Israel says ‘will not be deterred’ after Hamas issues hostage video

ISTANBUL: Kurdish militants who have waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkiye declared a ceasefire on Saturday in what could mark a significant boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, two days after their imprisoned leader called for the group to disarm.
The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, comes against the backdrop of fundamental changes in the region, including the reconfiguration of power in neighboring Syria after the toppling of President Bashar Assad, the weakening of the Hezbollah militant movement in Lebanon and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK has led to tens of thousands of deaths since it began in 1984. The ceasefire is the first sign of a breakthrough since peace talks between the PKK and Ankara broke down in the summer of 2015.
The PKK declaration was published by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group, on Saturday. It referred to the insurgents’ leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned by Turkiye since 1999.
“We declare a ceasefire effective today to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo’s call for peace and democratic society. None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it said, referring to Ocalan by his nickname.
A ceasefire follows a campaign of pressure on Kurds

On Thursday, a delegation of Kurdish politicians announced Ocalan’s call for the PKK to lay down its arms and disband after visiting him on his island prison.
In its statement, the PKK’s executive committee said Ocalan’s call indicated that a “new historical process has begun in Kurdistan and the Middle East.” Kurdistan refers to the parts of Turkiye, Iraq, Syria and Iran inhabited by Kurds.
While stating that it would “comply with and implement the requirements of the call from our own side,” the PKK emphasized that “democratic politics and legal grounds must also be suitable for success.”
Ocalan’s call came as the main pro-Kurdish political party in Turkiye has faced pressure, with several of its mayors being removed from office in recent months and replaced by government appointees.
The PKK also appealed for Ocalan to be released from Imrali prison, located in the Marmara Sea, to “personally direct and execute” a party congress that would lead to the militants laying down their arms.
The peace initiative between the Turkish state and the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies, was started in October by Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, a far-right politician who suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.
Erdogan said Ocalan’s message was a “new phase” in peace efforts in Turkiye.
“There is an opportunity to take a historic step toward tearing down the wall of terror that has stood between (Turkish and Kurdish peoples’) 1,000-year-old brotherhood,” Erdogan said on Friday.
The government’s first response to the ceasefire came from Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. “A new phase has been entered toward the goal of a terror-free Turkiye. … We hope that this opportunity will be seized, this effort will be concluded quickly and successfully,” he posted on X.
Erdogan’s allies eye Kurdish support for changing the constitution
Some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdogan’s government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his term ends.
Bahceli has openly called for a new constitution, saying it was essential for Turkiye’s future that Erdogan remain in power. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking parliamentary support from the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM.
“There will be a series of meetings next week, including state officials and politicians, and many things will become clearer and more concrete. We hope that everything will be arranged in the next three months,” said Sirri Sureyya Onder, one of the DEM members who visited Ocalan in prison on Thursday.
Ocalan, 75, wields significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment, during which the PKK has been led by top figures who have fled and found sanctuary in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
In Syria, Kurdish fighters — who have ties to the PKK — have been involved in intense fighting with Turkish-backed forces on the ground there.
The leader of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has said Ocalan’s call for a ceasefire does not apply to his group in Syria.
The Turkish government, however, says all Kurdish groups it claims are tied to the PKK — whether in Turkiye, Syria or Iraq — must disband.
In recent years, the PKK has been limited to isolated attacks inside Turkiye as the Turkish military, backed by armed drones, has pushed PKK insurgents increasingly across the mountainous border into Iraq.

PORT SUDAN: In the safety of Sudan’s eastern coast, residents preparing for Ramadan were struggling to afford basic holiday staples as the war raging elsewhere in the country has sent prices soaring.
The situation was much more dire in areas hit directly by the nearly two-year war, where famine, displacement, severe shortages and looting overshadowed the usual spirit of generosity and community of the holy Muslim month that began on Saturday.
At a market in Port Sudan, a relative safe haven in the east, prices are out of reach for many families.
Sugar, widely used in drinks and sweets to break the daily dawn-to-dusk fast, goes for 2,400 Sudanese pounds ($1) per kilo.
A kilo of veal costs 24,000 pounds, and mutton 28,000, according to consumers.
“We are struggling to afford Ramadan goods,” said resident Mahmoud Abd El Kader, protesting the “extremely expensive” prices.
Another resident, Hassan Osman, told AFP that “prices are too high, goods are too expensive, people cannot afford them.”
According to labor unions, the average monthly pay is around $60, but public workers in some Sudanese states have gone without pay during the war.
Those who did have had to grapple with the plummeting value of the local currency, down from about 600 pounds to the US dollar to 2,400 pounds on the parallel market, and inflation that hit 145 percent in January according to official figures.
In some parts of Sudan, there were pressing concerns not about the prices of food — but about whether it was available at all.
The fighting since April 2023 between the forces of rival generals, which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million, has also pushed entire areas of Sudan into hunger and cut off crucial supply routes.

NO FOOD, SUPPLIES
In parts of the vast western region of Darfur and Kordofan in the south — both focal points of the war between the army the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — food supply routes have been cut off, and starvation has set in.
Famine has gripped three displacement camps in North Darfur and some parts of the south, and is expected to spread to five more areas by May, according to a UN-backed assessment.
Some residents of Darfur have resorted to eating peanut shells and tree leaves to survive.
And with aid agencies struggling to reach these areas, hunger is spreading rapidly.
The UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday it was forced to suspend operations in and around one famine-hit camp in North Darfur because of escalating violence.
“It is very difficult here,” said Omar Manago, a humanitarian worker in North Darfur.
“There is a severe shortage of drinking water and food. Many families have not eaten a proper meal in months,” he added.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned on Thursday that without an immediate surge in aid, hundreds of thousands of people could die.
“Sudan is... on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine,” Turk told the UN Human Rights Council.
Manago said that most markets in North Darfur are now gone.
“Everything has been burned down by the” paramilitary fighters, he said.
Other conflict-hit areas, where food stocks are running dangerously low, have also seen widespread looting.
In the capital Khartoum, where fighting between the army and the RSF has intensified in recent weeks, volunteers were distributing any aid they could find, but the needs far outweigh the meagre supply.
Some cherished Ramadan traditions have perished.
“Before the war, volunteers used to line the streets, handing out iftar meals to those who could not make it home in time,” said Sabrine Zerouk, 30, from Omdurman on the outskirts of the capital.
“That is no longer happening like before,” she told AFP.
In previous years, Sudanese families would prepare elaborate iftar meals the break the daily Ramadan fast, sharing food with neighbors and those in need.
“What I miss the most is breaking fast with family and friends,” said Mohamed Moussa, a 30-year-old doctor at one of the last functioning hospitals in Omdurman.
“And the Ramadan decorations, too — these are among the things we’ve lost.”