Ukraine has endured its most intense aerial onslaught since the start of the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, with 728 drones and 13 missiles launched in several coordinated waves across major cities.

Zelensky denounced the “telling attack”, adding: “It comes precisely at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace, to establish a ceasefire, and yet only Russia continues to rebuff them all.”

The barrage happened shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that military assistance to Ukraine would resume reversing a previously paused shipment that, according to some reports, he had not initially been briefed on.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Trump showed increasing dissatisfaction with Russia’s president.

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters. “He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

“He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump said.

Responding to the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed the tone: “Trump’s way of talking is generally quite harsh, the phrases he uses.”

Despite continued communication between both presidents, their talks have yet to bring any measurable progress toward halting the war despite Trump’s previous claim that he could end the fighting within 24 hours.

In a separate statement last week, Trump described Putin’s mindset as intractable.

“He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it’s no good,” Trump said of Putin.

His criticism came as the administration temporarily halted aid to Kyiv allegedly at the direction of the Defense Secretary and another senior Pentagon official.

When pressed by reporters about who had issued the order, Trump seated beside the Defense Secretary responded: “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

Now that the suspension has been lifted, sources say that up to 10 Patriot air defense systems might soon be delivered to Ukraine.

Kyiv depends heavily on these systems to protect against Russia’s increasingly frequent and large-scale missile and drone strikes.

While regions in eastern Ukraine and the capital remain regular targets, western areas of the country have also faced growing assaults.

Lutsk, located just 90 kilometers from the Polish border and serving as a vital route for foreign aid and military supplies, bore the brunt of the most recent attack overnight into Tuesday.

Explosions were also recorded in Rivne and Lviv, two cities further west that had previously seen less frequent bombardment.

Earlier in the year, Ukraine and Russia engaged in two separate attempts at ceasefire negotiations. Since then, no further diplomatic meetings have taken place—and neither side currently seems hopeful that a negotiated settlement is within reach. The war continues, having begun with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Russian military forces continue pressing forward in Ukraine’s east as part of a sustained summer campaign.

“We are moving forward,” said Peskov on Wednesday. “Each new day the Ukrainians have to accept the new realities.”

Israel’s defence minister has reportedly directed the military to draw up a strategy for relocating all Palestinians in Gaza into a designated zone in the southern region, specifically Rafah.

According to statements shared with reporters, Israel Katz said the plan involves setting up a “humanitarian city” within the devastated remains of Rafah, beginning with accommodations for approximately 600,000 individuals with the longer-term goal of housing the full population of over 2 million.

He explained that entry into the site would follow a strict vetting process to prevent the infiltration of Hamas members, and once inside, individuals would be restricted from leaving.

Construction of this proposed encampment, he noted, could begin within a proposed 60-day truce window, provided an agreement is reached between Israel and Hamas.

An Israeli lawyer specializing in human rights law strongly criticized the idea, calling it an “operational plan for a crime against humanity”.

“It is all about population transfer to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip in preparation for deportation outside the strip,” Michael Sfard told the Guardian newspaper.

The United Nations, in prior assessments, has made it clear that removing or relocating civilians from an occupied territory without lawful grounds is forbidden under global humanitarian laws and may amount to “ethnic cleansing”.

As of now, neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority has offered any public reaction to the proposal.

Later in the day, during discussions at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed in on US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Gaza’s future—specifically the idea of permanent resettlement elsewhere, under American supervision.

Netanyahu said: “I think President Trump has a brilliant vision. It’s called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave…

“We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say – that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future.”

Trump said: “We’ve had great co-operation from… surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So, something good will happen.”

Arab governments previously responded to Trump’s plan with a counterproposal: a $53 billion Egyptian-led initiative to rebuild Gaza without removing its inhabitants. They made clear their strong objection to any plan that involves removing Palestinians, labelling such efforts “a gross violation of international law, a crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing.”

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority gave their support to the Egyptian framework, but Israeli and American officials claimed it did not reflect the current situation on the ground in Gaza.

Among the greatest fears voiced by Palestinians is the repetition of the Nakba meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic when hundreds of thousands were uprooted from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the founding of the Israeli state.

Many of those expelled during the Nakba resettled in Gaza, and their descendants now comprise the majority of the population there. According to UN records, hundreds of thousands more registered refugees live in the West Bank, and millions more are located in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Israel’s ongoing military operations began in response to the massive October 7, 2023, assault launched by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 others.

Since then, over 57,500 people have died in Gaza, based on figures from the health authorities operating under Hamas control.

The humanitarian toll has been devastating. Most residents have been displaced multiple times, and a large majority of homes are believed to be destroyed or severely damaged. Basic services including healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and electricity have largely collapsed. Food, medical supplies, fuel, and shelter remain critically scarce.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in Indonesia has erupted once again, launching a towering ash cloud roughly 18 kilometers (11 miles) high into the atmosphere and prompting renewed evacuations as locals scrambled for safety.

Since early Monday, the volcano on Flores Island began releasing fresh waves of ash and molten rock. Emergency officials confirmed that no injuries have been reported so far. The volcano has remained at its highest risk classification since a major series of eruptions occurred three weeks earlier.

Flight operations in the region were severely impacted, with no fewer than 24 flights linked to Bali being called off on Monday, though a few resumed on Tuesday.

At 11:05 local time (03:05 GMT) Monday, the volcano released its most powerful cloud of hot gases and ash since last November, according to geology agency head Muhammad Wafid.

“An eruption of that size certainly carries a higher potential for danger, including its impact on aviation,” Wafid told The Associated Press.

The explosion, accompanied by a loud rumble, forced officials to expand the danger zone to seven kilometers from the crater. They also advised residents of the possibility of lahar — fast-moving volcanic mudflows — if downpours occur.

The mountain erupted once more at 19:30 on Monday, shooting ash and lava about 13 kilometers skyward. A third eruption occurred early Tuesday at 05:53, although with diminished force.

Footage recorded overnight displayed fiery lava surging from the peaks as locals boarded vehicles to leave the area in haste.

Local disaster officials say over 4,000 individuals have already been relocated to safer zones.

Meanwhile, those who remain behind are struggling with dwindling access to drinking water, food supplies, and protective face masks, according to nearby community leaders.

“As the eruption continues, with several secondary explosions and ash clouds drifting westward and northward, the affected communities who have not been relocated… require focused emergency response efforts,” say Paulus Sony Sang Tukan, who leads the Pululera village, about 8km from Lewotobi Laki-laki.

“Water is still available, but there’s concern about its cleanliness and whether it has been contaminated, since our entire area was blanketed in thick volcanic ash during yesterday’s [eruptions],” he said.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a seismic hotspot known for frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes due to the movement of tectonic plates.

Lewotobi Laki-laki has erupted on several occasions in recent months, though no injuries have been linked to its activity this year.

Last November, however, an eruption from a different Indonesian volcano led to at least 10 deaths and forced large-scale evacuations.