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Abbas, Palestinian Factions Meet in Egypt's 'El Alamein' for Unity Talks

Palestinians hang flags near the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, July 12 (Reuters)
Palestinians hang flags near the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, July 12 (Reuters)
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Abbas, Palestinian Factions Meet in Egypt's 'El Alamein' for Unity Talks

Palestinians hang flags near the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, July 12 (Reuters)
Palestinians hang flags near the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, July 12 (Reuters)

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas arrived in El Alamein in Egypt Saturday, the news agency Wafa said.

The Palestinian news agency said that as well as chairing Sunday's meeting of the heads of Palestinian factions Abbas "is scheduled to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi".

Last week, Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah made his group's participation in the talks conditional on the release of its members and those of other factions detained by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

In a statement to AFP Saturday, Islamic Jihad official Mohammad al-Hindi again denounced "continued political detention and prosecution of the resistance".

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is also boycotting the talks.

Sunday's meeting will include the heads of other political factions, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Both Abbas and Haniyeh met in Ankara on Wednesday in the run-up to Sunday's crucial meeting. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has good relations with both, hosted the talks and said his government will do its best to push for intra-Palestinian reconciliation.

A Palestinian official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, said the talks aim to "end the divisions (between factions) in preparation for a unified Palestinian government and presidential and general elections".

Haniyeh's spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP that Hamas sought to "unify the Palestinian position" under a strategic plan to "confront the Israeli occupation in light of the aggression of its extremist government".

Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, the movement has been at loggerheads with Abbas's Fatah which administers Palestinian-run areas of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Attempts to end the more than 15-year Fatah-Hamas rift saw leading figures from both movements sign a reconciliation deal in Algiers last year, promising long-delayed Palestinian elections in 2023.

Egypt's meeting comes amid a resurgence of violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which this year has killed at least 203 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources from both sides.

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Arab World

Fatah Demands Apology for Oct. 7 ‘Catastrophe’ as Hamas Hits Back

A meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council in Ramallah (WAFA) 
A meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council in Ramallah (WAFA) 
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Fatah Demands Apology for Oct. 7 ‘Catastrophe’ as Hamas Hits Back

A meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council in Ramallah (WAFA) 
A meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council in Ramallah (WAFA) 

A heated Palestinian debate erupted after Fatah Central Committee member Majed Faraj called on Hamas to apologize to the Palestinian people for what he described as the “catastrophe” that followed Oct. 7, 2023.

Speaking to Fatah activists at a public gathering ahead of legislative elections, Faraj said Hamas should apologize before returning to political life as a Palestinian faction like any other.

“This is a personal opinion and not an official position,” he added.

Fatah supporters and several of its leaders applauded, including Zakaria Zubeidi, who was recently released from an Israeli prison under a Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange deal. His reaction drew criticism from Hamas activists and freed prisoners.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, hit back at Faraj, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, arguing that the Oct. 7 attack had strategic consequences not only for Palestine but for the region and the world.

In a Telegram post, Naim said that if Hamas were required to apologize, Faraj should also demand apologies from Fatah and the late Yasser Arafat for what, by Faraj’s own standard, were “catastrophes” inflicted on Palestinians over decades. He cited the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which was followed by Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield and the reoccupation of the West Bank, as well as earlier events in Jordan, Lebanon and the first Gulf War.

Naim said Palestinians had the right to assess every stage of their national struggle and demand accountability, but argued that such scrutiny should not be selective or serve foreign agendas. He described the Oslo process as a “major mistake” that had proved a catastrophic failure.

He added that Hamas had repeatedly called for comprehensive national dialogue to review all paths, including the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” but accused Fatah of rejecting such efforts, most recently at meetings in Ankara and El Alamein.

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Monzer al-Hayek defended his movement, saying the only thing Fatah could apologize for was failing so far to achieve an independent Palestinian state.

He noted that Fatah had built a national authority, given Palestinians an entity, identity and passport, and advanced the statehood project until Palestine achieved UN non-member observer state status.

Al-Hayek accused Hamas of obstructing the national liberation process, weakening the political track and helping create conditions that brought Israel’s far right to power.

The dispute comes amid mutual accusations that each movement is seeking to obstruct or postpone the elections. Hamas has sought to form a broad electoral coalition of several factions, while Fatah has worked to block the effort and persuaded PLO factions, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, not to join.

Fatah’s Revolutionary Council said the movement would contest legislative elections scheduled for Nov. 28 on an official national list in consultation with PLO factions. It called for comprehensive national dialogue, Palestinian unity within the PLO framework and a fully sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders.

President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed his commitment to holding legislative elections on Nov. 28, 2026, and urged the international community to pressure Israel not to obstruct voting in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Arab World

Iraq Seizes Drones, Projectiles in Western Desert

Police officers in Iraq’s Anbar province inspect projectiles and drones seized in the governorate (Security Media) 
Police officers in Iraq’s Anbar province inspect projectiles and drones seized in the governorate (Security Media) 
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Iraq Seizes Drones, Projectiles in Western Desert

Police officers in Iraq’s Anbar province inspect projectiles and drones seized in the governorate (Security Media) 
Police officers in Iraq’s Anbar province inspect projectiles and drones seized in the governorate (Security Media) 

Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced Saturday that authorities had seized 47 drones and 46 projectiles at an abandoned site in western Anbar province, believed to belong to an armed faction with a significant military presence in the area.

The security development in Anbar coincides with attacks carried out by armed factions against Saudi Arabia, prompting cautious optimism among observers that Iraqi authorities are serious about putting an end to such attacks.

Acting on precise intelligence, Anbar Police Command units discovered an abandoned site in Area 35 that had previously been used as a tire repair shop, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

A search uncovered 47 drones and 46 projectiles prepared for use with the aircraft, along with control devices, batteries and other related equipment.

Authorities secured the site and seized all the equipment, while investigators began technical and legal procedures to determine the origin of the materials and identify those connected to them.

Security sources in Anbar believe the cache belonged to an Iran-aligned armed faction operating under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

The sources said security commanders were seeking to prevent Anbar from becoming a launchpad for missile attacks against neighboring countries.

Anbar’s vast territory borders Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, making the province strategically important to armed factions and Iran. The sources said it had served as a key route for transporting weapons to the former Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Alongside the Iraqi Army and police, several armed groups operate in the province. Kataib Hezbollah, which has three brigades within the PMF, is considered the most influential in western Anbar.

Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada are also active near the Iraqi-Syrian border in coordination with other security formations. Fighters affiliated with Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization are present elsewhere in the province, but relatively farther from the Syrian border, according to the sources.

Anbar’s sprawling deserts, rugged valleys and abandoned military sites provide armed factions with locations to store weapons, drones and projectiles away from direct central government oversight.

During the Iran-US war in March, local reports said PMF forces and armed factions left some positions and redeployed away from border areas.

On Aug. 31, Qasim Muslih, commander of the PMF’s Anbar Operations Sector, denied that PMF headquarters in Anbar had been evacuated. He said its units continued to carry out their duties across their areas of responsibility with high levels of readiness under approved security plans.

Arab World

NGOs Sound Alarm over Tunisia Prison Deaths Due to Heatwave

Supporters of Tunisia's Free Destourian Party (PDL) participate in a protest march in Tunis, Tunisia, 12 September 2026. EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA
Supporters of Tunisia's Free Destourian Party (PDL) participate in a protest march in Tunis, Tunisia, 12 September 2026. EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA
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NGOs Sound Alarm over Tunisia Prison Deaths Due to Heatwave

Supporters of Tunisia's Free Destourian Party (PDL) participate in a protest march in Tunis, Tunisia, 12 September 2026. EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA
Supporters of Tunisia's Free Destourian Party (PDL) participate in a protest march in Tunis, Tunisia, 12 September 2026. EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA

At least 23 prisoners have died in Tunisia in recent weeks due to extreme heat, according to rights advocates, who have long condemned harsh detention conditions made worse by overcrowding.

Authorities have yet to release figures for prison deaths this summer, with an official saying no death could be attributed to heat without confirmation from forensic doctors.

Yet the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) documented 23 deaths based on information from doctors, lawyers and relatives of prisoners who died in jail from the heat, its president Bassem Trifi told AFP.

Tunisia has suffered high temperatures in recent weeks, with residents struggling with long power outages and water cuts.

Among the dead detainees was businessman Lazhar Sta, his daughter said. Another was a 24-year-old student, according to local media.

A Lebanese businessman also died in a Tunisian prison, said Trifi. A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that his father had informed Lebanese authorities of his death a week earlier.

"Conditions are already inhumane under normal circumstances, but with the heatwave and temperatures that sometimes exceed 45C in overcrowded cells, the situation becomes a threat to prisoners' lives," Trifi said.

- Poor detention conditions -

Tunisian prisons have long faced criticism over chronic overcrowding and poor detention conditions.

Rights groups have said cells are overcrowded, with inadequate ventilation and a limited access to water -- accusations the prison administration has denied.

The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) said this week it was "concerned about the deterioration of detention conditions and the increase in deaths in prisons".

The group also called for "transparent" and "independent" investigations amid what it said was a lack of official data around the deaths.

Relatives of detainees had already raised concerns about detention conditions as temperatures rose over the summer.

Warnings from relatives of prominent jailed critics of President Kais Saied were widely circulated on social media.

The figures include Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, 85, whose lawyers in July said his health was "critical" after reports that he fainted and suffered severe exhaustion behind bars.

Also among them is 82-year-old activist Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, whose daughter also expressed concern over the conditions in which he and others were detained.

"I will not wait for my father and uncle to die in prison," Haifa Chebbi, a lawyer, said.

Her uncle Issam Chebbi is also imprisoned over charges rights groups have denounced as politically motivated.

"I will not remain silent. Free the detainees," she wrote on social media.

Prison authorities in July said all detainees were receiving "medical care according to regulations" and that "all necessary measures" were taken in response to the heat.

- 'May be the last time I see him' -

Dozens of political figures, journalists and businessmen, among others, have been detained since Saied staged a sweeping power grab in 2021.

The OMCT called on Tunisian authorities to take "the necessary measures to protect the life" of detainees and to allow rights groups to conduct prison visits.

The LTDH had said it was banned from visiting prisons since November 2025.

In recent days, concerns have grown over the health of investigative journalist Mohamed Yousfi.

Yousfi was arrested last week while he was set to discuss water shortages on a radio show. He later underwent surgery for appendicitis.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) said members of his defense had to leave an interrogation to get him medication as Yousfi was "screaming loudly from pain".

And the daughter of jailed independent journalist Zied El Heni, also a Saied critic, expressed fears for her father.

"Every time I visit my father, I am afraid they will tell me he died," Aram El Heni said in a widely shared video on Facebook.

"Every time I leave the prison, I tell myself it may be the last time I see him."