Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20, rescue efforts underway

A small aircraft crashed on Wednesday morning in South Sudan's Unity State, killing 20 people, with rescue work and investigation underway.

The aircraft, heading for the South Sudanese capital Juba, crashed shortly after taking off near an oil field. It was chartered by the Greater Pioneer Operating Company and operated by Light Air Services Aviation Company.

A total of 21 people were on board. Among the 20 killed were South Sudanese, two Chinese nationals and one Indian.

The lone survivor, whose nationality has yet to be determined, is in critical condition, Unity State Minister of Information and Communication Gatwech Bipal said.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has ordered an investigation into the crash, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20, rescue efforts underway

Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20, rescue efforts underway

Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20, rescue efforts underway

Plane crash in South Sudan kills 20, rescue efforts underway

Israel's influence on the Trump administration outsizes the already significant sway it held over previous presidencies, contributing to miscalculations that ultimately led to strikes on Iran and putting the temporary ceasefire at risk, said a U.S. expert.

After about 40 days of deadly clashes, the United States and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, with Israel supporting the truce. However, the truce remains deeply fragile, especially as Israel continues to attack Lebanon, which Iran has called a violation of the ceasefire and threatened a strong response if it continues.

However, the power of the Israel lobby in the United States, especially over the Trump Administration, may weaken its ability to rein in Israeli military action, said Anton Fedyashin, an associate professor at American University.

"The Trump administration has no one but itself to blame. Although it is acting in a very important context, which is the general, enormous influence of the Israeli government over all American administrations, except that under Trump, this influence of course is greater than ever before. Israel has a very powerful lobby in the United States. This is absolutely no secret; not only articles, but very good books have been written about this," he said in an interview with China Global Television Network.

Fedyashin said this influence, combined with poor intelligence, contributed to what he described as a misjudgment that Iran's government would easily fall.

"The problem is that while previous presidents have managed to somehow resist that lobby, Donald Trump seems to have completely fallen for Benjamin Netanyahu's case to convince him that the attack on Iran will be lightning fast, will achieve results very quickly. And this becomes a very important question about the quality of Mossad information, because along with Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House meeting, which happened on February 11, at least according to New York Times, was the head of the Israeli Mossad, and both Netanyahu and the head of Mossad were convincing Trump that Iran's government is on its last legs, that all it needs is a slight push, and that was a catastrophic misjudgment," he said.

US influence over Israel limited as attacks on Lebanon threaten to shatter ceasefire: expert