US defense chief underscores Israel s right to self-defense jns.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jns.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Khalilzad Says Fears of Taliban Conquering Kabul Are Overblown
As US has started the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of engagement, special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Tuesday said that the prediction that the Taliban will quickly overrun Afghan forces and conquer Kabul after full withdrawal of international troops are unduly pessimistic.
“I personally believe that the statements that their forces will disintegrate and the Talibs will take over in short order are mistaken,” Khalilzad told the House Foreign Affairs Committee as quoted in a report by AP.
Violence has remained high in the country even after a three-day ceasefire from May 12 to May 15. The Defense Ministry reported clashes in 18 provinces just a day after the ceasefire ended.
GAZA CITY
The Gaza Strip is once again a blood-soaked battleground, with Israel and the militant group Hamas engaging in their fourth round of warfare since 2008. Now the talk has turned to the conflict’s possible endgame.
On Tuesday, turning aside growing international calls for a cease-fire, Israel’s military declared it would press ahead with bombardment of the Palestinian enclave, and Hamas fired more rockets into Israel, killing two Thai agricultural workers.
Amid deepening suffering in Gaza, the United Nations said that more than 50,000 Palestinians had fled bombardment and that nearly 450 buildings in the territory had been destroyed or damaged. By day’s end, Gaza’s Health Ministry put the number of dead in nine days of fighting at 217, 63 of them children.
Dr. Rasha, let’s begin with you. You are at ground zero, in Gaza. You knew the doctors who were killed. Can you start off by describing the situation on the ground?
DR. RASHA: Yes. Hello, and thank you for allowing me to speak about how we life these days in Gaza. And I would like to submit the humanitarian aspects of this war as a physician and as a Palestinian and as a mother, at the start.
First of all, you can imagine that you are there is no place safe in Gaza now. If you imagine that you are walking in a city, and there is no single path in the city that’s not targeted. They’re targeting the residential buildings, the healthcare systems, even the street itself, walking people, people on bike, on motorbike, in their car, and mosque, even the beach, the restaurants, the press office. Whatever you can see by your eye while you are walking in the city has been targeted. And this is actually it’s awful.
Vigil For Palestine Tonight On Kansas City Country Club Plaza
Other Apps
Protesters return to this town s most popular entertainment district in order in a conflict that has garnered global headlines . . . Check-it:
Here s another headline update . . .
Prez Biden Sticks With Old School U.S. Playbook Amid Holy War
With his muted response to the Gaza conflict, President Joe Biden is largely sticking to a time-worn U.S. playbook despite pressure from progressive Democrats for a tougher line toward Israel and from America s allies for a more active role to end the violence.
More Fighting Tonight
Clashes erupt in East Jerusalem between Palestinians and Israeli police. Palestinians are angry over barriers which had been placed outside the Damascus Gate entrance to the Jerusalem s Old City preventing them from gathering there after prayers at the Old City s al-Aqsa Mosque on what is the first night of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.