IOM: More than 42,000 People Displaced by Floods in Libya's Derna

People search for flood victims in Derna, Libya, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP)
People search for flood victims in Derna, Libya, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP)
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IOM: More than 42,000 People Displaced by Floods in Libya's Derna

People search for flood victims in Derna, Libya, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP)
People search for flood victims in Derna, Libya, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP)

The death toll from devastating floods in Libya's eastern city of Derna has risen to 4,209 people, according to local officials.

Meanwhile, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 429 migrants reportedly lost their lives in the catastrophe caused by Storm Daniel.

It said that as of September 30, 42,045 people were displaced from areas affected by the floods.

Spokesman of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari said teams of the General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons were able to recover on Thursday eight unidentified bodies from Derna.

Chairman of the Presidential Council Mohamed Menfi discussed with Ibrahim Al Arabi, Health Minister in Libya's Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), the health situation in Derna and the Green Mountain regions.

The social and psychological support team affiliated with the Emergency and Rapid Response Committee have discussed coordinating efforts between sectors to provide support to survivors of the floods.

The government had previously announced it would provide mental health support to those affected by the disaster.

The IOM said an estimated 42,045 people remain displaced after Storm Daniel made landfall in northeastern Libya on September 11.

It added that four percent of displaced individuals are in western Libya and the rest are in eastern regions.



Israeli Rescuers Say Eight Hurt in Bus Shooting in West Bank

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
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Israeli Rescuers Say Eight Hurt in Bus Shooting in West Bank

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP

A shooting at a bus near an Israeli settlement injured at least eight people on Friday in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli rescue service said.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since the start of the Gaza war sparked by Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, claimed responsibility for the attack, which left more than a dozen bullet holes in the windshield of the bus.

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.

Three of the injured were lying near the bus, conscious, when the rescuers arrived, a spokesman for MDA said, adding that those most seriously hurt were taken to hospital in a "stable condition".

"In this operation, one of our heroic fighters ambushed a number of Israeli soldiers and settlers inside a bus," Hamas's armed wing said in a statement, identifying the attacker as 46-year-old Samer Hussein, from a village near Nablus.

At least 24 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during military operations in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, Israeli official figures show.

During the same period, at least 778 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to an AFP count based on Palestinian official figures.

All of Israel's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law.