Trump questioning why Iran has not 'capitulated' yet, Israel continues to strike Gaza

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The Israeli military is reported to be carrying out a raid in the al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Seven irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have been found dead on a beach east of Libya's capital, Tripoli, a Libyan Red Crescent worker told AFP on Sunday.

Among them were three children, the worker said, adding that there were likely other dead migrants who have not yet been found.

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Iran's top diplomat said Sunday that his country would strike back at US interests in the Middle East in the event of an attack, though he still saw a chance for a diplomatic resolution.

Speaking to US broadcaster CBS, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expected new talks on the details of a deal, "probably" Thursday, as fears loomed of renewed conflict after Washington carried out a major redeployment of military assets to the region.

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Several Iraq-based Kurdish-Iranian groups announced on Sunday a political coalition to seek the overthrow of Iran's Islamic republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.

Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region hosts camps and rear bases operated by several Kurdish-Iranian factions, which have repeatedly faced cross-border strikes from Iran.

Five exiled groups said they had formed a coalition to "assert our presence in Iran's current political situation, where the Islamic republic regime has lost all political legitimacy but unfortunately remains in power".

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Israeli helicopters are reported to be firing towards northern areas of Rafah in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media.

A landmine explosion killed nine people in Sudan on Sunday, including three children, as they were riding in an auto-rickshaw along a road in the frontline region of Kordofan, a medical source told AFP.

The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, has left Sudan strewn with mines and unexploded ordnance, though the explosive that caused Sunday's deaths could also have dated back to previous rebellions that have shaken South Kordofan state since 2011.

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that recent negotiations with the U.S. "yielded encouraging signals".

"We continue to closely monitor U.S. actions and have made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario", he said in a post on X.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel on Wednesday, his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu announced, saying the trip will help forge a new alliance to counter what he described as "radical" adversaries.

"On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will arrive here; he will deliver a speech in the Knesset", Netanyahu said Sunday at the opening of a cabinet meeting, referring to Israel's parliament.

The premier hailed growing ties between the two countries.

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Negotiators from Iran and the United States will meet again in Geneva on Thursday, the foreign minister of regional mediator Oman confirmed.

In a social media post from his own account, Badr Albusaidi said talks would resume "with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal".

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that he expected talks with senior US negotiators on Tehran's nuclear programme to resume soon, "probably" on Thursday in Geneva.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Araghchi said the elements of a deal were being worked on, and that he hoped they would be discussed this week.

"I believe that when we meet, probably this Thursday in Geneva again, we can work on those elements and prepare a good text and come to a fast deal," he said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Sunday that his country would respond to any US attack, but held out hope for a diplomatic solution, saying he expected another round of talks in Geneva later in the week.

Speaking in an interview on the US network CBS, the minister said there was a "good chance" that talks with US negotiators would head off renewed military strikes.

He insisted, however, that Iran had a right to continued uranium enrichment for civilian purposes -- and to strike US interests in the Middle East in response to any aggression.

"If the US attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves. If the US attacks us, that is the act of aggression. What we do in response is an act of self-defence," Araghchi said.

"It is justified, legitimate. So our missiles cannot hit the American soil. So obviously we have to do something else. We have to hit, you know, the American base in the region."

Iran agreed a secret 500 million euro ($589 million) arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The agreement, signed in Moscow in December, commits Russia to deliver 500 man-portable "Verba" launch units and 2,500 "9M336" missiles over three years, the FT said, citing leaked Russian documents seen by the FT and several people familiar with the deal.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. 

Israel’s four-man bobsled didn’t participate in the last day of the Milan Cortina Olympics because officials said they decided to pull the sled out of the competition after taking issue concerning the team's dishonesty over how they wanted to change its lineup and allow an alternate to participate.

The Israeli Olympic Committee said it did not allow pilot AJ Edelman's team to compete in the final run of the competition, saying the way it tried to go about changing push athletes between the first two heats on Saturday and the last one on Sunday did "not meet the standards expected of Olympic athletes".

Changing push athletes midway through a bobsled competition is only allowed under special circumstances, such as legitimate illness or injury.

Edelman said the team withdrew. Israeli officials said the team was suspended.

The Israel team's participation's has been controversial due to the war in Gaza.

A German minister walked out of the awards ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival after a prize-winning director accused Germany of complicity in the "genocide" committed by Israel in Gaza.

Social Democratic Environment Minister Carsten Schneider left the ceremony on Saturday evening because of "unacceptable" remarks, his ministry said.

Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, who picked up a prize for Best First Feature Award with his "Chronicles from the Siege", said in his speech that the German government "are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognise this truth."

Schneider was the only member of the German government attending the ceremony though he was not representing it, his ministry told AFP.

United States negotiators are ready to hold another round of talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva if they receive a detailed Iranian proposal for a nuclear deal in the next 48 hours, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a senior US official.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian Islamist movement was in the final phase of selecting a new leader, with two prominent figures competing for the position.

"The movement has completed its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.

He added that the race for the group's leadership is now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel on Wednesday, his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will arrive here; he will deliver a speech in the Knesset, and I'm sure you will all be there," Netanyahu said on Sunday at the opening of a cabinet meeting, referring to Israel's parliament.

Netanyahu hailed growing ties between the two countries.

"The fabric of relations has grown tighter, and (Modi) is coming here so that we can tighten it even more," he said, mentioning cooperation in the economic, diplomatic and security spheres.

Modi previously visited Israel as prime minister in 2017, before Netanyahu made a reciprocal visit to India the following year.

Israeli forces have detained over 100 Palestinians from the West Bank since the beginning of Ramadan, including women, children, and former prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said on Sunday.

The organisation said that arrests are accompanied by extensive field interrogations, often targeting all segments of Palestinian society.  

Documented violations accompanying detentions include assaults, raiding of homes, confiscation of goods, among others.

A Palestinian woman was killed on Sunday after being shot by Israeli forces in the city of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, medical sources told the Palestinian Wafa agency.

27-year-old Basma Aram Banat succumbed to critical gunshot wounds nearly two hours after she had been targeted by Israeli army gunfire in the area, the medical sources added.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israel's military onslaught on the Gaza Strip has risen to 72,072 fatalities since October 2023, medical sources told the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The number of those injured has also risen to 171,741.

Iran and the US have differing views over the scope and mechanism to lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that renewed talks were scheduled in early March and could possibly lead to an interim deal. 

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham is urging US President Donald Trump to go ahead with military strikes on Iran, and warning against advisers counselling restraint against the country, the US website Axios reported on Sunday.

"I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East given past entanglements. However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked," he told the outlet. 

The remarks come as two US aircraft careers and hundreds of warplanes are positioned in the region, and Trump has been presented with military options that include targeting Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his son, Mojtaba.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

In a Fox News interview with Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, Witkoff said the president was "curious" about Iran's position after he had warned them of severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal.

"I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," he said.

"Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven't they come to us and said, 'We profess we don't want a weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do'? And yet it's sort of hard to get them to that place."

Witkoff's comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days.

Trump said on Thursday that Iran had at most 15 days to make a deal on concerns starting with its nuclear programme.

Israeli forces detained eight Palestinians, including three children, during a predawn raid on Sunday in the West Bank city of Qalqilya and town of Azzun, Palestinian media reported.

According to local sources, Israeli forces stormed Qalqilya from its eastern entrance, raided and searched several homes, before detaining Aboud Nawfal, Amir Khader, Adham Oweinat, Amr Helal, and Mazen Abu Al-Sheikh.

Israeli forces then stormed Azzun, where they raided the home of Ahmad Rashad Salim, and detained his three children—Yahya, Yaqoub, and Rashad—after assaulting him before releasing him while keeping his children in detention.