In a neighborhood in southwest Japan on Tuesday night, a massive fire ripped through more than 170 structures as firefighters battled the windy conditions to contain it. The cause is being investigated by officials.
Published On 19 Nov 2025
In the wreckage of the deadly Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, which residents claim mostly killed children at a sports playground, paramedics searched for human remains.
Published On 19 Nov 2025
The largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon was Israel’s target on Tuesday. At least 13 people were killed by the two missiles that its forces fired. Another person was killed in a drone attack in Bint Jbeil on the same day. Israeli airstrikes also hit southern Lebanon’s villages the following day.
Israeli drone attacks and airstrikes continue in Gaza. As a result of Israel’s attack on Rafah and Khan Younis, at least one person was killed on Wednesday.
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Despite ceasefire agreements in both Lebanon and Gaza and President Trump’s major declaration that the Middle East is now at peace, the attacks have occurred.
However, Israel’s conflict with the region is still ongoing, according to Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister.
Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s enemies are rearming in a speech to Israel’s parliament on November 10 one month after a ceasefire ostensibly entered Gaza.
Israel’s more than two years of fighting in Gaza should have come to an end with a ceasefire, but the attacks continue. Since then, Israel has killed more than 280 Palestinians.
Gaza is not the only place Israel’s war is. Israel has killed more than 100 people in Lebanon in the past year despite a ceasefire with Lebanon on November 27, 2024, and Israeli attacks continue in the occupied West Bank.
Given Israel’s ongoing attacks on residents of the area, Netanyahu’s words come as no surprise. Prior to the signing of the ceasefires, according to analysts, the precedent was already established.
According to Elia Ayoub, a researcher studying Lebanon and Palestine, there was never any proof that the Israelis would follow the ceasefire in Gaza or Lebanon.
Ayoub continued, “Netanyahu can rely on the lack of international accountability to continue his war against civilians, especially with the support of the US.”
In Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, 2025, Trump and political figures from more than 20 countries gathered to support peace in Gaza and the surrounding area.
Trump stated, “We finally have peace in the Middle East.”
However, Israel’s attacks on both Gaza and Lebanon almost daily continue, less than a month later.
Since October 7, Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza has claimed 69 Palestinian lives on Wednesday, November 19.
In recent months, Israeli human rights organizations and world leaders had begun to pressure Israel into waging a genocide against it due to its war against Gaza.
However, it appears that the pressure on Israel has decreased since the Sharm El Sheikh summit and the general announcement of a ceasefire.
People from areas where Israel is still attacking are unable to return to their lives or rebuild their homes in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel has also stopped a significant portion of the aid provided to Palestinians in the enclave in the case of Gaza, for example.
There is no reason to believe anyone in Lebanon or Palestine is safe from Israel, Ayoub said, as long as Netanyahu expects impunity.
According to Rida Abu Rass, a Palestinian political scientist, Netanyahu’s recent comments demonstrate that he is “determined to keep Israel in a perpetual state of war.”
Israel has occasionally called for the end of the war through protests. However, the majority of them were centered on demands for the release of the Israeli prisoners who were still imprisoned in Gaza. All three of the captives’ living bodies have been found, but Hamas is reportedly looking for the remains of three more.
Netanyahu asserts that the conflict must continue because Israel’s allies are regrouping.
“We are rearming those who want to harm us,” he says. In his address to the Knesset, Netanyahu remarked, “They did not give up on their goal of destroying us.”
Netanyahu claims that his goal of destroying Hamas has not yet been realized despite the widespread destruction of Gaza. Hezbollah is rebuilding, according to Israeli officials and the media, despite analysts’ claims that it is not positioned to attack Israel.
Netanyahu’s justifications for continuing the war are doubted by experts. They think Netanyahu’s stated objectives, which were intentionally unachievable, were necessary to maintain the conflict and avoid both domestic and international accountability.
His political career hangs in the balance because his far-right coalition partners see a historic opportunity to advance their vision of a Palestine that has been ethnically cleansed, according to Abu Rass.
The narrative that the war is still ongoing is being conveyed by Netanyahu to his supporters and coalition partners.
Netanyahu is facing corruption charges in three Israeli courts. Due to the war, the cases have repeatedly been delayed, with courts citing “national security priorities.”
According to Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, “Keeping Israel on a constant war footing is good for [Netanyahu] because it allows him to continue thwarting his trial and the demands of his far-right coalition to reshape Israel’s internal governing principles, which caused him so much trouble in the past,”
He reportedly fears any investigation into Hamas and other Palestinian factions’ failures to stop the operation on October 7, 2023. According to analysts, Netanyahu also has a long game.
He has consistently worked to expand settlement and replace Palestinians throughout his career. The war gave him an opportunity to advance these objectives, according to Abu Rass.
Israeli Prime Minister Yoav Gallant and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant are wanted on international arrest warrants for their crimes in Gaza.
According to Ayoub, “I view the so-called ceasefires as gaslighting campaigns that indefinitely delay accountability.”
Netanyahu’s remarks demonstrate that the terms of the ceasefire are not being used widely, according to Ayoub.
“You cease, we fire,” is the Israeli strategy, to put it simply. And the Israelis simply increase what they’re already doing by responding to any actor.
As the international community shifts its attention away from Gaza, these attacks appear to be going on. Violence still persisted in both locations and the occupied West Bank, despite ceasefires in both Lebanon and Gaza that have reduced the frequency and ferocity of attacks. According to analysts, these conditions will persist until the root cause is identified.
According to Abu Rass, “international stakeholders – governments, civil society organizations, and media must continue to exert pressure on the US and Israeli governments.”
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the surprise guests at a lavish White House dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for the visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The famous footballer was among the last guests to be seated before Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, took his place at the table on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know about his presence at the White House:
Ronaldo plays for the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr after signing with them following the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
He spent two decades playing for European clubs and signed a two-year extension in June with Al Nassr. The 40-year-old has indicated he is ready to hang up his boots soon, making Saudi Arabia the last stop in his glittering career.
Over four seasons with Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 83 goals with 17 assists in 84 starts.
Since his 2023 signing for the Riyadh-based club – majority owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that the crown prince chairs – Ronaldo has been the face of the Saudi league and has featured in promotional videos for the Saudi Tourism Authority.
In a recent interview, Ronaldo referred to MBS as “our boss [in Saudi Arabia]”.
Ronaldo was seated near the front of the East Room, not far from where the president and crown prince gave remarks to officials from both nations, along with major business leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
He also snapped a selfie at the White House.
Great night! pic.twitter.com/XfdC9bJqP4
Trump, in his speech, made a point of recognising Ronaldo, who he said he introduced to his teenage son.
Trump thanked the athlete for attending. He said that his youngest son, Barron, is a “big fan” of Ronaldo and the 19-year-old was impressed that he got to meet the player.
“I think he respects his father a little bit more now, just the fact that I introduced you,” the president said.
Ronaldo has recently said that Trump is “one of the guys who can help change the world”.
“[Trump is] one of the guys I want to meet. I think he can make things happen, and I like people like that,” the football icon said in an interview with media host Piers Morgan.
However, Ronaldo was quick to boast that he was more famous than Trump.
“People know me more than him. In the world, nobody’s more famous than me.”
No, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has previously featured at events with Trump, was also among the guests.
Infantino was making another appearance at the White House ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, after meeting Trump at his residence two days earlier.
The FIFA chief will also be present when the US hosts the draw for the World Cup on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, where Trump is likely to oversee the event.
Ronaldo said earlier this month that the next World Cup will be his last.
Nicki Minaj, a rapper from Trinidad, is the most prominent person to speak out against the violence against Christians in Nigeria. An alleged “Christian genocide” has been the subject of the US president’s threat of military action. When he spoke with Al Jazeera’s Soraya Lennie, the information minister of Nigeria, however, he refrained from making those claims.
Published On 19 Nov 2025