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Czechia plans to supplement the aid for Czech fruit growers proposed by the European Commission with an additional CZK 100 million from the state budget, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný announced on social media site X on Thursday.

Fruit harvests were massively damaged by severe frost this spring and lost revenues were estimated at over CZK 1.3 billion. According to estimates from June, the Czech fruit harvest will amount to 31,430 tonnes this year, down 77 percent compared to the five-year average.

The EC had previously proposed releasing EUR 15 million (around CZK 378 million) from reserves to help Czech fruit farmers who had suffered losses due to the frost. With the additional CZK 100 million from the Czech state, that will mean a total of almost half a billion Czech crowns at their disposal. Výborný noted that it would not be possible to compensate 100 percent of the damage, but he said the money would at least help fruit growers survive this difficult period.

In the first six months of this year, the Energy Regulatory Office (ERU) handed out fines amounting to CZK 12 million to energy suppliers and intermediaries for anti-consumer practices, the office said on Thursday. The most common problems had to do with suppliers not fulfilling their obligations regarding billing and complaints. In its more than 20 years of existence, this is the largest amount of money it has ever imposed in fines in a six-month period.

The Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Amir Ohana, came to Prague on Thursday to discuss the current situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip with some of Czechia's top politicians, including the prime minister. Meanwhile, several activist groups, including the Jewish Voice of Solidarity, protested against Ohana's visit, saying in an open letter that by receiving the speaker of the Israeli parliament, the Czech state was expressing support for Israel's war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who met with Mr Ohana in the late afternoon, wrote on social media site X afterwards that they talked about the need to remove Hamas as the ruling force in Gaza. Mr Fiala expressed the opinion that peace could only be achieved without the presence of terrorists. The government office added that the pair also discussed defence and industry cooperation between their two countries.

The Speaker of the lower house Markéta Pekarová Adamová said after her morning meeting with Ohana that it was important to keep reminding people of what Hamas did last October because it seems people are starting to forget the "barbaric and brutal" origins of the current Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Speaker of the upper house Miloš Vystrčil, who met with Mr Ohana in the Senate in the early afternoon, said afterwards that assurances were given that Israel is doing everything possible to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and that the country is complying with international law. When asked about some other countries' reservations regarding Israel's actions, Mr Vystrčil said they talked both about the fact that Czechia will continue supporting Israel and also, "as true friends", about what actions could potentially weaken that support. They also discussed Israel's plans in the Gaza Strip, but according to the house speaker, it is impossible to say how long it will take to find a way out of the conflict as the mood in the region is not conducive to finding a solution soon.

Ohana praised Czechia's unconditional support for Israel and said the country was standing "on the right side of history." He added that Czechia had shown what real friendship between countries looked like through its words and actions.

Czech President Petr Pavel held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on Wednesday. They discussed, among other things, the implementation of President Zelensky's peace plan, the current situation on the battlefield, the Czech munitions initiative, as well as the launch of accession negotiations on EU accession.

The meeting was also attended by other members of the Czech delegation, including Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, Defence Minister Jana Černochová and Chief of General Staff Karel Řehka.