Palestinian negotiators from Hamas have proposed a handful of amendments to a U.S.-promoted framework for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire agreement. According to a response that Hamas submitted to the U.S. and Israel and regional mediators from Qatar and Egypt, the Islamic resistance movement hopes the potential agreement will lead to an end to Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza that has lasted for 22 months. Obtained by Drop Site, the document is dated from July 4, when Hamas submitted its formal response to what President Donald Trump called the “final proposal.”

In its revisions to the Trump-backed draft, Hamas proposed stronger language in the framework to ensure that the initial 60-day truce be extended indefinitely—under a U.S. guarantee—until an agreement is reached on definitively ending Israel’s war against Gaza. It also wants Egypt and Qatar listed not only as mediators, but as guarantors of the agreement along with the U.S. “The mediators-guarantors guarantee the continuation of serious negotiations [on a permanent ceasefire] for an extended period until the two parties reach agreement, and the continuation of the [ceasefire and flow of aid] agreed upon in this framework,” Hamas’s draft asserted.

The original language contained more vague language and clauses, such as “if necessary,” and only placed the role of ensuring that negotiations continue on Egypt and Qatar, not the U.S. Hamas’s terms would make clear that the U.S. is responsible for Israel holding its fire during the 60-day initial truce and during subsequent negotiations for a long-term ceasefire.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3439336

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3439335

EU report: North Macedonia, other Western Balkan countries ‘hard it’ by Russian and Chinese influence campaigns, coercive policies - implemented by Serbia and Hungary

The European Parliament rapporteur for North Macedonia, Thomas Waitz, expresses concerns about Serbian and Hungarian influence that attempt to strengthen the geopolitical interests of Russia and China. This, according to the MEP, is done through disinformation campaigns, hybrid threats, corruption, opaques financial flows and coercive investment practices.

TLDR:

• North Macedonia and other EU accession countries in the Western Balkans are being particularly hard hit by foreign interference and disinformation campaigns, … in this context, the risk of dependence [of North Macedonia] on China caused by asymmetrical loan agreements, as well as the recent loan from Hungary, which appears to be sourced from China.
• The report welcomes North Macedonia’s steady progress in assuring media freedom, recalls, however, the need for continued reforms to ensure an independent and resilient media landscape [and] emphasises the urgent need to counter malign foreign influence in the media landscape, including disinformation disseminated by actors linked to Russia and China
• North Macedonia remains a target of foreign malign influence operations, including efforts to fracture the country’s social fabric and weaponise anti-EU sentiment, notably via Serbian-language tabloids and media outlets, which function as regional amplifiers of Kremlin narratives and enjoy considerable influence, whereas North Macedonia expelled 13 Russian diplomats between 2018 and 2023 for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status, suggesting an ongoing presence of covert influence networks.
• China has sought to expand its influence through information control, investment diplomacy and coercive clauses in infrastructure loan agreements.

MEP Thomas Waitz also stresses that "North Macedonia has drafted an excellent and ambitious reform agenda – arguably one of the best in the region."

He adds that "its rigorous implementation would put the country back on track, especially in key areas such as fighting corruption, ensuring judicial independence, reforming public administration, and improving the situation of media freedom."

"However, some recent developments, including the country’s decision to abstain from the latest European resolution on Ukraine in the UN General Assembly while co-sponsoring the U.S. resolution in February 2025, have raised concerns among North Macedonia’s EU supporters about its long-term trajectory."

"I sincerely hope that all parties—North Macedonia’s authorities, EU institutions, and neighbouring countries—recognise the urgency of the moment and act decisively to move forward," Waitz says.

The ambulance service on the Spanish island of Ibiza says it is at risk of collapse because of frequent callouts to attend to clubbers having bad experiences with recreational drugs.

The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of as many as 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services.

“It’s inconceivable that businesses with an income of millions of euros a year can’t provide this service which is saturating the emergency services at the expense of the local population,” the president of the local health services union, José Manuel Maroto, told elDiario.es.

Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron have disavowed a proposal by five purported local "sheikhs" to sever ties with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and establish an "emirate of Hebron" which would recognise the state of Israel.

Palestinian city residents, including Jaabari's extended family members, roundly condemned the proposal, saying that its authors do not represent them.

Hebron-based activist and journalist Issa Amro said that the proposal and its authors are "complete fabrications". "The so-called 'Hebron sheikhs' in this WSJ piece are complete fabrications - anonymous figures with zero political presence, social standing, family ties and community recognition," he told Middle East Eye.

"No media, no clans, no Palestinian factions acknowledge them because they simply don't exist as consequential actors. This isn't journalism - it's inventing Palestinian 'leaders' to fit an artificial narrative while real Hebronites endure occupation," he added.

As one of the core members of Brics, Delhi has been foundational to the development of the collective.

It has also leveraged its decade-old position in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and now Brics, as well as its proximity to western powers through its growing economy, to stake a claim as a leader of the Global South and an interlocutor with the West.

But under Modi, India has increasingly moved closer to the US, with observers noting that Delhi has sought to clarify that it sees Brics as an economic rather than a geopolitical project.

Delhi has also been seen as insistent on both slowing the expansion of Brics as a means to halt Chinese influence over new members already within its sphere of influence and, therefore, temper what is being interpreted as a group geared to take on western hegemony.

Whereas there has been significant talk of Brics launching its own currency to replace the US dollar, India has shown it has no interest in doing so, opting instead to champion trade among Brics members via their national currencies.

India has also sent weapons to Israel for its war on Gaza, including combat drones and AI weapons, construction workers to replace Palestinian workers, and has refused to endorse an arms embargo on Israel.

Delhi's role has even prompted some observers to advise Washington to consider the Brics as a partner instead of an adversary.

"For some countries, notably South Africa, Brics is also seen as a critical foreign policy component in advancing its ‘South-South’ agenda, which aims to develop deeper bilateral relations with countries from the Global South based on common values and shared historical experiences," Singh adds.

But Singh acknowledges that this agenda has struggled to take shape, by his estimate, because of the inclusion of new initiatives that have detracted from what he describes as the core effort of refining a common agenda towards tackling the international governance system and international financial institutions.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/38077700

Archived

Original NYT article (paywalled)

If Chinese leader Xi Jinping decides to attack Taiwan, he could ask Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to start a war in Europe to distract the United States.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said this in an interview with New York Times.

"If Xi Jinping were to attack Taiwan, he would first call his junior partner about it and tell him, 'Hey, I'm going to do this, and I need you to distract them in Europe by attacking NATO territory.' That's probably exactly what will happen," Rutte said.

He noted that this proves once again how interconnected the destinies of Europe, the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Indo-Pacific are.

He said this is why the defense of territories and strategic cooperation between NATO and Indo-Pacific countries should be strengthened.

https://archive.ph/gaZvt

At least 64 people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to medical sources. Eight Palestinians, including five children, were killed and 18 others injured in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said in a statement.

Three more people were killed and several others injured in another strike targeting the Al-Sultan water desalination plant in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. Israeli fighter jets also hit a café in Al-Zawaida town in central Gaza, leaving six people dead, medics said.

Seven people were killed and many injured in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, a medical source told Anadolu. The Israeli army targeted the home of a Palestinian family in the same neighborhood, killing four more people.