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Syrian President Arrives in China on First Visit since the Beginning of War in Syria

FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
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Syrian President Arrives in China on First Visit since the Beginning of War in Syria

FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)

Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in China on Thursday on his first visit to the country since the start of Syria's 12-year conflict during which Beijing has been one of his main backers.
China’s foreign ministry said Assad would attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, an international sports event beginning Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it continues to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins, The Associated Press said.
China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.
Assad’s office said earlier that the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping and would bring with him a high-ranking Syrian delegation.
Syria’s worsening economic crisis has led to protests in government-held parts of the country. Syria blames the crisis on Western sanctions and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters who control the country’s largest oil fields in the east near the border with Iraq.
Diplomatic contacts between Syria and other Arab countries have intensified following the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria killing more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria. Assad flew to Saudi Arabia in May where he attended the Arab League summit days after Syria’s membership was reinstated in the 22-member league.
Since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war, Iran and Russia have helped Assad regain control of much of the country.
China has used its veto power at the UN eight times to stop resolutions against Assad’s government, the latest in July 2020.
Assad’s last and only visit to China was in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion of neighboring Iraq and at a time when Washington was putting pressure on Syria.

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Arab World

Israel, Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Border

This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel, Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Border

This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
This picture taken from southern Lebanon shows smoke rising after an Israeli strike between the villages of Qaouzah and Ramia near the border with Israel on December 3, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli forces and Hezbollah traded fire across the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday for the third consecutive day and Israel said several of its soldiers were hurt.

The Israeli military said its soldiers were "lightly injured" when an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon hit a vehicle in the Beit Hillel area of northern Israel.

Eleven people — eight soldiers and three civilians — were wounded by Hezbollah fire in the area of Beit Hillel, army radio reported.

Israeli forces fired artillery in return, the military's statement read.

It also said its fighter jets struck other Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah said it had targeted a number of Israeli positions with what it called "appropriate weapons.”

Following the eruption of the Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah mounted near-daily rocket attacks on Israeli positions at the frontier while Israel launched air and artillery strikes in south Lebanon. But the border was largely calm during a week-long truce in Gaza that collapsed on Friday.

Just over 100 people in Lebanon have been reported killed during the hostilities, 83 of them Hezbollah fighters. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border.

Arab World

Britain's Maritime Agency Reports Drone Attack in Red Sea

A satellite view of the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab strait. NASA
A satellite view of the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab strait. NASA
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Britain's Maritime Agency Reports Drone Attack in Red Sea

A satellite view of the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab strait. NASA
A satellite view of the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab strait. NASA

Britain's Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) on Sunday said that it has received reports of a drone attack in the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab strait.

UKMTO had earlier reported drone activity that originated from Yemen, as well as a possible explosion, and called on vessels in the vicinity to exercise caution.

The reported incident follows a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since war broke out between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.

An Israeli-linked cargo ship was seized last month by the Houthi group, an ally of Iran. The group, had previously fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel and vowed to target more Israeli vessels.

Arab World

Israel Widens Evacuation Orders, Shifts Offensive to Southern Gaza amid Heavy Bombardments

A wounded person lies on the floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 December 2023, following an Israeli air strike. EPA/HAITHAM IMAD
A wounded person lies on the floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 December 2023, following an Israeli air strike. EPA/HAITHAM IMAD
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Israel Widens Evacuation Orders, Shifts Offensive to Southern Gaza amid Heavy Bombardments

A wounded person lies on the floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 December 2023, following an Israeli air strike. EPA/HAITHAM IMAD
A wounded person lies on the floor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 03 December 2023, following an Israeli air strike. EPA/HAITHAM IMAD

Israel's military on Sunday ordered more areas in and around Gaza's second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate, as it shifted its offensive to the southern half of the territory where it says many Hamas leaders are hiding.

Heavy bombardments were reported overnight and into Sunday in the area of Khan Younis and the southern city of Rafah, as well as parts of the north that had been the focus of Israel's blistering air and ground campaign.

Many of the territory’s 2.3 million people are crammed in the south after Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the 2-month-old war, sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants.

With the resumption of fighting, hopes receded that another temporary truce could be negotiated. A weeklong cease-fire, which expired Friday, had facilitated the release of dozens of Gaza-held Israeli and foreign hostages and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

“We will continue the war until we achieve all its goals, and it’s impossible to achieve those goals without the ground operation,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Saturday night, The Associated Press reported.

Since the cease-fire collapsed, Hamas has fired scores of rockets into Israel, setting off air raid sirens across southern and central areas. Most rockets are intercepted or fall in open areas, but the fire continues to disrupt life across wide swaths of Israel. Over 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes along the Gaza and Lebanon borders due to rocket fire since Oct 7.

On Sunday, the Israeli military widened evacuation orders in and around Khan Younis, telling residents of at least five more areas and neighborhoods to leave for their safety. Several hundred thousand Palestinians have received evacuation orders since the fighting resumed but they have few places to go.

Residents said the Israeli military dropped leaflets ordering them to move south to Rafah or to a coastal area in the southwest. “Khan Younis city is a dangerous combat zone,” the leaflets read.

UN monitors said in a report issued before the latest evacuation orders that those who were told to leave make up about one-quarter of the territory of Gaza — home to nearly 800,000 people before the war.

Much of Gaza’s population is now packed into the territory’s southern half. The territory itself, bordering Israel and Egypt to the south, is sealed, leaving residents with the only option of moving around within Gaza to avoid the bombings.

There are nearly 958,000 displaced people in 99 United Nations facilities in the southern Gaza Strip, including 34 in Khan Younis, according to Juliette Toma, director of communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The average number of displaced people in UN shelters is 9,500, more than four times their usual capacity, according to the agency’s report on Nov. 30. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has warned Israel to avoid significant new mass displacement.

The main hospital in Khan Younis received at least three dead and dozens wounded Sunday morning from an Israeli strike that hit a residential building in the eastern part of the city, according to an Associated Press journalist at the hospital.

Mohamed Abu Abed, who lives in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, said there were relentless airstrikes and shelling in his neighborhood and surrounding areas.

“The situation here is unimaginable,” he said. “Death is everywhere. One can die in a flash.”

The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that the overall death toll in the strip since the Oct. 7 start of the war had surpassed 15,200, a sharp jump from the previous count of more than 13,300 on Nov. 20. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but it said 70% of the dead were women and children. It said more than 40,000 people had been wounded since the war began.

Arab World

UN Security Council Discusses Bathily's Mediation Efforts in Libya

UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
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UN Security Council Discusses Bathily's Mediation Efforts in Libya

UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)
UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily (UNSMIL)

The UN Security Council will hold its bi-monthly briefing on the situation in Libya, during which UN Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily will brief the Security Council on the recent political, security, and humanitarian developments.

The session will also address the Secretary-General's latest report on the UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

The Security Council Report website, which follows UN news, stated that the goal of the Security Council is to support the political momentum and UN-led mediation efforts towards national elections and forming a unified government.

The Council's objectives related to Libya also focus on helping foster common political ground between the country's rival legislatures to agree on electoral law, a goal that Bathily has repeatedly urged Council members to support by wielding their influence on national stakeholders.

At December's meeting, members may reiterate their call on Libyan actors to engage in good-faith negotiations to achieve consensus on outstanding political issues.

The rival governments had initially expressed their intent to finalize legislation to hold elections by the end of the year.

Furthermore, some members may welcome Bathily's proposed meeting of institutional stakeholders and urge them to participate in these discussions productively.

Arab World

West Bank: Palestinian Man Killed in Israeli Settler Raid

Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
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West Bank: Palestinian Man Killed in Israeli Settler Raid

Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)
Palestinian security forces during a visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to the Jenin refugee camp on July 12. (AFP)

Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank late on Saturday, killing one man and torching a car, Palestinian authorities said.

The Palestinian ambulance service said a 38-year-old man in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the northern West Bank, was shot in the chest and died as residents confronted settlers and Israeli soldiers, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military said soldiers arrived at the scene and used riot dispersal means and live fire to break up the confrontation between residents and settlers. It said Palestinians shot fireworks in response and an Israeli and four Palestinians were injured. The incident was being examined and had been handed over to police, it said.

In another incident, Wajih Al-Qat, head of the local council of the village of Madama near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said a group of about 15 settlers burned the car and broke the windows of a house with stones.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.

The attacks are the latest in a series of similar incidents involving settlers.

The West Bank, which the Palestinians want as part of a future independent state, has seen a surge of violence in recent months as Jewish settlements have continued to expand and US-backed peacemaking efforts have stalled for nearly a decade.

The violence, at a more-than-15-year high this year, surged further after Israel launched an invasion of the separate enclave of Gaza in response to the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Yesh Din, a human rights group that monitors settler violence, said there had been at least 225 incidents of settler violence in 93 Palestinian communities since the war started.

Prior to Saturday's incident, it said at least nine Palestinians had been killed in such attacks.

In a separate incident near Nablus, Palestinian authorities said a 14-year-old boy died of his wounds after he was shot during an incident in which the Israeli military said he brandished a knife at soldiers on a checkpoint.

Arab World

UN Ending Sudan Mission Evokes Mixed Sentiments

The end of UNITAMS has provoked different reactions from different parties in Sudan - File Photo
The end of UNITAMS has provoked different reactions from different parties in Sudan - File Photo
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UN Ending Sudan Mission Evokes Mixed Sentiments

The end of UNITAMS has provoked different reactions from different parties in Sudan - File Photo
The end of UNITAMS has provoked different reactions from different parties in Sudan - File Photo

The UN Security Council on Friday decided to terminate the mandate of the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

Adopting resolution 2715 (2023) by 14 votes in favor and one abstention (Russia), the UNSC requested UNITAMS “immediately start on 4 December 2023, the cessation of its operations and the process of the transfer of its tasks, where appropriate and to the extent feasible, to UN agencies, funds and programmes, with the objective of completing this by 29 February 2024.”

The end of UNITAMS has provoked different reactions from different parties in Sudan. Some supported the resolution while others opposed it.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the resolution, viewing it as a triumph of its diplomacy and a response to its request.

It considered UNITAMS a “disappointment” and applauded the decision to terminate its mandate, advocating for the redistribution of its responsibilities among other UN agencies based on their respective competencies.

However, others perceive this resolution as a diplomatic trap set for Sudan. They argue that it establishes a stronger international guardianship than existed before the cancellation of the mandate of the UN political mission in Sudan.

The relationship between UNITAMS and Sudan has been strained since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The UN secretary-general's special representative and head of UNITAMS at the time, Volker Perthes, was declared persona non grata by the Sudanese authorities in June.

Perthes resigned in September, approximately three months after the replacement request.

Subsequently, the situation escalated to a demand for the termination of UNITAMS’ mandate on November 17, following its perceived failure to fulfill its mission and its “disappointing” performance.

UNITAMS, established by the Security Council in June 2020, was tasked to help Sudan with its political transition after the ouster of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Arab World

Iran Says Israeli Strike in Syria Killed 2 Guard Members

FILE - Syrians walk through destruction in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria, on April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Syrians walk through destruction in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria, on April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
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Iran Says Israeli Strike in Syria Killed 2 Guard Members

FILE - Syrians walk through destruction in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria, on April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Syrians walk through destruction in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria, on April 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard stated through its website that two of its forces stationed in Syria were killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday.
The report on the Guard's news portal identified the two members as Mohammad Ali Ataei Shourcheh and Panah Taghizadeh, and said they were carrying out an advisory mission in Syria. It did not elaborate on their rank, or the area where they were killed.
Syrian state media, quoting an unnamed military official, said Israeli airstrikes hit several areas on the outskirts of the capital Damascus early Saturday. The strikes resulted in only “material losses,” the report added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, where “there are military forces working with the Lebanese Hezbollah.” It said the strike killed two Syrian citizens and two foreigners and wounded five others.

Arab World

US Says Will Not Permit Displacement of Palestinians

US Vice President Kamala Harris at COP 28 (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris at COP 28 (Reuters)
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US Says Will Not Permit Displacement of Palestinians

US Vice President Kamala Harris at COP 28 (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris at COP 28 (Reuters)

The war on the Gaza Strip was heavily discussed on the sidelines of the Dubai Climate Conference (COP28), amid remarkable US statements that outline the vision for Gaza in the post-conflict between Israel and Hamas.

US Vice President Kamala Harris said that many Palestinians are being killed in Gaza, urging Israel to do more to protect them.

In a press conference on the sidelines of COP28, Harris said Israel has a legitimate right to conduct military operations against Hamas militants, who launched attacks from Gaza on Oct. 7 in which more than 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed.

"As Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal: International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed," Harris said, according to Reuters.

Harris held talks with some regional leaders while attending the climate summit in Dubai after being asked by US President Joe Biden to take his seat at the table as he focuses on the Israel-Hamas war.

In another message directed at Israel, Harris said the United States would not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besieging of Gaza, or the redrawing of Gaza's borders.

"The international community must dedicate significant resources to support short- and long-term recovery in Gaza, for example, rebuilding hospitals and housing, restoring electricity and clean water, and ensuring that bakeries can reopen and be restocked," she said.

The VP said the Palestinian Authority (PA) should be bolstered to the point that it can govern both the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas can no longer run Gaza.

"There must be security arrangements that are acceptable to Israel, the people of Gaza, the Authority, and the international partners," she said, adding that the PA security forces must be strengthened to assume security responsibilities in Gaza.

"We want to see a unified Gaza and West Bank under the Authority, and Palestinian voices and aspirations must be at the center of this work," she indicated.

Once the war ends, efforts to rebuild should be pursued with a view toward the goal of a two-state solution in which Israel and the Palestinians live in peace, Harris said.

The recent developments in Gaza shaped the discussions of President Abdulfattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the COP28 summit.

Sisi met with Harris in Dubai, and the two agreed on the gravity of the current situation while stressing the urgent need to prevent an expansion of the cycle of the conflict and protect the civilians.

Egypt and the US categorically rejected the coerced displacement of the Palestinians.

Sisi underscored the aggravating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which necessitates immediate action by the international community to provide urgent humanitarian relief to the people in the Strip to alleviate their suffering.

The President reiterated the crucial need to restore calm and ceasefire, emphasizing Egypt's rejection of exposing innocent people to the policies of collective punishment in violation of international commitments under international humanitarian law.

He reaffirmed Egypt's unequivocal and firm position about the settlement of the Palestinian issue through a just and comprehensive solution, safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent Palestinian State, following the references of international legitimacy.

Earlier, the White House issued a statement announcing Harris's meeting with Sisi, noting that the VP discussed US ideas for post-conflict planning in Gaza, including reconstruction, security, and governance efforts.

She emphasized that these efforts can only succeed if they are pursued in the context of a clear political horizon for the Palestinian people towards a state of their own led by a revitalized Authority and have significant support from the international community and the regional countries.

The VP reiterated that under no circumstances will the US permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza.

Also in Dubai, Harris met the Jordanian King, Abdullah II, who warned against prolonging the war on Gaza, noting that it would further increase violence.

The King affirmed the necessity for the US to play a leadership role in advancing a political solution for the Palestinian Cause and achieve peace based on a two-state solution.

The monarch also cautioned against any attempt to separate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, considering both an integral part of a unified Palestinian state.

Arab World

Palestinian President Urges ICC to Speed Up Prosecution of ‘Israeli War Criminals’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
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Palestinian President Urges ICC to Speed Up Prosecution of ‘Israeli War Criminals’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, in Ramallah in the West Bank (AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to expedite investigations and pursue legal action against Israeli war criminals responsible for war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories.

Abbas met in Ramallah on Saturday with the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, and asserted the need to launch investigations into Israel's targeting of civilians, especially children, women, and the elderly.

He briefed the Prosecutor on Israel's violation of the sanctity of hospitals and shelters, the demolition of homes with civilians inside, the crimes of settler-colonial expansion, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and various other violations of international law and international humanitarian law.

- Cases handover

In 2014, the Palestinian Authority (PA) handed over files to the ICC on multiple Israeli crimes during the war on Gaza.

A year later, the Court opened a preliminary investigation, and in 2021, it approved an inquiry into the commission of "Israeli war crimes" in the Palestinian territories.

Palestine presented three cases at the ICC, including the aggression against Gaza in 2014, during which Israel used excessive force, prohibited weapons, and ordered massacres and killing of civilians.

Another case concerns the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons and includes ill-treatment of captives and their families and medical neglect that led to the death of some of them.

Furthermore, there is the case against Israeli settlement, including illegal construction on Palestinian land and settlers' terrorism, which led to the killing of Palestinian civilians.

The Palestinians will now submit new files about the current war.

- Delayed justice

For years, the Palestinians have been documenting Israeli crimes in the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said during his meeting with Khan on Saturday that delaying justice is an absence of justice itself.

Shtayyeh added that the ICC should be for sentencing and deterrence, asserting that for 75 years now, Israel has been acting like it is above the law.

He explained that the responsibility of the Criminal Court is not a moral issue but a legal one.

The Authority wants the Criminal Court to investigate the ongoing war in Gaza and previous wars and inspect all other violations in the West Bank.

- Comprehensive war

The Authority considers that the Israeli war on the Palestinians is comprehensive and not only in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli displacement policy targets Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as part of an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian issue.

Since Oct. 7, the West Bank witnessed an escalation in Israeli aggression, which included shutting down the West Bank governorates, deploying more military barriers, and launching massive incursions, whether during the day or the night, into most areas.

Israel began using drones to target Palestinians. It also killed and arrested dozens of them, demolished infrastructure, and attacked civilians in their homes.

On Saturday, Israel killed a Palestinian near the town of Tal, west of Nablus.

The Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that Israel shot and killed a civilian in Nablus at the al-Murabbaa checkpoint. The Israeli forces prevented a Palestinian ambulance from reaching him before arresting him while he was injured.

- Israel arrests 3,415 Palestinians

Since Oct. 7, Israel has killed about 250 Palestinians and arrested more than 3,400 in the West Bank. The apprehensions included various areas of Nablus, Tubas, Jenin, Hebron, and Qalqilya and were accompanied by widespread sabotage and home destruction.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club said that the Israeli occupation forces arrested at least 12 Palestinians, including a girl from Tulkarm, on her way back from Jordan.

Arab World

Grim Cycle of Death at a Hospital in Gaza

Bodies are moved at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in a file picture taken on November 14 - AFP
Bodies are moved at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in a file picture taken on November 14 - AFP
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Grim Cycle of Death at a Hospital in Gaza

Bodies are moved at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in a file picture taken on November 14 - AFP
Bodies are moved at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in a file picture taken on November 14 - AFP

A middle-aged man with a blank, shattered expression walked slowly down a ramp at the hospital, gently cradling in his arms a tiny body wrapped in a white shroud.

After the collapse of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas, the Nasser hospital's morgue in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, was full once again on Saturday.

A handful of women wept for their own children, while a group of men nearby prayed for the dead.

"My son Mohammed tried to get the women and children out of our tent" at a makeshift camp where they had sheltered inside a school, Jumana Murad said of the 19-year-old.

"But a piece of shrapnel hit him in the head... I saw his brains," she told AFP, before bursting into tears.

The family had left their home in Gaza City after the Israeli army told around 1.1 million people in the north of the Palestinian territory to move to avoid the fighting following Hamas militants' unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel.

"They tossed out leaflets to tell us 'you will be safe in the south', so we went there," she said.

"My son is dead, my son Mohammed, who was a nice boy, and who listened to me whenever I needed to get something off my chest."

At her side, her daughter Joelle Murad shook in her red embroidered dressing gown, screaming out to God and to anyone in earshot.

"Why was my brother, who had nothing to do with militant groups, killed?" she cried. "What did we do? They want Hamas? What does that have to do with us?"

Men at Nasser hospital -- doctors, medical technicians, victims' loved ones -- brought out the corpses in white body bags.

Families gathered for one last look at the dead, caressing their hair, touching their hands or kissing their faces, sometimes still stained with blood.

To Gazans, the dead are "martyrs", so their bodies are not given the traditional Muslim funeral cleansing.

The bodies are carried out on stretchers, or on long metal trays from the morgue's cold rooms -- where electricity supplies are intermittent to non-existent.

Funerals are carried out quickly, and family members cannot always be reached, but the small crowd in the courtyard paused and gathered before all the bodies, reciting prayers for the dead.

The wrapped remains were loaded into ill-suited civilian vehicles -- ambulances are only for the living -- and taken away to rapidly filling cemeteries.

Behind them, more bodies were coming out of the morgue, one more mother cried for her son and the crowd readied for another funeral prayer.