Quetta, Aug 5: The Baloch National Movement (BNM) alleged that as many as nine civilians have been killed and dozens forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces in Balochistan’s Nushki district over the past few days, as the region has remained under military siege for several months.

Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating situation in Nushki, the BNM said, “Pakistan Army has stripped civilians of their freedom of movement, effectively turning the entire region into an ‘open-air prison’. Nushki is among the districts that have been subjected to an intense military blockade for months. As a result, daily life has been severely disrupted, while the transportation system has come to a near standstill.”

“During the past week alone, the Pakistan Army has killed at least nine people and forcibly disappeared dozens of others,” it added.

The BNM said that the blockade has also resulted in acute shortages of medicines and essential food supplies, with children, the elderly, and the sick bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis.

The group further said that the Pakistani Army, taking advantage of the curfew, broke into shops in the local market, looted businesses, and damaged civilian property.

“Passenger and cargo vehicles have been barred from entering or leaving the region, while even ambulances transporting critically ill patients to hospitals have been prevented from passing,” it added.

According to BNM, “these measures constitute one of the harshest forms of collective punishment imposed by the Pakistani state in Balochistan.”

Asserting that the Pakistan Army is facing defeat in its confrontation with the “Baloch movement”, the group said, “The growing momentum of the Baloch struggle for independence has left the Pakistan Army demoralised and psychologically weakened. In an attempt to restore its declining morale, the Pakistan Army has resorted to false propaganda, portraying attacks on unarmed civilians as victories against the Baloch movement.”

The BNM stressed that the people of Balochistan must stand firm and demonstrate resilience amid the ongoing atrocities by Pakistani forces.

“Freedom is the destiny of the Baloch nation, and the Pakistan Army is approaching a decisive and humiliating defeat on the Balochistan front,” it noted.

Last week, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) criticised Pakistani authorities for the military siege and curfew in Nushki, terming it a “continuation of the state’s policy of collectively punishing the Baloch people”.

It urged the international community to take notice of the situation in Balochistan, especially Nushki, and play an effective role in ending the state’s unchecked power and grave human rights violations.

Jerusalem, Aug 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country will not withdraw its forces from their current positions in Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed.

“We are instructing IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, our territory and our citizens,” Netanyahu said in a video released on social media.

Regarding the deal US President Donald Trump said Thursday the so-called “Board of Peace” had reached for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, Netanyahu said that the White House “sent us a draft,” but “we did not agree to it.”

“It is not our draft. We sent our comments,” he said.

A day after Trump’s announcement of the deal, Hamas said it had agreed to the “latest version of the roadmap” for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement after “fierce” negotiations, but conditioned weaponry arrangements on a complete halt to “aggression,” Israeli withdrawal from the enclave, and progress on reconstruction, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the weekend, Israeli strikes reportedly killed dozens of people, including children and other civilians, across Gaza, prompting Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye, mediators in the Gaza ceasefire talks, to issue a joint condemnation on Monday.

Earlier, Hamas agreed to relinquish both its civilian and military role in governing Gaza under a new internationally backed roadmap that would hand control of the territory to a transitional Palestinian administration as part of a phased peace process, according to senior administration officials.

The proposal, announced by Trump as part of his Gaza peace initiative, goes beyond a ceasefire by outlining a detailed plan to dismantle Hamas’s governing structure. Instead a National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, an independent Palestinian body would oversee both civilian administration and internal security during a transitional period.

Senior administration officials said the roadmap represents the first time Hamas has agreed to accept an international framework that requires it to surrender its governing role while allowing a new Palestinian authority to assume responsibility for administering Gaza.

The document states that all civilian and security responsibilities would be transferred to the National Committee, which would become the sole authority responsible for running public institutions, maintaining essential services and enforcing law and order across the Gaza Strip. It also calls for the committee to conduct a comprehensive audit of Gaza’s financial and administrative affairs before beginning reconstruction.

New York, Aug 4: Iran is in talks with Oman to set up a “single two-way route” through the Strait of Hormuz to allow ships through the strategic waterway, according to Tehran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei.

That arrangement would replace “the multiple separate lanes” that shipping used in the strait, he said at a news briefing in Tehran on Monday, according to the news agency IRNA.

The negotiations between the two countries on opposite sides of the strait “have focused on replacing separate northern and southern routes with a single intermediate corridor designed to accommodate the interests and security concerns of both coastal states”, IRNA said, paraphrasing the spokesperson.

However, Oman’s foreign ministry has been silent on the negotiations as of early Tuesday, neither publicly denying nor confirming they were afoot.

If they do agree on an arrangement for ships to resume sailing through the strait, it would be a boon for countries — and the world economy — that are strangled by the block on energy shipping.

But it would also sideline the US because, according to Tasnim news wire, Baqaei said no other country was involved in the talks.

US President Donald Trump has said that talks were taking place with Iran on reopening the Strait, but Baqaei denied it.

The strait has been closed since the February Israel-US attack on Iran, except for occasional spurts in ship traffic.

Tehran has mined the strait and also attacked ships trying to pass through, while the US has blockaded Iranian ports and fired on ships defying it.

IRNA said, “The proposed interim corridor would remain in use until Iran and Oman agree on a permanent replacement for the existing international Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS)”.

The UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted in 1968 the TSS proposed by Iran and Oman.

“It designates shipping lanes for maritime traffic in order to reduce collisions and improve safety”, according to the IMO.

The TSS designates two-mile wide lanes in each direction with a two-mile separation strip between them.

The IMO has now advised ships to avoid the TSS “due to the reported presence of mines”.

Media reports quoting unnamed US and Iranian officials said that under the Muscat-Tehran plan the Strait would operate like a highway with ships travelling on lanes on the right-hand side.

Those going to the Gulf countries would follow a route near the Iranians side, while those exiting would go on the Oman side, according to the reports.

However, Baqaei said the southern route through Omani waters that Washington tried to operate “contradicted” the June Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran “and created environmental and national security concerns”.

The US Navy escorted some ships along the Omani side, but the ships came under attack, and it was stopped.

The media reports said that under the arrangement, Iran could charge a service fee from ships going through its side without calling it a toll that would run afoul of international law, and which Trump has vehemently opposed.

From reports on his briefing, Baqaei appeared to have sidestepped a question on fees.