UNRWA Suspends Services in Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon after Clashes

FILE - Palestinian boys jump during a soccer training session at a school run by the agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, at Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
FILE - Palestinian boys jump during a soccer training session at a school run by the agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, at Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
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UNRWA Suspends Services in Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon after Clashes

FILE - Palestinian boys jump during a soccer training session at a school run by the agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, at Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
FILE - Palestinian boys jump during a soccer training session at a school run by the agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, at Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on June 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has suspended services at the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon to protest the presence of armed fighters around its schools and other facilities within the area.

Deadly clashes broke out last month at the Ain el-Hilweh camp near the southern city of Sidon after Islamist gunmen tried to assassinate Fatah leader Mahmoud Khalil, forcing hundreds to flee.

"The Agency does not tolerate actions that breach the inviolability and neutrality of its installations,” UNRWA said in a statement.

It said that schools in the camp were unlikely to be available for 3,200 children at the start of the new school year.

"UNRWA reiterates its call on armed actors to immediately vacate its facilities, to ensure unimpeded delivery of much needed assistance to Palestine Refugees," the agency added.



Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
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Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)

Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman and Army Chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, reaffirmed on Thursday that the military is committed to creating the necessary conditions for a democratically elected civilian government to take power.

During a meeting with Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Heiko Nitschke, Burhan emphasized that the armed forces have no intention of engaging in political affairs.

A statement from the Sovereign Council said both sides discussed efforts to initiate an inclusive national dialogue and form a technocratic government to oversee preparations for elections, in line with the recently announced roadmap.

For his part, the German envoy expressed Berlin’s readiness to support Sudan’s reconstruction efforts and collaborate with international partners on post-war rebuilding, according to the statement.

Over the past month, the Sudanese army has reclaimed key areas in the capital, Khartoum, including the presidential palace, all ministerial headquarters, the Central Bank of Sudan, and other major government institutions. Meanwhile, columns of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters were seen withdrawing from the capital, crossing Jebel Aulia Bridge toward White Nile State.

Residents reported that the army launched airstrikes in Omdurman on Thursday, following its declared victory over the RSF in a two-year battle for control of Khartoum.

The war has devastated large parts of Khartoum, displaced over 12 million Sudanese, and pushed nearly half of the country’s 50 million people into severe hunger, in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Sudanese army now controls most of Omdurman, home to two major military bases, and appears focused on eliminating the remaining RSF units to secure full control over Greater Khartoum. Thursday’s artillery strikes targeted southern Omdurman.

The Sudanese army and RSF were once allies, having jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup that derailed Sudan’s democratic transition following the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. However, their alliance quickly unraveled, plunging the country into a devastating civil war driven by a bitter power struggle.