UN Says 'Extent of Problem' in Flood-ravaged Libya Unclear

At least 4,000 people are thought to have perished but provisional figures vary enormously - AAWSAT AR
At least 4,000 people are thought to have perished but provisional figures vary enormously - AAWSAT AR
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UN Says 'Extent of Problem' in Flood-ravaged Libya Unclear

At least 4,000 people are thought to have perished but provisional figures vary enormously - AAWSAT AR
At least 4,000 people are thought to have perished but provisional figures vary enormously - AAWSAT AR

The UN aid chief on Friday said the extent of the catastrophe in flood-ravaged Libya was unclear.

"I think the issue for us in Libya is of course coordinating with... the government and then the other authority in the east of the country," Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said, AFP reported.

"We don't know the extent of the problem," he stressed.

Griffiths welcomed a proposal by the mayor of the port city of Derna, the site of a tsunami-sized flash flood after two dams burst, for rescuers and aid to be sent there by sea.

"You've got obviously maritime access, you would ship in aid as well," he said.

"You don't choose one route over another, you do all of them. You still keep coming in from the land... but certainly, adding the maritime option makes complete sense".

Emergency workers sifting through the mud and rubble of the flood disaster in Libya are still hopeful of finding survivors, the Red Cross chief in the country said Friday.

"The hope is there, is always there, to find people alive," said Tamer Ramadan, the head of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent's rescue effort in the North African country.

The known death toll rose to 11,300 dead but provisional figures vary enormously.

Ramadan did not give an estimate of the toll, saying the "the definite numbers will be available upon the finalization of the assessment of the ground."

Calling the situation "catastrophic", the United Nations launched an appeal for more than $71 million to respond to the "most urgent needs of 250,000 people targeted out of the 884,000 people estimated to be in need".



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.