International from Saturday, May 17th, 2025

Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.

Turkey is in talks with authorities in Baghdad and in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on how the PKK will hand over their weapons, President Tayyip Erdogan said following the group's decision to disband.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Friday that time should not be wasted on an alternative US-backed proposal to deliver aid to Gaza, saying the UN has a proven plan and 160,000 pallets of relief ready to enter the Palestinian enclave now.

Israel's airforce killed at least 146 Palestinians in new attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours and injured many more, local health authorities said on Saturday, as the country launched a major ground offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in north-eastern Ukraine just hours after the two countries held their first peace talks in three years of war.