Over 1 Million May Flee Sudan Conflict, UN Refugee Agency Sayshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4404971-over-1-million-may-flee-sudan-conflict-un-refugee-agency-says
Over 1 Million May Flee Sudan Conflict, UN Refugee Agency Says
People wait for a new shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in the city of Gadaref, the capital of Sudan's eastern state of Gadaref, on June 26, 2023. (AFP)
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Over 1 Million May Flee Sudan Conflict, UN Refugee Agency Says
People wait for a new shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in the city of Gadaref, the capital of Sudan's eastern state of Gadaref, on June 26, 2023. (AFP)
The UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday that an earlier projection that conflict in Sudan would prompt 1 million people to flee across its borders is likely to be surpassed.
So far, the conflict between warring military factions that began in mid-April has caused nearly 600,000 people to escape into neighboring countries including Egypt, Chad, South Sudan and Central African Republic.
"Unfortunately, looking at the trends, looking at the situation in Darfur, we're likely to go beyond 1 million," Raouf Mazou, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, said in response to a question about its estimate in April for the coming six months.
He was referring to ethnically motivated attacks and clashes in the Darfur region, which suffered a major conflict in the early 2000s killing some 300,000 people.
He did not give details on how far above 1 million he expected refugee numbers fleeing abroad to reach. The United Nations estimates more than 2.5 million people have been uprooted since April, most within Sudan.
The latest wave of violence in Darfur has been driven by militias of nomadic tribes along with members of the Rapid Support Forces, a military faction engaged in a power struggle with Sudan's army in the capital, Khartoum, witnesses and activists said.
Witnesses told Reuters this month an increasing number of Sudanese civilians fleeing El Geneina, a city in Darfur hit by repeated attacks, have been killed or shot at as they tried to escape by foot to Chad.
"Lots of women and children are now arriving with injuries. It's very concerning," Mazou said.
He described access to refugees in Chad as "extraordinarily difficult" because the start of the rainy season was making it harder to reach refugees and move them away from the border into safer camps.
The UNHCR has already had to revise its forecast for people fleeing into Chad from Sudan to 245,000 from 100,000 people, he said.
"There's been less and less people wanting to stay at the border as the situation deteriorates in Darfur," he said.
Lebanese President Discusses Maintaining Ceasefire with US Vice President Vancehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5287022-lebanese-president-discusses-maintaining-ceasefire-us-vice-president-vance
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel, 21 June 2026. (EPA)
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Lebanese President Discusses Maintaining Ceasefire with US Vice President Vance
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel, 21 June 2026. (EPA)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed efforts to maintain a ceasefire and halt Israeli military escalation during a phone call with US Vice President JD Vance, the Lebanese presidency said on Monday.
White House envoy Jared Kushner and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also took part in the call between Aoun and Vance, the presidency said.
The talks discussed efforts needed to consolidate the ceasefire and the possibility of forming a committee dedicated to that end, it added.
Palestinian Media Says Israel Holding Bodies of Two Teens Killed in West Bankhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5287015-palestinian-media-says-israel-holding-bodies-two-teens-killed-west-bank
A Palestinian woman walks at a market near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Media Says Israel Holding Bodies of Two Teens Killed in West Bank
A Palestinian woman walks at a market near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli authorities are holding the bodies of two Palestinian teenagers shot dead near a West Bank settlement, Palestinian media reported Monday, while the military said the pair were killed after throwing Molotov cocktails.
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two as Reda Sami Awad, 15, and Arafat Ismail Awad, 19.
"Israeli forces are holding their bodies," Wafa said.
According to Israel's military, soldiers opened fire late Sunday on a group of people burning tires and hurling petrol bombs towards the settlement.
Two were killed and a third was "neutralized", the military said.
It said the incident occurred during a "counter-terrorism operation" in the area.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, excluding east Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians.
The United Nations recently warned that settler violence against Palestinians has reached record levels, with an average of six attacks daily causing casualties or damage.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by an unprecedented attack on Israel by the Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,082 Palestinians since then, including both gunmen and civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.
Official Israeli figures show at least 46 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.
Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hamas Held Secret Meeting with French Lawmakers, Diplomatshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5287008-sources-asharq-al-awsat-hamas-held-secret-meeting-french-lawmakers-diplomats
This photograph shows the Statue de la Reublique with the Palestinian flag in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, at Place de la Reublique in Paris on June 13, 2025. (AFP)
Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hamas Held Secret Meeting with French Lawmakers, Diplomats
This photograph shows the Statue de la Reublique with the Palestinian flag in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, at Place de la Reublique in Paris on June 13, 2025. (AFP)
Three Palestinian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that senior leaders of Hamas’ political bureau recently held a highly confidential meeting with a French delegation that included current and former diplomats, as well as members of parliament from both parties within France’s governing coalition and the opposition.
Two of the sources — one affiliated with a Palestinian civil society organization involved in programs with France and other European countries, and another linked to a Palestinian faction close to Hamas — said the meeting took place “recently” in an unspecified country in the region. Both declined to identify the location but described the gathering as “extremely secret.”
According to the sources, several governments, Palestinian factions, and mediators involved in Gaza ceasefire efforts, including Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye, were informed of the meeting shortly before or soon after it occurred. One source said Hamas informed a number of parties that the meeting was taking place, without disclosing details.
Two Hamas officials confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the meeting had occurred but declined further comment.
The meeting is notable because it appears to be the first known encounter between European officials and Hamas leaders since the group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Since then, Hamas representatives have met US officials and presidential envoys as part of ceasefire negotiations that resulted in the release of hostages held by the group. Those contacts were publicly praised at the time by President Donald Trump, despite Washington’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.
France does not formally designate Hamas as a terrorist organization under its national legal framework, although French authorities prosecute individuals accused of financing the group. Following the October 7 attack, debate intensified in Paris over calls to formally classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The European Union has listed Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on its terrorist sanctions list since 2001. In May, the EU imposed additional sanctions on Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
The reported meeting also comes amid nearly two years of strained relations between Paris and Tel Aviv, as well as growing tensions between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon and its strikes in Syria.
After France recognized the State of Palestine, Netanyahu accused Macron in August of “fueling antisemitism,” prompting a sharp response from the Elysee Palace, which described the remarks as “base” and founded on falsehoods.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators carry a huge Palestinian flag as they gather outside the Sorbonne University, where they tried to set up a protest camp before being evacuated by police in Paris, France, 29 April 2024. (EPA)
Issues discussed
A source from Palestinian civil society said the talks focused broadly on the Palestinian situation, including efforts to reorganize Palestinian internal affairs, improve national reconciliation, and advance a political process aimed at ending the conflict with Israel.
According to the source, discussions also touched on supporting Palestinians’ right to establish an independent state based on the June 4, 1967, borders.
France has been a leading advocate of the two-state solution and, alongside Saudi Arabia, has spearheaded international efforts that helped generate a wave of diplomatic recognition for a Palestinian state and broader support within the United Nations.
The disclosure of the meeting comes as Hamas is engaged in difficult negotiations over the future of its weapons arsenal.
The group has linked any discussion of disarmament to a clearly defined political process that guarantees Palestinian self-determination and the establishment of a sovereign state.
A history of contacts
The reported meeting is not unprecedented. In 2008, Hamas disclosed that it had held discussions with several European officials, including French representatives.
Then-French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner acknowledged such contacts but emphasized that France would not establish formal relations with Hamas unless it recognized Israel and renounced violence.
At the time, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said European interlocutors were seeking to understand the movement’s positions on political developments and the prospects for a Palestinian state.
Those contacts coincided with Hamas’ gradual adoption of a position accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders as an interim solution, while stopping short of recognizing Israel and insisting on the right of return for Palestinian refugees and East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
In 2009, then-Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal met two French lawmakers in Damascus.
A further shift came in 2017, when Hamas elected a new leadership headed by Ismail Haniyeh and revised its political document to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The movement also expanded outreach to Russia, Iran, Arab and Islamic countries, and European states, while expressing openness to dialogue with a broad range of international actors, including the United States.
More recently, Hamas has sought through international law firms and legal initiatives to challenge its designation as a terrorist organization in several European countries, particularly Britain.
Supporting those efforts was a document signed by Moussa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’ political bureau and head of its international relations office, arguing that Hamas is a national liberation movement, not an antisemitic organization, and does not pose a threat to Western countries.
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