#ceasefire

#ceasefire

Fresh clashes near the border with Afghanistan have killed at least five Pakistani soldiers and 25 fighters, Pakistan's army says, even as the two countries hold peace talks in Istanbul. The Pakistani military said armed men attempted to cross from Afghanistan into Kurram and North Waziristan on Friday and Saturday, accusing the Taliban authorities of failing to act against armed groups operating from Afghan territory.

Negotiating teams from Afghanistan and Pakistan are to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday in a bid to bolster a ceasefire along their shared border, where there have been several clashes over the past two weeks in which dozens have died. The confrontations started after explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which Afghanistan's Taliban rulers blamed on Pakistan and responded to with cross-border attacks, prompting Islamabad to respond with "precision strikes" against armed groups in Afghanistan.

Plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied behind the US in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv. The White House said there were now no plans for the US president to meet his Russian counterpart in the immediate future as a round of diplomacy at the end of last week failed to yield any significant progress towards ending the war.

Despite the staggering death toll and human suffering that Israel has inflicted on Gaza over the past two years, peace has still come too early for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at least in the eyes of some observers. Critics have accused the Israeli leader of using the war to deflect attention from challenges to his position, and even his freedom. With the ceasefire in Gaza now in place, none of those challenges has gone anywhere.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have implemented a ceasefire following the deadliest border clashes in years that killed dozens of people and led to evacuations on both sides. The 48-hour truce began Wednesday at 6:00pm Islamabad time (13:00 GMT), with each country claiming the other requested the pause in hostilities. Pakistan confirmed the ceasefire duration, stating: During this period, both sides will sincerely strive to find a positive solution to this complex but resolvable issue through constructive dialogue.

A US president, after months of tacit encouragement, has finally intervened to end an Israeli military offensive that has reduced swaths of a Middle Eastern city to rubble, leaving thousands dead and prompting global outrage. For months, the UN has looked on, impotent, as Israeli air raids and artillery shelling has pummelled apartment blocks and refugee camps beside the Mediterranean.

His response to ending the conflict has been far too slow, albeit a welcome intervention at this point. But his blunt approach and desire to have his ego preened have contributed towards the peace deal after two years of savage conflict, death and destruction. The October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas killed 1,200 people and resulted in retaliation so fierce that large tracts of Gaza were levelled and more than 67,000 people died.

Israel is a place where Jews are meant to be safe, and if these people didn't come home, then what is the point of Israel?

Although these heavy vehicles carrying supplies are far greater in volume than those arriving before the ceasefire came into effect, their contents remain insufficient, the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have warned. They believe a chasm separates the needs created by two years of the Israeli offensive with a declared famine in the north and 2.1 million people reduced to destitution from the aid that has begun to arrive.