Georgian opposition figure Giorgi Vashadze jailed in widening crackdown

As the ruling party’s crackdown on its rivals continues, an opposition leader has been sentenced to seven months in prison by a Georgian court.

Giorgi Vashadze, a leader of the Strategy Builder party, was sentenced on Tuesday after the Tbilisi court found him guilty of obstructing a commission looking into allegations of power abuse by a former government.

Nearly all of the country’s major pro-European opposition figures are now imprisoned as a result of the jailing. In response to the ongoing protests following last year’s contentious elections, the ruling Georgian Dream party has received more accusations that it is violating democracy.

Vashadze, a deputy justice minister from 2010 to 2012, was found guilty of refusing to cooperate with a government commission looking into alleged abuse committed during the administration’s tenure under former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Opposition figures claim that the commission is a ruse to intimidate opponents.

Saakashvili is currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year prison term for allegedly pursuing political motives, according to rights organizations.

Vashadze also received a two-year ban from running for office, which is his party’s third-placed coalition.

On the same charge, three additional opposition figures were imprisoned.

Georgia is currently undergoing a total incarceration under the Georgian Dream regime. Before the verdict, Vashadze stated, “We are fighting for the country’s liberation,” according to the AFP news agency.

Turmoil

Since Georgian Dream won a second term in the parliamentary elections in October, the country has experienced political unrest.

Voting irregularities and Russian interference are still brought up by the opposition in the wake of the results.

When the government announced in November that talks with the European Union would be suspended in response to a European Parliament resolution denying the election results, citing “significant irregularities,” a wave of protests erupted.

The protests have continued every night for more than 200 days, despite a recent decrease in their size.

Author of famous poetry detained

Georgia’s most renowned poet, Zviad Ratiani, was detained on suspicion of assaulting a police officer at a protest outside the Tbilisi parliament on Monday night, according to news reports.

He could spend up to seven years behind bars.

Have Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire? What we know

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced that Israel and Iran have reached a ceasefire, hours after Iran launched a missile attack on the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar – the largest United States military base in the Middle East.

“The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has agreed to the truce proposal, and Iranian state TV reported that the ceasefire had begun.

However, Israel has ordered strikes on Tehran after accusing Iran of violating the truce – an allegation rejected by Iran.

Here is what happened in Qatar, what Trump has said, and the latest on the ground.

Did Iran attack the US base in Qatar?

Yes.

On Monday evening, consecutive flares were seen and loud explosions were heard in Qatar’s capital, Doha, alongside other parts of the country.

In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its attack was in response to the “blatant military aggression” by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Tehran said it attacked the Al Udeid airbase because it “serves as the command centre of the US Air Force and is the largest strategic asset of the American terrorist army in West Asia”.

Qatar said it had successfully shot down 18 of 19 missiles deployed. No casualties were reported.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Tuesday reiterated Qatar’s condemnation of Iran’s missile attack on the Al Udeid airbase, calling it an “unacceptable act”.

“The attack on the state of Qatar is an unacceptable act, especially as Qatar has been making great diplomatic efforts in order to de-escalate the situation,” said Sheikh Mohammed, adding Doha was “taken by surprise” by the move from what it considers a “neighbourly” country.

Earlier, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest against Monday night’s attack.

But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson defended the attack, saying it was a legitimate response under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The attack was retaliation for the “unprovoked aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty” by the US on Sunday when it hit three of Iran’s nuclear sites, Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.

Iran has stressed that Monday’s attack was not directed at the “brotherly” state of Qatar.

What did Trump say about the ceasefire?

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that a “complete and total” ceasefire has been reached between Iran and Israel.

In his post at 22:00 GMT, Trump wrote that the ceasefire would take effect “in approximately 6 hours from now”.

He additionally specified a timeline:

  • The initial six-hour window, which ended at 04:00 GMT, was to allow Iran and Israel to complete their “final missions”.
  • Iran would start the ceasefire first at 04:00 GMT on Tuesday.
  • Israel would follow 12 hours later at 16:00 GMT.
  • Israel must stick to the ceasefire for 12 hours, after which the ceasefire will be considered to be in full effect.
  • This timeline will mark the official end to what he termed the “Twelve Day War” between Israel and Iran.

Has Israel agreed to the ceasefire?

The Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying that Netanyahu has accepted the ceasefire and will deliver a statement later on Tuesday.

The statement added that Israel has achieved “all objectives” of its operation against Iran.

“Israel has removed a dual immediate existential threat – both in the nuclear and ballistic missile fields,” the statement said.

“In light of the achievement of the operation’s objectives, and in full coordination with President Trump, Israel has agreed to the president’s proposal for a bilateral ceasefire,” it added.

This came after Dan Illouz, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, opposed the ceasefire, saying the only deal the government must sign is Iran’s “surrender agreement”.

Tel Aviv-based political commentator Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s claims that all objectives were secured before the ceasefire are “ridiculous”.

“It is really unclear, to say the least, what Israel’s goals were. Over the past week, we heard Israel talk about everything from the decapitation of the nuclear programme to regime change.”

Goldberg said Netanyahu had no choice but to back the ceasefire due to the damage caused by Iranian attacks and pressure from the Trump administration.

“Netanyahu decided to gamble on Trump coming to his rescue. Trump did, and Netanyahu is therefore obligated to assist in Trump’s goal, which was and still is ultimately securing the regional deal and not launching a regional war.”

Did Iran agree to the ceasefire?

Iran’s top security body said on Tuesday it had agreed to the truce. The Supreme National Security Council, however, added Tehran does not trust Israel and has its “hands on the trigger”, ready to “deliver a decisive … response to any violating act”.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, urged all parties to abide by the ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration. Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar, on the request of the US, reached out to Iran to help mediate the Israel-Iran ceasefire.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said that Qatar played a mediation role, helping to bring this [conflict] to an end.

“US President Trump spoke about this, saying that – despite the attack that took place on Al Udeid – Qatar played this role. It’s, of course, another victory for Qatari diplomacy,” he said from Tehran.

What is the latest on the ground?

An Iranian missile struck a building in Israel’s Beersheba on Tuesday morning, killing at least four people and injuring several others.

The Times of Israel reported that Israel intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles on Tuesday.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli military to “respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran”.

Iran’s military has denied the Israeli claim that it launched missiles at Israel over the past few hours in a short statement carried by state media.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump warned Israel against dropping bombs in Iran, saying: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Trump’s history of ceasefire claims

Last month, Trump claimed he had helped broker a ceasefire after four days of tit-for-tat missile and drone attacks between South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan.

However, violations of the ceasefire were reported hours after Trump’s announcement on May 10. Both the nuclear-armed neighbours blamed each other for breaching the ceasefire agreement.

While the situation in South Asia has been calm since, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Trump on June 18 that the ceasefire was achieved through talks between military officials on both sides, rather than US mediation, according to Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

The Trump administration took credit for mediating the ceasefire to end the war in Gaza. The ceasefire was announced on January 15 and took effect four days later.

On March 18, Netanyahu unilaterally ended the ceasefire and resumed attacks on Gaza, killing thousands since then. Trump supported Netanyahu’s decision.

Since Israel launched the war on Gaza in October 2023, it has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, and a total blockade since March 2 has resulted in deaths by starvation and malnutrition. After immense global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led aid deliveries to resume on May 19. Later, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli and US-backed body, was formed to distribute aid in the Palestinian enclave. But rights groups say the aid distribution centres have turned into “human slaughterhouses”. On Monday, Israel killed at least 43 people who were seeking aid in Gaza.

On the campaign trail, Trump had promised to end the war between Russia and Ukraine on his first day in office. This did not happen.

After multiple talks conducted between US officials, separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, the three sides have been unable to agree on a full ceasefire.

Israeli military kills dozens in latest attacks on Gaza aid seekers

In the most recent attacks on Gaza residents seeking aid, Israeli forces and drones have reportedly killed dozens.

According to Palestinian health workers and witnesses, the violence, which occurred as Palestinians waited for aid at distribution centers across the enclave on Tuesday, may have resulted in the deaths of up to 50 people, despite the uncertainty of the numbers.

The controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) has referred to as a “death trap,” established a recent wave of daily carnage near aid distribution points late last month.

Up to 50 people have been killed by Israeli fire near aid distribution centers since dawn, according to sources in Gaza hospitals, along with 21 others, according to sources in Gaza hospitals.

According to The Associated Press news agency, at least 25 people were killed in a collision on Salah al-Din Street south of Wadi Gaza in central Gaza, according to medical sources. 62 of the injured were in critical condition, compared to 140 others.

According to footage posted on Instagram and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, bodies were transported to al-Awda Hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.

Following unverified rumor that the Israeli army had targeted people waiting for aid on al-Tina Street, reports of similar scenes from the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis were made.

According to Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera, both people who were approaching an aid station in Gaza City and Rafah in the south of the city reported killing both people.

According to him, “casualties were transported to various health facilities, including al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.” “Many people died waiting for medical care in the emergency room there,” according to the statement.

Witnesses claimed that Israeli forces were firing as aid trucks approached.

According to Ahmed Halawa, who claimed tanks and drones fired “even as we were fleeing,” “it was a massacre.”

After a group of people approached soldiers in an area close to the militarized Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli military announced it was reviewing reports of casualties from fire by its troops.

Israel claims that the “suspects” who approach soldiers have sparked previous shootings close to GHF aid sites.

Many of the shootings occurred without any prior notice, according to witnesses and humanitarian organizations.

“Death trap”

Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) took over the distribution of food and other essential supplies, aid seekers have been killed almost daily.

After Israel had completely stopped providing food to Gaza for more than two months, prompting warnings of widespread famine, the foundation launched its aid distribution program in late May.

The UN has resisted working with the GHF, citing concerns that it prioritizes Israeli military needs over humanitarian needs, and that it has criticized the organization for “weaponizing” aid.

Scenes of chaos and carnage regularly occur at the GHF distribution sites. Since the start of the GHF aid program, more than 400 people have died and 1, 000 have been injured by Israeli soldiers.

The UN agency’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, described the distribution of aid in Gaza as “an abomination” on Tuesday.

At a press conference in Berlin, the newly established so-called aid mechanism is described as an “abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people.” More lives are lost because of it, according to the statement.

The International Commission of Jurists, a prominent group of lawyers and judges, condemned the GHF and demanded “an end to private militarized humanitarian aid operations in Gaza,” in a letter released on Monday.

The militarized and privatized aid delivery model used by GHF, according to Philip Grant, executive director of TRIAL International, “violates fundamental humanitarian principles.”

He added that those who supported or benefited from the GHF’s activities “resistanced to face serious consequences for complicity in war crimes, including the forced transfer of civilians and the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”

Russia and Ukraine swap drone attacks as ceasefire efforts remain stalled

Russia and Ukraine have swapped further drone attacks, with at least 10 people reportedly killed in Moscow’s attacks.

Strikes were reported overnight on Tuesday in several areas of Ukraine, killing three people, as well as in Moscow. Later in the day, a Russian attack killed at least seven people in the city of Dnipro.

The attacks are the latest in a series of intensifying hostilities as the efforts of the United States to broker a ceasefire have stalled, with Russia appearing eager to take advantage while the war between Israel and Iran dominates global attention.

A Russian attack on a village in Sumy killed an eight-year-old boy and two adults and injured three others, the military administration of the region said.

Drone strikes also wounded five people in Kharkiv and four others in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.

The attacks came a day after a “massive” missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at least 10 people.

“The strike took the lives of people from different families,” the military administration said on Telegram regarding the Sumy attack. “They all lived on the same street. They went to sleep in their homes. But Russian drones interrupted their sleep – forever.”

At least seven people were killed later on Tuesday as a Russian missile struck Dnipro.

“Around 70 people were wounded, including 10 children,” Governor Sergiy Lysak announced on social media.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said the strikes on Dnipro were “a rejection of peace”.

“While leaders gather in The Hague for the NATO summit, Russia sends a message of terror and rejection of peace,” Sybiha said on social media.

He called on Kyiv’s allies to “step up pressure on Moscow” as the military alliance gathered for a summit at which members are expected to agree to boost military spending.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss support for Kyiv and the bid to secure a ceasefire.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused NATO of demonising Russia to justify militarisation.

Ukraine has also stepped up its drone attacks on a wide range of targets in Russia in recent months.

Russia said a Ukrainian drone had targeted a residential building in Moscow overnight, wounding two people, including a pregnant woman, and triggering a fire.

Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said the drone started a fire on the 17th floor of the building in the town of Krasnogorsk, west of the capital.

“About 100 people were evacuated from the building, including 30 children,” Vorobyov said, adding that the injured were receiving treatment at a hospital.

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the Moscow region, local news agencies reported, citing Russian Ministry of Defence data.

Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its invasion in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014.

Trump had promised to swiftly end the war while on his campaign trail last year, but his diplomatic attempts have not resulted in a ceasefire so far.

While Washington succeeded in bringing the two sides together for direct talks last month, little progress was made, and no meetings have taken place in the last three weeks.

Israel and Iran agree ceasefire amid waves of missiles

Following 12 days of intense airstrikes, including a “last-minute” barrage fired by Tehran, Iran and Israel are said to have reached a ceasefire.

Israelis have accepted the truce proposal announced by US President Donald Trump overnight, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement released on Tuesday morning. The ceasefire had already begun, according to an earlier Iranian state television report.

Trump had stated in a social media post that the ceasefire was in progress a short while before the Israeli statement.

The ceasefire has already been in effect. Do not break it, please! he stated.

The agreement gives rise to hopes for a de-escalation of the conflict, which has recently risen dramatically as Iran’s nuclear facilities were bombed and Iran attacked a US base in Qatar, despite Netanyahu’s threat that Israel would immediately retaliate violently against any ceasefire violation.

Israel has accepted President Trump’s request for a bilateral ceasefire, he said, “in light of the achievement of the objectives of the operation and in full coordination with him.”

missile wave formation

Early on Tuesday, there appeared to be a fragile peace, with reports of hostilities ending following six rounds of Iranian missile launches.

Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, suggested Trump had set a time of 07.30 GMT deadline prior to the strikes.

He wrote on social media that “the powerful Armed Forces’ military operations to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last second.”

Emergency personnel and the Israeli military reported that there were several fatalities in the attacks. Israelis were given the option to leave missile shelters shortly after, and no further launches have been reported.

On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, people in Beersheba, Israel, evacuating a building next to an Iranian missile strike [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]

Tohid Asadi, a reporter from Tehran, claimed that Israeli strikes on the capital had stopped, calling the calm “promising about the prospect of the ceasefire.”

He noted that the situation is still fragile, and that Iran and Israel have both pledged to intervene if attacks against it resume.

“Now Gaza”

Israel’s opposition demanded that Netanyahu negotiate a truce to end the 20-month conflict with Hamas in Gaza following his announcement that his government had agreed to the ceasefire.

“And now Gaza,” It’s also time to finish it there. Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition, wrote on social media that “bring back the hostages, end the war.”

However, Iran’s continued danger was echoed by hardliners who criticized the agreement.

The “regime in Iran is a regime that must be defeated,” wrote Likud party member Dan Illouz.

Iran will find new ways to fight Israel, he said, “if not defeated.”

Iran was attacked by Israel on June 13 because it was close to developing nuclear weapons. Prior to the US strikes on Saturday, Trump made a similar claim.

The Iranian nuclear facilities were requested by the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA on Monday to confirm the country’s enriched uranium’s location and state.

Before the US attacks on the Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz facilities, there has been rumors that Iran may have moved its stock of the nuclear material.

Tehran’s nuclear industry is undergoing damage, according to Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, on Tuesday, according to a report from Reuters.