Foreign Tit Bits Today
By Yadnom Awu/ Asaba
Japan
Japan may soon be headed for a stiff political crisis.
This follows the refusal of the Prime Minister, Ishiba, to step down following the heavy defeat of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Sunday’s parliamentary poll into the upper chamber o
The defeat was the third consecutive loss for the LDP which had been in power for many decades after its founding 70 years ago.
Before Sunday when it lost grip of the majority in the Upper chamber of the Legislature , it had lost the poll for both the power rung of the Parliament as well as the Tokyo Municipal elections.
Traditionally, the loss, by two seats, in the Sunday election would imply a mandatory step down for the party leader and Prime Minister.
But not Ishiba.
He admitted personal responsibility for the losses, but insists on continuing in office to see through the ongoing trade negotiations with the American government which has imposed nearly a 30 per cent tariff on Japanese imports.
Japan is the single largest car exporter to America and the American – imposed tariff is meant to adjust the terms of trade between both nations, slightly away from Japanese dominance
The trade talks are meant to end this week, while the tariff regime will kick in by August 1, if no deal is reached before them.
The LDP got 48 seats in the Sunday poll, two short of what should have given it a numerical majority.
Syria
Fragile Peace Subsists
in Suwayda
A fragile peace, the product of a ceasefire deal between militias of the Druze community and Bedouin tribesmen, appears to be holding in the Suwayda province of Syria.
Syrian troops sent into the province to retire order appear to have made good on their mandate though, potentials for a resurgence of the recent violent clashes that claimed in excess of 600 persons, going by figures peddled by locals, persisted till this morning.
The violence had broken out after the Druze community, which has strong cultural links with Israel, accused the Syrian Army and the militias of the Bedouin tribesmen of jointly attacking them.
Both the Syrian Army and the militias deny the charges of the Druze but, dissatisfied, and fearing for the security of its members, it reached out to Israel with a prayer for urgent military support.
The Israeli response, which came in.prompt and decisive, targeted the Bedouin fighters as well as core assets of the Syrian Army, including its personnel, tanks and strategic buildings.
Fearing that Israel ‘s intervention could worsen the already dire security situation in the country and the region, diplomats from Turkiye, Qatar and America hammered a deal- the fourth in the series- among all stakeholders for the return of Syrian troops to the region to restore order.
And they appear to have succeeded .
Residents said Sunday night was relatively quite over Suwaydan, and expressed the hope that the situation endures.
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed Al- Sharaa, had warned against the breach of the ceasefire.
Syria has been bogged by ethnic and sectarian crises since the fall, late last year, of the Assad regime.
Ex- President Assad is now huddled in Russia, where he is on exile
Palestine
Israeli Troops Take Ground Offensive To Central Gaza
…A Day After Killing 114 Palestinians At Aid Site, Others
A day after it killed more than 100 Palestinians at aid distribution sites and other places in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF ) has launched its first offensive in Central Gaza.
The offensive targets mainly the Deir-Al Balah neighbourhood of Central Gaza, and the United Nations (UN) has called the move a devastating addition to the suffering of trapped Palestinians.
The IDF issued the forced evacuation order on Sunday as it sought to expand its ground operations in the embattled enclave.
Central Gaza, especially the Deir-Al Balah neighbourhood, had been largely spared the horrors of the war, and emergency workers said that more than 1,000 families have left the district since the order was given, though the IDF issued no instructions as to where they could evacuate to.
Israeli officials say the new offensive, which has seen the combination of land and air assaults, was meant to put additional pressure on Hamas with which is negotiating a deal for the release of the 50 hostages thought to still be in the custody of Hamas in Gaza.
Around 20 of the 50 Ard still thought to be alive in the enclave, and diplomats say that, barring all unforeseen circumstances, 10 of them could be released soon as part of an imminent agreement between Hamas and Israel at their talks in Doha, Qatar.
Away from the Doha talks, the bombs have been falling on Central Gaza as the new offensive takes form
It is believed that the few remaining hostages, 50 by informed estimation, may be hidden in Central Gaza which is now under assault.
Experts say the offensive could prove decisive for Israel as the IDF could stumble on the hostages and free them, or make beleaguered Hamas fighters, a sprinkling of whom are said to be huddled in the district, to adopt the suicide option of eliminating then ahead of imminent confrontation with the advancing IDF troops.
A successful rescue would boost the political fortunes of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and enhance the standing of the IDF in the public psyche, but the loss of more IDF troops, and, perhaps, more awkwardly, the botch of any rescue efforts would spell political disaster for Netanyahu and his government and the IDF.
Outgunned and outnumbered, Hamas fighters and their affiliates in the Islamic Jihad and the Al-Qassam Brigades, have, of late, managed to ambush the far more equipped Israeli troops.
By official accounts, which experts say is a deliberate under- reporting, Israel has lost roughly 900 soldiers to Hamas fighters during the war, while about 4,000 others have been wounded in close, at times, hand- to- hand fighting.
Hamas casualty figures are embedded in the overall tally of Palestinian victims, which is put at 158,000, including 58,000 fatalities.
The Hamas -run Gaza Ministry of Health says the dead and wounded are mainly women, children and civilians, though the IDF disputes this.
Yesterday, the IDF killed at least 114 Palestinians in Gaza, including more than 67 at the only functional aid distribution centre in the enclave.
Witnesses said that the IDF opened fire on the aid seekers as they made to access flour from incoming aid trucks.
Aid is now being largely distributed in Gaza by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) which is the creation of both Israel and America to side step the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which the Jewish state had accused, without providing the proof, of collaboration with Hamas.
Both UNRWA, the UN and other credible organizations have stoutly discredited the accusation by Israel.
The GHF has four aid centres, three of which it rarely run, compared to the 400 operated by UNRWA’ before the side step.
The GHF is run by armed American private security contractors.
Its first Chief Executive Officer, Jake Woods, resigned ahead of its commencement of operations for the alleged opaqueness of its mandate.
More than 1,000 food- seeking Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops at,or near, the aid centres run by the GHF since May 27, this year.
South Korea
Flash Floods, Landslides Kill Scores In South Korea
Scores of people have been killed in flash floods and landslides that have hit mainly low lying and mountainous regions of South Korea in recent days.
Many more are believed to be trapped under the debris of the slides or swept away by the rampaging floods
The floods followed a weekend of unusually heavy rains in the country.
Meteorologists say the weekend rains were the single heaviest deluge in the history of the country for 200 years.
In Seoul, the capital, officials say that 18 bodies had been recovered and that many more persons remained missing, most feared trapped under the debris of mountains ripped off by the heavy floods.
The weekend incident brought to 70, the number of flood fatalities in the country which suffers greatly from the effects of Climate Change, especially regarding the effects of Climate Change patterns during the precipitations in the Monsoon season.
South Korea is 8 per cent mountain.
Ukraine
Kiyev undec Resumed Russian military onslaught
For the first time in recent days, Kiyev, capital of Ukraine, came under Russian military onslaught overnight.
The attacks involved the deployment of drones and missiles.
There was no word from Ukraine regarding how many drones and missiles were deployed in the assault, but Moscow had, of late, been launching hundreds of drones and several cruise and ballistic missiles at targets in Ukraine per night.
However, following the visit of American officials to Ukraine,Moscow refrained from assaulting Kiyev, in the last few days.
But it resumed last night after the return of the American officials to their home country, with Sunday night bombardments.
Targets hit included a metro station and many buildings, some of which were extensively damaged.
Though the military gave no casualty figures, locals said at least one person died and scores of others were wounded in the assault.
