left one body so mutilated that health workers could not identify the victim, according to Gaza health officials.
Most of the injured, including those in critical condition, were transferred to al-Shifa Hospital, which reported that it had received six bodies and 13 wounded, one of whom succumbed to their injuries later in the evening.
The hospital said one victim appeared to have taken a direct missile hit, with the body shredded beyond recognition.
Al Jazeera Arabic said the intensity of the strike pushed a number of the injured and dead into the sea, meaning the real number of casualties may be higher.
Recovery efforts are currently underway.
Israeli strike on Gaza port kills at least seven, including a child
The Israeli Siege of Palestinian Families in Qusra Is Part of an Escalating Tactic
For the 12th consecutive day, three Palestinian families, comprising 10 people, including two young children, have been trapped inside their homes in the occupied West Bank, besieged and terrorized by dozens of armed Israelis—both settlers and soldiers. The family members have been stuck in separate homes, unable to shelter together or attend to their basic needs, with food supplies running dangerously low and without access to cooking gas or a fridge.
While the siege on the three families has garnered international media attention and statements of condemnation, the attack is not the first of its kind, but rather a more prominent example of a growing tactic by Israeli settlers and soldiers working in tandem to dispossess Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. The attacks are increasingly focused on Palestinian communities in Area B, a designation under the Oslo Accords where the Palestinian Authority is nominally in charge of civil administration while Israel retains security control.
The latest Israeli siege targeted a small cluster of Palestinian homes that sit atop a hill on the edge of the village of Qusra, in the southern part of the Nablus governorate in the northern West Bank.
On the morning of August 9, armed settlers blocked off the only road leading to the homes and erected a colonial outpost directly in front of the door of one of the houses. They began pelting the homes with rocks and trying to break inside on a regular basis.
Trump envoy 'deeply concerned' by Israeli strikes on Syrian air base
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack defended the Syrian government on Tuesday after Israeli air strikes targeted the Abu al-Duhur military air base in northern Syria, calling it an "unnecessary escalation".
"The Al-Sharaa government has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel," he wrote on X.
"We are deeply concerned," he added. "[This] does not advance regional stability."
Israel has not confirmed it was behind the attack, but Barrack said it was responsible.
His comments followed a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Istanbul, Turkey, one day earlier.
The Syrian government condemned the attack and said eight strikes hit the runway of the defunct air base in the early morning hours of Tuesday, local time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes followed a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days "as part of efforts to reactivate it".
Ukraine, Belgium Advance Talks on Drone Deal
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, Aug. 18 that Kyiv and Brussels are working on finalizing a Drone Deal, following talks on bilateral defense and diplomatic cooperation.
Zelensky detailed the meeting in a statement on Telegram, saying that he held discussions with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, covering nearly all areas of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.
“I expect that we will be able to implement what we discussed, and that protection against Russian strikes will increase,” Zelensky said, adding that “Ukraine is also ready to share its experience and expertise and to support partners who have stood with us since the start of the war.”
Zelensky praised Belgium for allocating more than €1.1 billion (roughly $1.3 billion) in support to Ukraine already disbursed this year, along with Belgium’s backing of Ukraine’s path toward European Union membership.
Palestinian American returns to his West Bank home, under siege by Israeli settlers
The Palestinian American whose home in the occupied West Bank has been besieged by Israeli settlers for over a week traveled to his property on Monday to join other family members who have been defending it.
The standoff, in the village of Qusra, has seen groups of settlers surround several Palestinian houses and prevent residents from leaving. The United States has condemned the siege and the Israeli military has deployed troops it says are there to maintain order.
The siege of Palestinian homes by Israeli settlers comes as violence in the West Bank has soared in recent months. The settlers, emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government, have ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and villages, harassing residents and setting homes, mosques and fields ablaze.
Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 87 Palestinians so far this year, according to Palestinian health officials. Palestinians have killed three Israelis, including two who were killed during clashes in the West Bank village of Tell last month.
Trump’s South Korea move rattles foreign policy world
President Trump’s decision to reduce joint military exercises with South Korea is being met with derision from Democrats and fears from other allies who are already worried over the president’s past willingness to toss aside longtime defense commitments.
Trump said it was too late to fully cancel what he called expensive and provocative joint exercises known as Ulchi Freedom Shield but directed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the drills on Sunday — just a day before they were set to start.
The war games are a major part of a mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and South Korea, meant to protect Seoul from possible North Korean aggression.
The announcement, made in a Truth Social post, further added insult to injury by excoriating Seoul for refusing to help the U.S. in its war against Iran.
This is not the first time Trump has criticized the exercise. In 2018, he said he was suspending the drills after meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Ukraine launches hundreds of drones into Russia in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war
Ukraine launched hundreds of drones across Russia Sunday, killing at least six people in one of Kyiv's largest aerial attacks of the war.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said that it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight. Some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third of those destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
An 83-year-old man was killed after a Ukrainian drone hit a private home in the Moscow region, local Gov. Andrey Vorobyov said. He also confirmed that a Ukrainian attack had sparked a blaze at a Wildberries warehouse in the town of Podolsk.
A drone attack targeted three towns in Russia's southwestern Rostov region, killing five people, local Gov. Yury Slyusar said. The attack, with more than 150 drones, damaged several homes and a railway station and sparked a forest fire.
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