Israel’s centrist War Cabinet Minister, Benny Gantz, has announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government and called for new elections.

In response, Netanyahu released a statement on Sunday saying that “Israel is in an existential war on several fronts. Benny, this is not the time to abandon the campaign”.

In a televised press conference, Gantz accused Netanyahu of prioritising his political survival over a ceasefire deal that would secure the release of about 100 hostages held in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Unfortunately, Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward the real victory,” said Gantz on Sunday.

“Strategic decisions are met with hesitation due to political considerations.”

Echoing increasing public protest against Netanyahu’s government, Gantz called for a new round of elections in the fall.

He urged Netanyahu to set an agreed date to hold them.

“Don’t let our people to be torn apart,” he said.

Gantz’s decision to withdraw his centrist party from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition left it with ultra-orthodox ministers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who advocate for reoccupying the Gaza Strip and expanding Israeli settlements there.

Gantz’s resignation followed a May ultimatum he issued to the right-wing Prime Minister, demanding that Netanyahu develop a clear post-conflict strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a fatal assault, and agree to a hostage-ceasefire agreement.

“Unfortunately, Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward the real victory,” said Gantz on Sunday.

“Strategic decisions are met with hesitation due to political considerations.”

Echoing increasing public protest against Netanyahu’s government, Gantz called for a new round of elections in the fall.

He urged Netanyahu to set an agreed date to hold them.

“Don’t let our people to be torn apart,” he said.

Gantz’s decision to withdraw his centrist party from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition left it with ultra-orthodox ministers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who advocate for reoccupying the Gaza Strip and expanding Israeli settlements there.

Gantz’s resignation followed a May ultimatum he issued to the right-wing Prime Minister, demanding that Netanyahu develop a clear post-conflict strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a fatal assault, and agree to a hostage-ceasefire agreement.

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The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has warned that South Korea will face unspecified “new counteraction” by the North if it keeps sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and playing its loudspeaker broadcasts across the border.The statement by Kim Yo-jong came after the South resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North for the first time in six years, in retaliation against the North’s repeated sending of trash-carrying balloons, reports Yonhap news agency.

“If the ROK simultaneously carries out the leaflet scattering and loudspeaker broadcasting provocation over the border, it will undoubtedly witness the new counteraction of the DPRK,” Kim said in the English statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Sunday, using the acronyms for the official names of the South and the North.

Kim claimed that the North had sent some 7.5 tonnes of “waste paper” in 1,400 balloons across the border over the weekend, arguing that they were just garbage that contained nothing related to political propaganda, unlike anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by North Korean defectors in the South.

“It is quite different from the provocative political agitation rubbish scattered by the scum of the ROK against the DPRK,” Kim said, adding that the South “will suffer a bitter embarrassment of picking up waste paper without rest, and it will be its daily work.”

Kim claimed that the North had planned to stop sending balloons, but the “situation has changed” as the South resumed loudspeaker broadcasting across the border.

“I sternly warn Seoul to stop at once the dangerous act of bringing the further confrontation crisis and discipline itself,” she said.

Seoul’s unification ministry said that the government will not permit any attempts by North Korea to incite anxiety and confusion within South Korean society.

“North Korea should not make the mistake of using our rightful response as an excuse for provocation,” said Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry spokesperson, during a press briefing.

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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made her first remarks after a man attacked her in central Copenhagen and led her to be treated in hospital for a minor whiplash injury.

Frederiksen expressed her gratitude on Instagram for the many messages of support following Friday’s incident. “It’s incredibly touching,” she wrote on Saturday evening.

“I am saddened and shaken by the incident (on Friday), but otherwise I am fine. For once, I need peace and quiet. Both for body and soul. I need to be with my family, and I need to be myself for a while,” the post read.

Frederiksen cancelled her participation in several events on Saturday and was also not due to attend any public appointments on Sunday.

On Friday evening, the 46-year-old Prime Minister was punched by a man in the centre of Copenhagen. The police quickly arrested a suspect who had denied his guilt in court.

The man said that he had nothing against Frederiksen, saying she was “a really good Prime Minister” and that he had been surprised to run into her on the street.

Police investigating the assault do not believe that the attack was politically motivated.

The Danish news agency Ritzau reported that the man was drunk and under the influence of other drugs at the time and that he was a Polish citizen who had been resident in Denmark for a long time.

Condemnation from European leaders followed the attack on Frederiksen, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz among those denouncing the violence.

The incident comes as the European Union’s 27 countries elect more than 700 members of the European Parliament during four days of voting that began on Thursday. Voting in Denmark is underway on Sunday.

There have been at least two attacks on politicians in Germany in the immediate run-up to the elections. And on May 15, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and seriously injured.

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our people, including two Hezbollah members, were killed, and five others were injured in Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told the media.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said on Saturday that an Israeli warplane targeted a house in the village of Houla, killing two Hezbollah members and injuring three civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.

The sources added that another Israeli airstrike targeted, with two air-to-surface missiles, a commercial market in the village of Aitaroun, killing two civilians and wounding two others.

The two slain civilians were identified as Ali Khalil Hamad, a coffee shop owner, and a young man named Mustafa Issa.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it responded to Israel’s raids on Saturday with several attacks in the occupied Shebaa Farms and some Israeli sites, including Malikiyah, Al-Samaqa, Zarit, and al-Raheb.

Tensions increased between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in the wake of the latter’s announcement of completing deployment for a major offensive against the former.

The announcement came after a drone attack by Hezbollah on Wednesday on an Israeli gathering south of the Al-Kosh settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which caused numerous casualties.

The confrontations between the two sides have escalated along the Lebanon-Israel border since October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.  AGENCIES

At least five people, including two policemen, were injured in a terrorist attack on a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police officials said. According to the police officials, the incident happened on Saturday in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district of the province when unknown attackers opened fire indiscriminately on the polio team, injuring two policemen and other staff of the polio team.

The perpetrators fled the scene after carrying out the attack, police said, adding that law enforcers have launched an operation in the surrounding areas to arrest the culprits, Xinhua news agency reported.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The incident comes as a five-day anti-polio campaign was launched earlier this week in the province during which more than 3.56 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated.

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Seven security personnel were injured in a blast in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the police said.The incident occurred when roadside-planted explosives hit a vehicle of paramilitary troops Frontier Corps in Khyber district of the province, police sources in the area told the media on Saturday.

The forces’ vehicle was on a routine patrol in the area when the explosion happened, said the police sources, adding that at least two security personnel sustained critical injuries in the explosion, Xinhua news agency reported.

Following the incident, rescue teams, police and security forces rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital.

Police and security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits.

No group or individual has claimed the blast yet.  AGENCIES

 President Joe Biden pledged continuing US support to Ukraine on meeting French President Emmanuel in Paris on Saturday at the start of a state visit.

Biden said that the US was firmly on the side of Ukraine and other allies. Macron also said France would continue its support for Ukraine for as long as it was necessary.

Before the two leaders met, the US administration had, however, made clear that the US would not participate in Macron’s plan to send military trainers to Ukraine.

Speaking on Friday evening, Macron said he had held discussions with NATO leaders on sending military trainers to Ukraine and that several had agreed with his plans, which would be finalised “in the days ahead.”

Biden has said that no US personnel will be sent to the war zone, and the White House made clear on Friday evening that nothing had changed in this regard.

The issue was not mentioned when Biden and Macron met on Saturday. Brief statements were issued, and no questions were allowed.

An official White House statement said: “Reflecting on their historical relationship and recalling the price for peace and freedom paid by past generations in both countries, the presidents reaffirm their commitment to a Europe, whole, free, and at peace.”

Macron expressed confidence in that agreement on the use of interest earned on frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv. France and the US are aiming for all G7 members to approve a loan of $50 billion.

While the US has backed the idea, European members of the G7 have shown caution amid hopes that a decision could be taken at a pending G7 meeting in Italy.

Biden and Macron welcomed the announcement from Israel that four more hostages had been freed in the Gaza Strip. Biden said that the US would not cease working until all the hostages were released and a ceasefire arranged.

Macron said that the number of dead and injured after nine months of war was unacceptable. He added that the fact that Israel was not opening all border crossings to humanitarian aid could not be tolerated.

Earlier, Macron welcomed Biden with full military honours at a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. A military choir and a band provided by the National Gendarmerie played as aircraft flew overhead.

The two leaders laid a wreath and held a minute of silence at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which lies under the national monument in the centre of the French capital.

In the evening, Biden and Macron emphasised the solidarity and friendship between their two countries at a state banquet held at the Élysée Palace.

“We are allies. We will remain allies,” Macron said in his speech.

Biden’s state visit offered “an opportunity to celebrate the untrammelled vitality of our alliance and this very special relationship between our two nations and, indeed, our love for freedom,” Macron added.

Biden highlighted how France and the US have been there for each other throughout history when it comes to securing each other’s freedom.

“You were with us to help us secure our freedom, and we were with you 170 years later… to do the same. And ever since, we’ve remained united, unyielding, as well as unwavering in our partnership,” Biden said, referencing the US gaining independence in 1776 and the end of World War Two.

“We stand at an inflection point in history,” Biden continued. “The decisions we make now will determine the course of our future for decades to come.

“We have a lot of opportunity but a lot of responsibility. And it gives me hope to know France and the United States stand together now and always.”

Macron said that being “united in spite of our differences when the main values are at stake” is the common thread of the unshakeable transatlantic bond between Washington and Paris.

Macron was Biden’s first guest on a state visit in 2022.

The US president has been in France since Wednesday, attending ceremonies in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.AGENCIES

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was taken to the hospital with a minor whiplash injury after a man hit her in central Copenhagen, her office said.

Ms Frederiksen is “safe but shaken” by the incident, the office said, adding that her scheduled engagements on Saturday were cancelled.

Eyewitnesses told Danish media that the 46-year-old prime minister was assaulted on Kultorvet square in the capital’s historic centre on Friday but had been able to walk away from the scene.

Police quickly arrested a 39-year-old man in connection with the incident.

According to local media, the suspect later appeared in a pre-trial custody hearing in a Copenhagen district court.The man denied that he had anything against Ms Frederiksen, saying she was “a really good prime minister” and that he had been surprised to run into her on the street.Police investigating the assault do not believe that the attack was politically motivated.

Local media reported that the man was drunk and under the influence of other drugs at the time and that he was a Polish citizen who had been resident in Denmark for a long time.

Condemnation poured in from across Europe.“Shocked to hear about the violence against my friend Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of our ally Denmark.

 “I strongly condemn all violence against our political leaders,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on the social media platform X.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a “despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe.”

“French President Emmanuel Macron denounced it as “unacceptable” and wished the leader a quick recovery.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted a get-well message on X.“Dear Mette, I wish you a speedy recovery,” he said.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak posted on X: “Democracies must be free from intimidation and threats.”“I strongly condemn any form of violence against democratically elected leaders in our free societies,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said.“An attack on a democratically elected leader is also an attack on our democracy,” wrote Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on . The incident comes as the EU’s 27 countries elect more than 700 members of the European Parliament during four days of voting that began on Thursday.Voters in Denmark would go to the polls on Sunday.There have been at least two attacks on politicians in Germany in the immediate run-up to the elections.Earlier, on 15 May, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and seriously injured. AGENCIES

 The Egyptian Air Force, along with its counterparts from other friendly states, continued to carry out airdrops of humanitarian aid over the north of the Gaza Strip, said the Egyptian military.

The international operation to airdrop aid to Gaza continued from June 3 to June 8, aiming to ease the suffering of the people in the Palestinian enclave “in light of the obstacles and difficulties preventing sufficient entry of aid into the sector,” according to a statement released on Saturday by the Egyptian army.

Egypt joined in March a coalition of several Arab and Western states to airdrop relief supplies to northern Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

Aid delivery to Gaza has faced great challenges since the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, a vital entry point for aid trucks into the strip, after the Israeli army seized control of the Palestinian side of the crossing in early May.

Egypt has been demanding Israeli withdrawal to resume the crossing’s operations.

The country has been making intensive efforts, in cooperation with international and regional powers, “to take serious steps to ensure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the opening of all land crossings to fully deliver humanitarian aid to the enclave,” the army noted in the statement.

Israel has launched a massive offensive against Gaza-ruling Hamas in retaliation for a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7 last year, during which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken as hostages.

The eight-month-long Israeli offensive has left 36,801 Palestinians killed and 83,680 others injured, the Gaza health authorities said in an update on Saturday.

The Israeli attacks also reduced large swaths of the enclave to ruins and caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in the area. AGENCIES