Hamas says it will release US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander and confirms direct talks with the US, while Israel insists it has not agreed to any ceasefire – signaling a possible rift with Washington, analysts say.
Israel’s blockade threatens the entire population of the Gaza Strip with famine and faces 500,000 with starvation, a global hunger monitor has warned.
A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative, released on Monday, said the Gaza Strip “is still confronted with a critical risk of famine” after over a year and a half of devastating war, with the vast majority of its approximately 2.1 million people at severe risk.
Some 70 days after the Israeli military halted the entry of food, water, medicine and all other life-saving supplies into Gaza, the report said “goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks”.
“The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people (one in five) facing starvation,” it said. Approximately 93 percent of Gaza’s population is experiencing acute food shortages, it added.
Conditions have significantly worsened since the previous IPC report, released in October, with a higher percentage of the population facing more severe levels of food insecurity.
The entire population is expected to face “crisis” or worse levels of acute food insecurity if the Israeli siege persists. One in five is thought likely to face starvation between May and September.
Authorities in the bombarded territory said last week that at least 57 people had starved to death as a result of Israel’s blockade.
Widespread acute malnutrition is anticipated, the analysis adds, especially in mostly destroyed northern Gaza and in Rafah in the southernmost part of the Strip.
🔴 #GazaStrip
The Gaza Strip—approximately 2.1 million people—continues facing a critical risk of Famine following 19 months of conflict, mass displacement, and humanitarian aid blockade.
📉 Extreme hunger is deepening every day!
⚠️ 1 in every 5 people faces starvation between… pic.twitter.com/z7uN9ifnpC
A continued blockade “would likely result in further mass displacement within and across governorates”, the report said.
“The vast majority of people in the Gaza Strip would not have access to food, water, shelter, and medicine. This would exacerbate civil unrest and competition over remaining scarce resources, further eroding whatever limited community coping and support mechanisms remain.”
Food prices in Gaza are soaring excessively. The IPC report points to a 3,000 percent increase in the price of wheat flour since February in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south.
The analysis calls for “urgent action” to end the hostilities, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and protect civilians and aid workers who have been killed by the Israeli army in record numbers.
After 14 years playing Test matches, Virat Kohli is retiring from the national team as one of the immortals of Indian cricket.
“Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life,” Kohli wrote on Monday in his Test retirement social media post.
“There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no-one sees but that stay with you forever,” he added.
Here is all to know about the retirement of India’s hugely impactful batter and captain:
Kohli’s declining form in the five-day format of cricket may have prompted his decision to call it a day.
After averaging close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, he could muster a batting average of just 32.56 over the past 24 months.
Kohli’s last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match, and with it the series 3-1, to Australia.
Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.
Kohli has previously cited mental fatigue and injuries as other reasons to consider retirement.
“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy – but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for,” Kohli said.
Kohli used #269 in his Instagram post while announcing his retirement on Monday.
The number denotes Kohli as the 269th player who represented India in Test cricket.
Kohli will continue to play for the Indian cricket team in One-Day International (ODI) matches, but with Test match commitments removed from his schedule, he will now have more time to pursue other interests outside of the game.
The 36-year-old has an expanding business empire in India. He is an active investor in large-scale fitness, hospitality and clothing companies such as Chisel fitness centre, Rage Coffee, sportswear brand One8, WROGN menswear brand and Blue Tribe, to name just a few.
He is also a global brand ambassador for multiple international companies, including Puma, Audi and Vivo.
Unlike many top cricketers, Kohli has not indicated that he will pursue a cricket commentary career, but he has repeatedly talked about giving back to the game in some form, with coaching a possible option in the future.
In December 2024, it was widely reported that Kohli was planning to leave India and settle in London with his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, and their two children, daughter Vamika and son Akaay, according to his childhood cricket coach Rajkumar Yadav, who hinted at the impending move in an interview with Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran.
It has been reported that Kohli’s net worth is about 96 million pounds ($126m) from salaries, businesses and endorsement deals.
Married to a Bollywood star, Kohli has 272 million followers on Instagram and 67.8 million on X – making him one of the most followed sports stars on the planet.
His popularity has been a key factor behind cricket’s return to the Olympics at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, the organisers acknowledged last year.
Greg Chappell, former Australia captain:
“Kohli redefined expectations, challenged conventions, and symbolised the self-assured, unapologetic India of the 21st century,” Chappell said in a piece on ESPN CricInfo.
“His departure leaves not only a statistical void but a seismic shift in energy – for there has never been another quite like him.
“No Indian captain had ever marshalled a team to such commanding overseas dominance. And no batter since Tendulkar had so unequivocally ruled in every continent.”
Jasprit Bumrah, India bowler:
“From making my Test debut under your captaincy to reaching new heights together for our country, your passion and energy will be missed but the legacy you leave behind remains unmatched.”
Sanath Jayasuriya, former Sri Lanka captain:
“While the world celebrates your cricketing brilliance and records, what I admire most is your unwavering commitment to fitness and the sacrifices you’ve made behind the scenes.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s opening batsman:
Poland has summoned the Russian ambassador and shuttered the country’s consulate in Krakow as it accuses Moscow of “sabotage”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw announced the action on Monday as it reported that an investigation had found that Russian intelligence services had orchestrated a massive fire at a shopping centre in capital Warsaw in May 2024.
“Due to evidence that the Russian special services committed a reprehensible act of sabotage against the shopping centre on Marywilska Street, I have decided to withdraw my consent to the operation of the Consulate of the Russian Federation in Krakow,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X on Monday.
The announcement followed a revelation by Prime Minister Donald Tusk the previous day that a yearlong investigation had revealed Moscow was behind the blaze, which gutted the shopping centre’s 1,400 retail units.
“We already know for sure that the large fire on Marywilska was the result of arson ordered by Russian services. The actions were coordinated by a person staying in Russia. Some of the perpetrators are already in custody, the rest have been identified and are being sought,” Tusk said on X on Sunday.
Poland has repeatedly said its role as a hub for aid being sent to Ukraine has made it a target of Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and misinformation.
Several other Western nations have made similar accusations since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow has persistently denied such allegations, calling them evidence of anti-Russian sentiment. It was quick to insist that it had no involvement in the arson attack and slammed the claim.
“Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of its citizens,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to the state news agency RIA.
She added that Russia would soon deliver an “adequate response”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the allegation of Russian involvement in the fire was totally groundless, and accused Warsaw of Russophobia.
The Polish announcement marks a new low in already tense relations between Warsaw and Moscow.
In October, Poland shuttered the Russian consulate in Poznan due to suspicion of sabotage efforts. Moscow closed the Polish consulate in St Petersburg in response.
Poland’s neighbours, also strong supporters of Ukraine, have made similar accusations of clandestine attacks orchestrated by Russian intelligence services.
Lithuanian prosecutors in March accused Russia of orchestrating an arson attack on an IKEA store in Vilnius, where a fire broke out three days before the blaze in Poland.
Western governments and intelligence agencies in Europe have pointed to Moscow as the source of a series of fires and other acts of sabotage aimed at destabilising allies of Ukraine.
Former British Home Secretary Charles Clarke has expressed little faith that United States President Donald Trump’s “combination of bullying and flattering” will produce a lasting ceasefire in Ukraine.
Trump, on April 17, presented Russia and Ukraine with a “final” ceasefire offer, which forces Kyiv to legally cede Crimea to Moscow, without offering it security guarantees.
“My picture from the outset, which is essentially pessimistic, is that Trump wanted his big moment and in the same way as with North Korea, he thought he could [coax Russia] into a situation,” said Clarke.
Trump had similarly tried to force North Korea into nuclear disarmament in 2019.
“I don’t myself see how [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy or Ukraine as a whole could ever concede de jure control of Crimea to Russia. They could concede de facto control, but Trump didn’t seem to take that distinction,” Clarke said.
“He’s shaken things up, but I think he’s been obviously far too credulous to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and to Russia in the whole process.”
Clarke spoke to Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the 16th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe, hosted recently by Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics, which Clarke co-directs with Brendan Simms, a professor of European geopolitics.
The prospect of a possible ceasefire is rarely out of the headlines.
Over the weekend, Putin said Russia would engage in direct talks with Ukraine “without preconditions” – a rare offer throughout the conflict – after European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv to call for a 30-day truce.
Ukraine and Europe have presented a ceasefire document, which, unlike Trump’s plan, makes no territorial concessions to Russia three years after it invaded Ukraine. The question is whether they are willing and able to back it with continued military effort if Russia and the US reject it.
“The scenario of a complete American withdrawal may be overly bleak right now, but it’s definitely a possibility,” said Simms.
Should Europe then offer Ukraine an independent security guarantee?
“I do think we should do that, but I think we should only do it if we are genuinely committed to going the full mile with Ukraine,” said Simms.
“I could quite easily see, for instance, a discourse in a country like Germany, which would say something like, ‘Well, it’s awful what’s happening in Ukraine, Trump is awful, [but] no we’re not going to do anything to help Ukraine, and we are going to use Trump as an excuse to walk away from supporting Ukraine’,” Simms said. “That is very much a discourse you’re beginning to hear in German public opinion.”
Both Clarke and Simms believed the Russian army’s ability to win an uncontestable military victory in Ukraine has been overestimated thanks to narratives touted by the Kremlin.
“There’s been far too much belief that the Russians have got an effective military and economic machine,” said Clarke, citing the Russian failure to take Kyiv in 2022 and losing control of the Black Sea to an adversary without a navy.
Russia’s territorial gains in Ukraine have slowed down dramatically, two separate analyses found last month.
The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom estimated that Russian forces seized 143sq km (55sq miles) of Ukrainian land in March, compared with 196sq km (75sq miles) in February and 326sq km (125sq miles) in January.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, DC-based think tank, spotted the same trend, estimating Russian gains of 203sq km (78sq miles) in March, 354sq km (136sq miles) in February and 427sq km (165sq miles) in January.
This pattern of diminishing returns had started in 2024, a year when Russia wrested away just 4,168sq km (1,610sq miles) of fields and abandoned villages – equivalent to 0.69 percent of Ukraine, the ISW determined in January.
Those meagre gains came at the cost of 430,790 soldiers, the equivalent of 36 Russian motorised rifle divisions, outnumbering Russia’s losses in 2022 and 2023 combined, said Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.
As Russia prepared to celebrate the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II, its losses in Ukraine were approaching the one million mark, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said.
Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify casualty tolls.
“They do have weight of numbers on their side, but weight of numbers only counts if you’ve got willing fighters,” said Clarke. “And there’s a great deal of evidence that there’s real problems for the Russian leadership in terms of the attitude of Russian troops and Russian positions.”
While Europe could ultimately step up defence industrial capacity, Clarke cautioned that Europe would nonetheless struggle to replace US intelligence, political coherence and command and control.
These issues have recently come to the fore, as Europe grappled with the possibility of fielding a peacekeeping ground force in Ukraine.
Simms argued in favour of creating it, but against deploying it in Ukraine as a peacekeeping force.
One reason is that European militaries are not trained for the drone warfare now being developed in Ukraine and will not be effective, he said.
“The other consideration is that the Ukrainian army is our most effective ally. If we deploy forces as part of a peace deal, which will end the war in Ukraine by definition and take the Ukrainians out of the conflict, we will end up in a situation where our mobile force, our only deployable force, the preponderance of it will be fixed in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin will no longer be fixed in Ukraine. He can pivot to face the Baltic states in the high north, and the Ukrainians will no longer be in the field. So that will be almost like … a self-inflicted wound.”
A European mobile force should keep its powder dry for deployment wherever Putin strikes next, said Simms, most likely in the Baltic states, while Europe helps Ukraine in long-range fires – drones and missiles – and provides air cover.
Clarke said it is “absolutely possible” that Europe and Kyiv can win the war without Washington’s support, but warned of a “high risk strategy” should Ukraine “hold on so long that Russia would fall over”.
Europe and Ukraine could win if Europe overcame its fear of nuclear blackmail, said Simms.
Putin threatened the use of nuclear weapons from the outset, he said, but did not use them when Ukraine claimed back 20,000sq km (7,720sq miles) of its territory in September 2022, nor when Ukraine counter-invaded Russia in August 2024.
Yet fear of nuclear retaliation prevented Germany from giving Ukraine its 500km-range (310-mile) Taurus missile, which carries a 450kg warhead and impacts at high speed, devastating its targets.
“It’s not at all clear that if a power station in Moscow were destroyed by a Taurus, that [Putin] would use nuclear weapons. In fact, I think it is unlikely,” said Simms.
The US and China have agreed to a 90-day pause on punitive trade tariffs, with both sides also set to reduce proposed levies by 115 percentage points, following trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng stressed the importance of resolving issues through equal and respectful dialogue.