EgyptAir to Resume Direct Flights from Egypt to Sudan

Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
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EgyptAir to Resume Direct Flights from Egypt to Sudan

Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak
Sudanese families wait outside a hospital while doctors and medical staff strike to protest late salaries, bringing the struggling health sector in the city of Port Sudan to almost a complete halt as thousands of displaced Sudanese flooded the city due to the raging war in Khartoum, Sudan, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak

Egyptian authorities said the national carrier will resume direct flights to Sudan this week following high profile talks between the Egyptian president and Sudan's military chief.

Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation said Tuesday that EgyptAir would launch a weekly flight route from Cairo to the Sudanese coastal city of Port Sudan starting Friday. No further details were given.

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April when simmering tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.

The flight announcement came hours after Burhan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi concluded talks in Cairo. The visit marks the Sudanese general’s first trip abroad since fighting erupted on April 15.

Sudanese authorities reopened the airspace in the east of the country earlier this month, according to local media. Port Sudan on the Red Sea has seen limited fighting since the conflict broke out and is controlled by the military. The port has become the main entry point for humanitarian flights and aid shipments for Sudan.



Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation
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Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

Satellite Photos Show Gaza Strip Before and After War Devastation

The Israel-Hamas war, now nearing a potential ceasefire, has devastated the Gaza Strip. Satellite photos offer some sense of the destruction in the territory, which has been largely sealed off to journalists and others.
Some of the images have illustrated a likely buffer zone, wanted by Israel despite international objections, which would take some 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) out of the enclave. In all, the strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea is about 360 square kilometers (139 square miles), and Palestinians hope it will be part of a future state, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Other images tell the story of how Palestinians’ lives have changed during the war. Gaza City, the dense major city in the strip, has been decimated, with buildings destroyed and roads filled with rubble.
As the war progressed, Israel ordered people to move farther south. Today, the result of that movement can be seen in images of Muwasi, just north of the strip’s southern border with Egypt. There, the sandy coast and surrounding farmland have been overtaken by thousands of tents, all visible from space, The Associated Press reported.
The images have also helped relief agencies and experts make estimates regarding the extent of the damage.
Corey Scher of City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University have been studying Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas entered Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Their latest assessment, published Thursday, estimates 59.8% of all buildings in Gaza likely have been damaged in the war.
That's slightly lower than a December analysis from the United Nations Satellite Center. It estimated 69% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged in the fighting, which has killed over 46,000 people, according to local health authorities. They do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half of those killed.