Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump calls for war to end

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi Reuters  The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against  Hamas , as U.S. President Donald Trump called for an end to the  war  amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire. “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,”  Trump  posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages. But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. offi...

Finland finds drag marks on Baltic seabed after cable damage

 Finnish police said they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor.

The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned.

Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the region.

A break in the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia occurred at midday on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 linking the two countries, grid operators said. They said Estlink 2 might not be back in service before August.

Finnish police suspect the Eagle S caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

Investigators have identified a “dragging track” but have yet to find a missing anchor, Sami Paila, tactical leader and detective chief inspector of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said in a statement.

“The track is dozens of kilometres in length,” Paila said.

Photos taken of the Eagle S on Friday showed the vessel missing its port side anchor.

Finland’s customs service believes the ship is part of a “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers being used to evade sanctions on exports of Russian oil.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Finland’s seizure of the ship was of little concern to it.

Russia has denied involvement in any of the previous Baltic infrastructure damage incidents.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/aR85bno

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