GCC countries have issued a strong condemnation of Iran for its attack on Gulf countries since 28th February.  "Iranian attacks have also led to a sharp loss of confidence by the Council states in Iran, which requires Iran to take the initiative to make serious efforts to rebuild trust", they said. This was stated by the Secretary General of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), that bring together the six Gulf monarchies - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE),  in a statement on Tuesday 28 April, at the end of a summit of the leaders of the member states held in Saudi Arabia. In his statement, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said that the leaders discussed the current regional situation, particularly in relation to the escalation in the region, and the blatant Iranian attacks against the Council countries and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as well as ways to establish a diplomatic path that ends the crisis and paves the way for reaching agreements and understandings that address the sources of concern of the Council states and enhance security and stability in the long term. Click image to read the full statement.

Pakistan has bombed a university in Afghanistan, amid an outbreak of new violence between the two neighbours. Pakistan and Afghanistan have accused one another of launching cross-border attacks. Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Monday that four people were killed in attacks in the eastern Kunar province. Pakistani officials reported at least three civilians were injured by gunfire in South Waziristan. The resumption of violence threatens fragile peace talks between the neighbours. The two countries agreed on a fragile ceasefire in March that halted weeks of violence. The Taliban’s Deputy ⁠Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat ⁠said that the Pakistani military had launched mortar ⁠and rocket attacks that wounded 45 people. He said that students, women, and children were among those injured as homes and the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani ⁠University in Kunar province’s capital Asadabad came under fire.  A spokesman for Pakistan’s border forces described the incident in South Waziristan as the most serious clash since the ceasefire was declared. The strikes marked the first major attack since the pair had agreed to halt the violence at peace talks last month, mediated by China. (click image to read full report).

The news that six members of UNIFIL – the UN Peacekeeping force in Lebanon – have been killed in the last few weeks, has been overshadowed by the broader desperation of the situation in the Middle East. In March Israel launched an orgy of violence in Lebanon, killing thousands of people, and forcing the displacement of more than a million Lebanese.  Yet, the killing of the six UNIFIL members is a significant indicator of the gravity of the situation facing UN peacekeepers in numerous trouble-spots around the globe. Israel and Hizballah are blamed for the killing of the six UNIFIL soldiers – four Indonesian and two French – in separate incidents. Their death unfortunately is symbolic of a dangerous trend: UN peacekeepers are increasingly specifically targeted. They are in the eyes of belligerents a legitimate target. They are not. Killing peacekeepers is a violation of international humanitarian law. The perpetrators of this crime must be pursued. The UN had 11 peacekeeping operations with 61,197 peacekeepers in 2025. This number is set to decrease. It is financial constraints that are a more existential threat to UN peacekeeping operations. The impact of the UN’s liquidity crisis on UN peacekeeping operations is a major concern. The UN is expected to run out of cash in July if member states, and particularly the US, do not pay their dues. The Secretary-General has warned that the organisation faces a major risk of “imminent financial collapse”, a situation that would have catastrophic implications for its peacekeeping missions. The crisis in UN peacekeeping, and the broader UN financial crisis, reflects a deeper problem in the UN, and particularly in the leadership of the UN Security Council, and  its legitimacy. it is financial constraints that are a more existential threat to UN peacekeeping operations. The impact of the UN’s liquidity crisis on UN peacekeeping operations is a major concern. The UN is expected to run out of cash in July if member states, and particularly the US, do not pay their dues. The Secretary-General has warned that the organisation faces a major risk of “imminent financial collapse”, a situation that would have catastrophic implications for its peacekeeping missions. The crisis in UN peacekeeping, and the broader UN financial crisis, reflects a deeper problem in the UN, and particularly in the leadership of the UN Security Council, and  its legitimacy. (click the image to read the full Monday Commentary)