China tells Israel to stop ‘forced establishment’ of West Bank settlements

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in Azerbaijan that Israel should stop and reverse its “forced establishment” of West Bank settlements, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Wang told Herzog that China has consistently viewed the Palestinian question as the greatest historical injustice of this century, the ministry said in the statement on Friday.

Wang emphasised that the “two-state solution” is the right path to a resolution and said the immediate priority is to fully open access to the Gaza Strip so a humanitarian “catastrophe” is not allowed to spread.

Wang added that China is willing to work with the international community to push all parties to return to dialogue as soon as possible and seek a political settlement.

Wang is attending the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, as the special representative of President Xi Jinping, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.

China urges new Middle East framework

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Cairo for the first time in a decade and called on Middle East countries to oppose external influence and consider reshaping the region’s security order.

Xi’s rare visit arrived as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

The talks covered the US-Israel war on Iran, with both presidents urging “diplomatic solutions” to reach a “comprehensive agreement to end the war”, according to a statement from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s spokesperson.

In March, China criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks. Wang told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had “made significant progress, including addressing Israel’s security concerns”, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement following the start of the war.

China was Iran’s largest trading partner, buying up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. In 2021, Beijing signed a 25-year “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” with Tehran.

At the same time, Beijing has spent the past decade cultivating closer ties with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and remains a top trade partner of both the US and Israel.

Argentine students protest on campus over Milei’s austerity

“This cannot go on!” students shout during an assembly in the middle of the central hall of the University of Buenos Aires Exact and Natural Sciences building.

It is part of Argentina’s prestigious public university system.

The faculty’s central hall is covered with dozens of banners protesting President Javier Milei’s spending cuts. Students have called an assembly to announce the occupation of the university, a traditional form of protest in Argentina meant to raise public awareness and pressure the government.

They say they will take over the building for a day. Many students and professors here are concerned about the impact of Milei’s austerity policies on public universities and say the future of free higher education is at risk.

Students gather in protest at a university in Buenos Aires
Students gather in protest at a university in Buenos Aires [Lagmi Chavez/Al Jazeera]

“Our best professors are leaving en masse. With salaries that cannot cover their basic needs, they are leaving for private universities,” Emiliano Gato, a physics student who is part of the group, told Al Jazeera.

“I dream of doing research and teaching at the public University of Buenos Aires. It’s a prestigious school. But now, with this austerity plan, I don’t know what will happen.”

Public universities in Argentina have become a major battleground of Milei’s austerity plan. Students and professors are protesting the lack of funding and the erosion of salaries, which they say is a major threat to the country’s public education.

Milei is implementing one of the harshest austerity plans in Argentina’s history.

Since taking office in 2023, he has laid off thousands of state employees, shut down ministries, reduced subsidies and cut government-funded programmes. The measures were meant to fight high inflation, which was a major problem in Argentina. Almost three years later, inflation has fallen to around 2 percent a month. Milei says his plan is going well.

“Argentina is growing at a remarkable pace. We have now recorded 27 consecutive months of sustained growth, and today the country is expanding at four times its historical rate. This growth is being felt across almost every sector of the economy,” said Milei during a recent visit to Washington.

Ripple effects

But not everyone agrees. His plan is also having a profound impact on public education, welfare plans for people with disabilities, pensioners and others who depend on state support. The opposition has tried to block many of Milei’s reforms.

Last year, Congress overturned presidential vetoes and approved two laws, one increasing funding for public universities and another declaring a disability emergency. But Milei’s government has refused to implement them, arguing that Congress failed to identify how they would be financed.

A federal judge has now begun fining the government 100,000 pesos (around $70) a day for failing to implement parts of the financing law, which requires Milei’s government to restore university salaries and student scholarships lost to inflation, regularly update budgets and provide funding for research, hospitals and infrastructure.

And that’s why thousands of people took to the streets on Thursday to demand that the government implement it. All around Buenos Aires, long columns of people blocked the centre of the city as they called for a general strike. Although the protest was meant to be peaceful, it soon turned violent. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters threw rocks.

The plaza in front of Congress resembled a battleground. At least 25 people were detained, and several others were injured, including members of the security forces.

Maria Teresa de Jesus is a professor in the University of Buenos Aires chemistry department. She says she makes around $700 a month and it has become difficult to make ends meet. “I have come to this protest as a last resort. I am professor. I love teaching, doing research. I shouldn’t be here,” she told Al Jazeera. “Public education is crucial in this country, to make education accessible to all. And the government is ignoring it.”

Many in Argentina continue to support Milei’s economic plan. They are hoping the government’s plan to exploit the country’s vast natural resources will pay off and translate into more jobs, higher wages and improved living standards.

But many others have stopped believing and are prepared to raise the stakes. They accuse Milei’s government of protecting the interests of a privileged few while asking the rest of the country to bear the cost of his economic plan.

Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president wins back neighbours despite war

Yangon, Myanmar – When Malaysia invited Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing for a visit in September, it insisted the trip did not amount to recognition. The purpose, an official said, was to address the “longstanding issue” of refugees and migrants from Myanmar in Malaysia.

But when Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Kuala Lumpur last week, the former general – whose power grab in 2021 triggered a devastating civil war – received a red carpet welcome, complete with an honour guard.

After an official luncheon on Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar was prepared to take its nationals back at its own cost, a message with appeal in a country where anti-refugee sentiment is growing. Malaysia hosts about 193,000 Myanmar nationals, most of them from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

“Because the weather is favourable, I will dispatch Navy ships to repatriate them,” Min Aung Hlaing said.

For his part, Anwar pledged to help reintegrate Myanmar into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the 11-member regional bloc that has barred Min Aung Hlaing from its high-level meetings for refusing to carry out its peace plan. Malaysia was a vocal supporter of the plan, which is known as the Five Point Consensus and calls for an end to violence and “constructive dialogue” between the warring parties.

The civil war in Myanmar is now in its fifth year and has killed as many as 100,000 people and displaced at least 3.5 million, according to monitoring groups.

“Malaysia will do whatever is possible to make sure that we … ultimately, take Myanmar as part of our community of nations, without prejudice, and particularly in the context of ASEAN,” Anwar told reporters.


Malaysia is the fifth ASEAN nation to host Min Aung Hlaing since he became president in April, after an election held in December and January, which major opposition parties were barred from participating in. In recent months, he has visited Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Following his return from Malaysia, his spokesperson said Indonesia and Brunei could be next.

“Malaysia’s reversal on Min Aung Hlaing has broken a dam of opposition to the junta,” said Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate at the University of Nottingham’s Asia Research Institute in Kuala Lumpur. She said regional leaders who have welcomed Min Aung Hlaing, despite accusations that he has committed crimes against humanity, were putting pragmatism ahead of human rights.

“It is a step back for ASEAN as an organisation, and for Myanmar,” she said. “It does not offer any concrete path to the resolution of the Myanmar crisis, and in fact, arguably worsens it by giving the military legitimacy internationally, a legitimacy it does not have in Myanmar itself.”

‘Convenience plays a part’

Min Aung Hlaing’s rehabilitation extends beyond Southeast Asia.

Since April, the former general has also visited India, China, Russia and Belarus. At each stop, he has tried to present his government as stable and “on the path to democracy”, while pitching trade and infrastructure deals.

Even the United States appears to have opened the door.

Washington has begun direct talks with Min Aung Hlaing’s government, the Reuters news agency reported last week, despite sanctions on him over human rights abuses. These include the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya, which sent more than 700,000 people fleeing into Bangladesh and which the US has called a genocide.

Reuters said the latest talks have focused on shutting down scam centres operating from Myanmar that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars.

Khin Zaw Win, director of the Tampadipa Institute in Yangon, said Min Aung Hlaing’s quest for international legitimacy has been aided by a coordinated push from China, India and Thailand, all of which share borders with Myanmar. The three neighbours have experienced spillover from the war, such as fighting near their borders, disrupted trade and influxes of refugees.

Khin Zaw Win said the three countries “have the biggest stakes in how Myanmar pans out” and want the military-installed government recognised. Russia and Belarus, meanwhile, are both major arms suppliers to Myanmar, and Naypyidaw has backed Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Convenience plays a part for all of them,” he said.


The growing diplomatic recognition, however, has done little to resolve the conflict.

While Min Aung Hlaing has invited all armed groups to peace talks, fighting continues to rage across much of the country. His forces have launched offensives to retake territory lost to opposition armed rebels and ethnic armed groups in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Karen states and the Sagaing region. They have been aided by an intensified air campaign and a recruitment drive that has added tens of thousands to their ranks. China, too, has helped by brokering ceasefires between the military and powerful ethnic armed groups on its border.

Still, Laetitia van den Assum, a former Dutch diplomat, said the military is unlikely to regain control of the whole country.

“That would require a huge occupation army and not – as now – a garrison army that controls a particular location,” she said. “That is why Min Aung Hlaing… bets on an increasing number of temporary ceasefires in some parts of the country so that troops can be directed to areas where he wants to continue fighting”.

Van den Assum said she found it “quite surprising” that ASEAN nations are seeking Rohingya repatriation from the very man accused of orchestrating crimes against them.

Myanmar has long denied the Rohingya citizenship, so it is unclear whether it would accept them as nationals. And with much of Rakhine State – their homeland – now held by the ethnic Arakan Army, it is far from clear where they would go.

“It is the blind speaking to the blind,” she said.

‘Low-cost, high optics’

Min Aung Hlaing has made other gestures.

Shortly before his trip to Thailand in August, he allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to see Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader he deposed in 2021. The 81-year-old Nobel laureate has been held incommunicado since the coup, and the ICRC visit on August 3 produced her first photographs in years.

Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a research fellow at the University of Sydney, called the move a “low-cost, high-optics gesture rather than a real political opening”. The visit confirmed only that Aung San Suu Kyi is alive, “nothing more”, he said.

He noted that the military’s air raids have continued unabated even as ASEAN leaders roll out the red carpet, including a September 28 strike on a market in Rakhine State that killed an estimated 50 people.

The continuing attacks, he said, were the “strongest evidence that soft diplomacy hasn’t produced any deterrent effect”.


Sai Kyi Zin Soe also warned that the legitimacy conferred by the foreign visits would embolden the military further.

“Given the near-total absence of deterrence, no meaningful sanctions enforcement, an ASEAN pivoting toward re-engagement, and continued arms and fuel access via China and Russia, the military has every structural incentive to keep escalating, particularly in contested zones like Sagaing and Rakhine, where its grip is weakest,” he said.

Much now depends on the Philippines and Singapore, ASEAN’s current and incoming chairs.

Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, said the two countries must set an agenda that pushes back hard on entreaties from others in the region to allow “Myanmar fully back into the fold” and keep pressing the bloc’s five-point peace plan.

He also urged the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the European Union to adopt targeted sanctions, such as an aviation fuel ban, rather than leaving “the whole Myanmar conundrum” to the regional bloc.

“International accountability is now more urgent than ever, whether that comes through additional universal jurisdiction cases or some sort of breakthrough to refer Myanmar’s generals to the International Criminal Court,” he added.

Zaheena Rasheed reported and wrote from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Can Zimbabwe’s ZiG win trust and replace the US dollar?

Harare, Zimbabwe – The government is trying to persuade citizens to use its own currency more widely, with the longer-term aim of reducing reliance on the US dollar. But after years of currency instability, many remain reluctant to trust the latest attempt.

The Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), introduced in April 2024, is a government effort to restore confidence in the local currency. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says the currency is backed by foreign currency and precious metal reserves, including gold.

Yet the challenge extends beyond introducing a new currency or strengthening its reserves. Zimbabweans who have watched their savings lose value and their wages shrink through successive currency crises remain cautious about holding money in a currency whose purchasing power they fear could deteriorate.

Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency in 2009 after a period of hyperinflation and adopted a multicurrency system dominated by the US dollar. A domestic currency returned in 2018, but repeated instability has made rebuilding public confidence difficult.

The cost of lost confidence

For primary school teacher Charles Mbwandarikwa, the experience of earlier currency crises remains a warning.

He receives about a third of his salary in ZiG and says he exchanges it quickly rather than holding on to it. His caution stems from the losses he suffered when Zimbabwe’s previous currency collapsed.

He lost his pension savings during the 2009 crisis. When the local currency was reintroduced in 2018, he says, the value of his salary fell from the equivalent of $540 to $40 by the end of that year.

Such experiences help explain why official assurances about the ZiG have not necessarily translated into confidence among earners.

The RBZ has sought to strengthen the currency’s credibility. On April 7 , the bank introduced an upgraded series of ZiG banknotes with revised designs and security features.

Sesedzai Chigumira, a clothing retailer in Zimbabwe, says she has made only a handful of sales in the country’s ZiG currency, reflecting the public’s continued preference for the US dollar.
Clothing retailer Sesedzai Chigumira says she has made only a handful of sales in the country’s ZiG currency, reflecting Zimbabwean’s continued preference for the US dollar [File: Farai Mwakutuya/Al Jazeera]

According to the RBZ, annual ZiG inflation stood at 3.7 percent last month. But relatively low inflation alone does not guarantee that people will choose to save in the currency or use it for everyday transactions.

Economist Cornelius Dube says demand for the ZiG remains weak.

“ZiG has to be available in a ratio relative to its demand. Demand for ZiG is currently very subdued,” he says.

A currency few customers use

For businesses, the currency’s acceptance by customers is a practical test of whether it can gain a larger role in the economy.

Sesedzai Chigumira, a clothing retailer, says she has made only a handful of sales in ZiG. Her experience reflects the difficulty in encouraging wider use of a currency when customers and businesses remain more comfortable transacting in US dollars.

The government’s push to reduce dollar dependence also faces a broader challenge: the existence of gold and other mineral resources does not, by itself, guarantee confidence in a currency. People must believe that it will retain its value and remain useful for paying for goods, meeting expenses and saving for the future.

Where businesses expect customers to prefer dollars, they may be reluctant to price goods or accept payments in ZiG. Consumers, in turn, have little incentive to hold the local currency if they fear that its value could fall.

That creates a cycle that policy measures alone may struggle to break.

What it will take to win trust

The RBZ has moved away from its previous target of adopting a single currency by 2030, instead outlining a gradual, market-led transition towards greater use of the ZiG. The approach depends on sustained macroeconomic stability and conditions that encourage businesses and consumers to use the currency voluntarily.

The central bank has also sought to expand the ZiG’s role in domestic transactions, including through its use in tax payments and public-sector transactions, alongside measures affecting the foreign exchange and national payments systems.

Zimbabwe’s ZiG banknotes are part of the government’s latest effort to rebuild trust in the local currency and reduce the economy’s reliance on the US dollar.
Zimbabwe’s ZiG banknotes are part of the government’s latest effort to rebuild trust in the local currency and reduce the economy’s reliance on the US dollar [File: Farai Mwakutuya/Al Jazeera]

But wider use in payments is not the same as confidence in a currency as a store of value. People may use ZiG when required or when circumstances leave them little choice without being willing to keep their savings in it.

For Mbwandarikwa, the memory of losing his pension savings remains part of the calculation. For Chigumira, the limited number of customers paying in ZiG shows how far the currency still has to go to become a routine part of business.

Dube says de-dollarisation is possible, but it cannot be achieved overnight. “History shows that it is possible to de-dollarise, though it’s not easy. It takes time,” he says.

For Zimbabweans who have lived through repeated currency crises, the test will be whether the ZiG can preserve their earnings and savings over time. Expanding its use through policy may be possible, but persuading people to trust it will require sustained stability and confidence in the currency.

“Policy should not try to force a conversion but should create the necessary incentives which will eventually see both businesses and consumers being indifferent to holding ZiG or US dollars,” Dube says.

Iraq parliament approves al-Zaidi’s cabinet amid growing economic concerns

Iraq’s parliament has completed the formation of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government after lawmakers approved previously vacant cabinet posts and three deputy prime ministers, including one who is under US sanctions.

Lawmakers voted on Thursday, approving 11 portfolios, including Nayef al-Shammari as defence minister, Yasir al-Maliki as interior minister, a planning minister, a culture minister and a minister of higher education and scientific research.

Lawmakers postponed a vote on the nominee for migration and displacement minister due to disagreement among parties.

Lawmakers also approved three deputy prime ministers, including Laith al-Khazali, a senior leader of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement and brother of the group’s leader, Qais al-Khazali.

The US designated Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a foreign terrorist organisation in 2020 and named both brothers as “specially designated global terrorists”, citing attacks including a 2007 assault that killed five US soldiers. The Treasury Department had sanctioned the brothers in 2019 over the killing of protesters in Iraq.

In a statement following the cabinet approval, al-Zaidi thanked parliament and called upon his fellow deputy prime ministers and ministers to “fulfil their responsibilities with the highest levels of commitment, competence and integrity”. He said the government was embarking on a phase of accelerated, diligent work to address exceptional economic and security challenges imposed by the US-Israel war on Iran, which began on February 28.

Challenges facing Iraq

Iraq is facing severe liquidity shortages stemming from the ongoing conflict. Before the war, Iraq exported roughly 3.5 million barrels of oil per day through the Strait of Hormuz, generating 90 percent of government revenue. Al-Zaidi said the war “has imposed, and continues to impose, extraordinary economic challenges on Iraq.”

A man counts Iraqi dinars at a currency exchange in Baghdad
A man counts Iraqi dinars at a currency exchange market in Baghdad on October 7, 2026 [Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP]

To cover essential public spending and government salaries, al-Zaidi, a former banker, devalued the dinar by almost 15 percent against the US dollar.

He said his government inherited public debt exceeding 208 trillion Iraqi dinars ($139bn at the new exchange rate) when it took office in May, raising questions about former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s administration. Al-Zaidi added that the state needs about 10 trillion dinars ($6.7bn) monthly to cover salaries and critical spending.

Al-Zaidi vowed to fight corruption, disarm non-state armed groups and strengthen sovereignty by completing the withdrawal of US forces from the country.

Two Syrian pipelines damaged amid spate of attacks on energy infrastructure

Two pipelines carrying gas and oil products were damaged in separate incidents in Syria, state media reported, the latest disruptions to the country’s energy infrastructure following a series of suspected sabotage attacks.

The state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company announced the damage on Thursday, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The incidents add to a number of attacks on Syria’s oil and gas network in recent months, as the government tries to revive its energy sector.

An explosion struck the Jbessa gas pipeline in southern Hasakah province in the late afternoon, hours after damage to a pipeline transporting oil products from the coastal city of Baniyas to Homs caused a fuel leak.

The company said the gas pipeline had been targeted in a “sabotage attack”, according to SANA.

Neither SANA nor the company named a suspect or group responsible for the attacks.

Repairs under way

Oday al-Satouf, head of the company’s media office, told SANA that a hole was found in the Baniyas-Homs pipeline in the Hadida area, west of Homs. Crews isolated the affected stretch and secured the surrounding area, he said, closing valves on either side of the damaged section. Repairs have begun, while other teams monitor the area for safety. State media said the leak was believed to be linked to an attempted fuel theft.

Al-Satouf said gas would continue to reach power stations through alternative arrangements, and that domestic gas supplies were unaffected, according to SANA.

A man fills a container with petroleum for heating in Suwayda, Syria
A man fills a container with petroleum for heating at home in Suwayda, Syria [File: Elke Scholiers/Getty Images]

A string of incidents

More than a week ago, the company said an oil pipeline near Tal Hamis in the northeastern province of Hasakah was damaged in a sabotage attack. It added that authorities had arrested those responsible.

In late September, a fire broke out on a gas pipeline between al-Shoula and Deir Az Zor in the east, halting gas flows from the Jbessa plant to power stations, SANA reported. Hisham al-Saleh, a gas sector official at the company, said gas pressure in the area fell as crews worked to extinguish the blaze.

Syria has been working to restore its energy infrastructure and increase domestic oil production. That includes resuming operations at oil fields in Hasakah to supply refineries in Homs and Baniyas. In January, the petroleum company announced plans to transport crude from recently recovered fields to the two refineries as part of efforts to revive the sector.

Three children, one teacher killed in Oregon school shooting

At least four people have been killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Oregon, part of the northwestern United States, according to local law enforcement.

The shooting on Thursday took place at Silver Rail Elementary School in the city of Bend, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Portland.

Three children were among the dead: they were aged five, eight and 11, according to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz. A teacher was also killed.

In addition, a seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were transported to St Charles Medical Center in Bend with critical injuries.

In an afternoon news conference, Krantz identified the alleged shooter as a 16-year-old Bend resident, who was killed at the scene. The suspect has yet to be named.

“What the initial investigation is showing is that the shooter had forced their way into the school by shooting at locked doors,” Krantz said. He added that investigators were still determining whether the suspect had attended the school at any point.

Emergency services began receiving calls for help around 12:59pm local time (19:59 GMT), with “dozens” of additional calls in the ensuing minutes.

The first call, Krantz explained, came from “a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by a person with a long gun”. The elementary school went into lockdown at 1:01pm (20:01 GMT), and officers arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.

“Moments later, an officer reported that a suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him,” Krantz said.

“Our officers entered the building and confirmed the suspect was dead. They cleared the school to ensure there were no additional threats and then rendered emergency aid to the victims.”

He emphasised that the police investigation was ongoing and further information would be released to the public in the coming days.

The families of the victims have been notified of the attack. Police evacuated each room in the school, and students and staff were transported by bus to a nearby church where they could be reunited with their loved ones.

“This is the kind of thing we never want to see happen in Bend. It’s devastating,” said Sheila Miller, the communications manager for the Bend Police Department, on Thursday.

Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said in a post on social media that the agency was on the scene assisting local law enforcement in the investigation.

“We will make every resource they need available,” he wrote.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek called on Oregonians to come together to support each other through their grief.

“All Oregonians mourn this loss today. This is a horrible day. No parent should have to have this kind of day, and no community should have to live through this kind of day,” Kotek said.

She also addressed the unnamed bystander who confronted the shooter. “To the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life, your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well.”

Jeff Merkley, who represents Oregon in the US Senate, was among the political leaders to offer condolences in the wake of the shooting.

“My heart is with the Bend community and all of the students and families affected. No one should have to fear violence at school,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings across the US, has documented 369 mass shootings in 2026 so far, defined as incidents where there were four or more victims injured or killed, not including the suspect.

The violence prevention group Everytown for Gun Safety has counted at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds in the US this year. Thirty-four people have died as a result.

Israel halts commercial goods from entering Gaza; Hamas denies tax claims

Israeli authorities say no commercial goods have entered Gaza for two days, citing what they claim is a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas.

COGAT, or the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military body that “oversees humanitarian affairs” in Gaza, announced the halt on Wednesday.

COGAT claimed that local merchants “made the decision in response to a 10,000 shekel ($3,220) fee imposed by Hamas on each truck entering Gaza” as well as a demand for 30 percent of all sales in Gaza to be carried out in cash.

This decision is expected to impact a crucial source of food and goods for the 2.1 million people in the Strip, who are completely reliant on Israel’s border crossings in a territory that is still suffering from famine.

Gaza’s government media office refuted the claims on Thursday and condemned the “blatant disinformation campaign and false statement”.

The media office instead said it was an attempt “to hold the government apparatus in Gaza responsible for the disruption of truck entry” and that the fee was a voluntary payment to a fund providing aid for those in need, such as widows and orphans.

It also said that cash payments were encouraged due to what it described as an acute cash shortage in the war-torn territory, but were never a mandatory requirement.

A Palestinian looks on at the site of a house targeted by Israeli airstrikes after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate late on Saturday, in Al-Zawayda, central Gaza Strip, October 11, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
A Palestinian looks on at a house targeted by Israeli airstrikes in az-Zawayda, central Gaza Strip, October 11, 2026 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

An already dire humanitarian crisis

The halt to commercial shipments, including fruit and winter clothing, cuts off a key source of food and other critical supplies as fears mount ahead of the encroaching winter.

Aid groups generally bring in staples such as flour, while merchants import more perishable foods like fruits and meat, according to data released earlier this year by COGAT.

The suspension is raising fears about affordability, with humanitarian workers saying a combination of aid and a robust commercial market is needed to keep prices under control.

“The humanitarian sector on its own cannot meet the needs of all the people,” said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “The markets need to be functioning.”

Two Palestinian women walk along a street lined with buildings destroyed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Two Palestinian women walk along a street lined with buildings destroyed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, October 14, 2026 [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

Local merchants step in

The head of Gaza’s private truckers union, Nahed Sheheiber, denied the Israeli narrative, saying: “The Israeli coordinator is claiming that Gaza’s merchants are responsible, but the truth is that the Israelis are the ones who imposed the restrictions.”

Following COGAT’s announcement, Sheheiber’s union met with Gaza’s Ministry of Economy to express concern and say Israel was citing fees levied by the ministry as a pretext to cut off commercial goods.

A global hunger monitor in July warned that more than two-thirds of people in Gaza could face acute hunger by the year-end.

Israel is obliged under a US-mediated agreement to allow a minimum of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza each day.

Diplomats say that far fewer than 600 trucks normally enter Gaza each day. Sheheiber said the figure was closer to 300, with two-thirds carrying commercial goods.


Man United’s Martinez apologises for outburst after talks with Carrick

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez apologised on Thursday for criticising the club’s hierarchy following their Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid, after holding talks with manager Michael Carrick and senior officials.

Martinez met Carrick and club executives after training, two days after saying the club needed greater investment to help the team compete at the highest level following Tuesday’s 2-0 loss.

“Today I met with the club’s leadership and the manager,” Martinez said in an Instagram post, in his second statement since the interview.

“It was a very positive conversation where we were able to exchange views and speak openly about what happened after Tuesday’s game.”

A club source said that any internal disciplinary action would remain private, adding that it had been Martinez’s decision to apologise publicly and that all parties considered the matter closed.

British media, including the BBC, reported that United fined the defender over the outburst.

Martinez acknowledged that his frustration following the defeat had got the better of him and apologised for choosing the wrong moment to air his feelings.

“Everyone knows that I am a passionate person and that I live football with great intensity,” he said.

“The frustration of the defeat led me to express how I felt at a time and place that perhaps were not the right ones, and for that I want to apologise.”

The Argentina international had singled out director of football Jason Wilcox in the post-game interview, saying United needed more signings to compete with their rivals and build a squad capable of challenging in Europe.

Martinez said his comments had not reflected the unity required at Old Trafford and stressed his belief that everyone at the club was working towards the same goal.

“Our club is at its best when we are all united, and I recognise that my words in that moment did not help with that,” he said.

“I know that every single person at Manchester United is doing everything possible to achieve our shared ambition, bringing the success that this club and its supporters deserve.”

Martinez finished his statement by drawing a line under the episode.

“With this situation now behind us, we are fully focused on winning together.”

United are 13th in the Premier League after six games in their worst start in 40 years. They travel to seventh-placed Leeds United on Sunday.

Trump administration sues California over noncitizens on voter rolls

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has sued the state of California after the state missed a deadline to review a list of registered noncitizen voters sent to officials.

In the lawsuit, filed on Thursday in a US District Court in California, Department of Justice (DOJ) officials asked the court to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots from voters on a list shared with the state that it said contained 20,000 noncitizens. The agency said it had attempted to “work collaboratively” with California to identify noncitizens registered to vote in the state, but “California made no serious effort to do so”.

The move follows a 48-hour deadline the DOJ gave California in letters sent to officials in several counties in the state on Tuesday, threatening further action if they did not review lists of allegedly ineligible voters the agency said it had shared.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, the top state official tasked with administering elections, responded to the letters, saying in a three-page letter that she wanted to “set the record straight” on events that transpired since July. The senior California official maintains that the administration is demanding “unprecedented measures that threaten thousands of Californians’ right to vote, based on unverifiable information or methodology that you still fail to explain or provide”.

Weber said she was informed that the lists provided to local officials include the names of roughly 20,000 individuals. Weber said no list was ever sent to her office. The department previously said it suspected “thousands” of registered voters of being noncitizens, and a lawsuit filed earlier Thursday by the Justice Department put the number at “tens of thousands”.

“Despite failing to send the list of alleged non-citizens to my office, you demand that we request transmittal of the list, review and confirm the citizenship status of each of the approximately 20,000 individuals on the list on the eve of an election and within a mere 48 hours,” she wrote. “This is an emergency of the DOJ’s creation.”

In a statement on Wednesday, election officials in Los Angeles County, one of the county offices that received the ultimatum from the DOJ, pointed out the threat was issued just 21 days before midterm elections. The county statement said it had received a thumb drive with the letter and a handwritten note with what appeared to be a password, but it would not attempt to access the drive because “we do not consider the device a secure medium”.

The county office said maintaining accurate voter lists was “a fundamental responsibility for our office” and that state laws clearly require that removing individuals be “based on verifiable information”.

Trump has repeatedly levelled the false claim that large numbers of noncitizens, who are legally not eligible to vote in federal elections, are casting ballots in Democratic-led states, including in California. State officials, including in California, have said the number of such voters is negligible and that the scale of the problem does not warrant intervention just weeks before elections, scheduled for November 3.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has sharply rebuked the DOJ lawsuit against his state, calling it a “sad, desperate attempt by” Trump to “suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day”.

“Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy.”

Trump has long falsely claimed that noncitizen voting cost him the 2020 election, blaming it on Democrats, despite the issue being a very rare occurrence.


Courts have pushed back on Trump

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Florida ruled that a federal law criminalising voting by noncitizens was unconstitutional, delivering a major setback for Trump administration efforts to pursue such cases against individuals.

The court ruled that, under the US Constitution, only individual states have the authority to set voter qualifications, and that each one had already criminalised such voting by anyone who was not a citizen. Thus, it was up to the state to prosecute such individuals. The DOJ has at least 45 such cases pending nationwide, where the accused could now raise the same objection brought up in the Florida ruling.

Another federal judge ruled this month that the DOJ unlawfully sought state voter rolls for cross-checking them against a controversial federal immigration database to identify ineligible voters. The Trump administration has often touted the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, but numerous reports have found it inaccurate and capable of flagging citizens as noncitizens. Forcing states to use such a database would be unconstitutional, the judge said.

In September, the US Supreme Court rejected a Trump administration effort to restrict mail-in ballots for the November 3 elections, which Trump argued were especially susceptible to misuse by noncitizens because states were failing to verify who was sending them.

Two dozen states, led by Democrats, filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over attempts to limit mail-in voting, including an executive order directing federal agencies such as the US Postal Service not to handle mail-in ballots without verifying the eligibility of those casting them.

According to the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan government agency, around 30 percent of all ballots cast in the 2024 elections were sent by mail. Mail-in ballots are even more widely used in many western states such as California.