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‘I’m Destroyed’: UN Envoys Meet Victims of Gaza War

A delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) arrives at El-Arish airport in North Sinai, Egypt, 11 December 2023. (EPA)
A delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) arrives at El-Arish airport in North Sinai, Egypt, 11 December 2023. (EPA)
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‘I’m Destroyed’: UN Envoys Meet Victims of Gaza War

A delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) arrives at El-Arish airport in North Sinai, Egypt, 11 December 2023. (EPA)
A delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) arrives at El-Arish airport in North Sinai, Egypt, 11 December 2023. (EPA)

UN Security Council ambassadors traveled to Egypt Monday to meet Gazan victims of the war between Israel and Hamas, days after the United States blocked a ceasefire resolution.

The informal one-day trip organized by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt came amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis in war-torn Gaza, described as a "graveyard" by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Around a dozen ambassadors took part from countries including Russia and Britain.

But the US, which vetoed the Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire on Friday, did not send a representative and neither did France.

The envoys visited a hospital in El-Arish near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, treating people who had been evacuated from the conflict.

Among the people they met was Wafaa Asaad, a 27-year-old from Gaza who was heavily pregnant when her house was hit by an Israeli strike, killing her husband and injuring her two daughters.

She was evacuated to Egypt for medical treatment and had an arm and leg amputated, but miraculously managed to give birth just hours after crossing the border, her sister Alaa told AFP.

"Our message to the UN is we want the war to stop," Alaa said, her newborn niece laying on a bed beside her.

Ecuador's envoy Jose de la Gasca told AFP he was "destroyed" by the visit to the hospital.

"I just met a young mother who lost a kid and has another little girl who is wounded," he said.

"I don't ever want to see again what I have just seen. It's horrible."

The diplomats were later due to visit the Rafah crossing, the only gateway into Gaza.

Departures via the crossing are tightly controlled, with only foreign nationals and severely wounded people allowed to leave Gaza in most circumstances.

'Lack absolutely everything'

Speaking at the start of the trip, UAE envoy Lana Nusseibeh said the trip was not official Security Council work, and members were taking part on their own "national and personal" initiatives.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, briefed the envoys on the humanitarian situation before he headed to Gaza for his third visit since the start of the war in October.

There is "deep frustration, disappointment and some outrage... (that) we can't even reach a consensus for a ceasefire," Lazzarini said.

"There is no real safe place in the Gaza Strip. Even the UN premises currently hosting more than one million people have been hit," he added.

"Hunger is prevailing in Gaza. More and more people haven't eaten for one day, two days, three days... people lack absolutely everything."

The war was triggered when Hamas, the Palestinian group that runs Gaza, carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, and taking about 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Israel has responded with a military offensive that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed at least 17,997 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

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Arab World

UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday it would have to stop humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if it did not receive new funding.

The Rome-based agency said it had already been forced to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.

"Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to halt humanitarian assistance by April," it said in a statement.

In early January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, following the destruction of a US-funded WFP warehouse in the capital Mogadishu's port.

The US announced a resumption of WFP food distribution on January 29.

However, all UN agencies have warned of serious funding shortfalls since Washington began slashing aid across the world following President Donald Trump's return to the White House last year.

"The situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate," said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, in Friday's statement.

"Families have lost everything, and many are already being pushed to the brink. Without immediate emergency food support, conditions will worsen quickly.

"We are at the cusp of a decisive moment; without urgent action, we may be unable to reach the most vulnerable in time, most of them women and children."

Some 4.4 million people in Somalia are facing crisis-levels of food insecurity, according to the WFP, the largest humanitarian agency in the country.

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and also suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons.

Arab World

Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
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Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)

Discussions on Gaza's future must begin with a total halt to Israeli "aggression", the Palestinian movement Hamas said after US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace met for the first time.

"Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people's legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination," Hamas said in a statement Thursday.

Trump's board met for its inaugural session in Washington on Thursday, with a number of countries pledging money and personnel to rebuild the Palestinian territory, more than four months into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted however that Hamas must disarm before any reconstruction begins.

"We agreed with our ally the US that there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader did not attend the Washington meeting but was represented by his foreign minister Gideon Saar.

Trump said several countries had pledged more than seven billion dollars to rebuild the territory.

Muslim-majority Indonesia will take a deputy commander role in a nascent International Stabilization Force, the unit's American chief Major General Jasper Jeffers said.

Trump, whose plan for Gaza was endorsed by the UN Security Council in November, also said five countries had committed to providing troops, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.

Arab World

Official Contacts Aim to Keep Lebanon out of War on Iran as Israel Raises Readiness on Northern Front 

This photograph shows a memorial for slain Lebanese Hezbollah longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah at the entrance of the southern village of Qannarit on February 16, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph shows a memorial for slain Lebanese Hezbollah longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah at the entrance of the southern village of Qannarit on February 16, 2026. (AFP)
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Official Contacts Aim to Keep Lebanon out of War on Iran as Israel Raises Readiness on Northern Front 

This photograph shows a memorial for slain Lebanese Hezbollah longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah at the entrance of the southern village of Qannarit on February 16, 2026. (AFP)
This photograph shows a memorial for slain Lebanese Hezbollah longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah at the entrance of the southern village of Qannarit on February 16, 2026. (AFP)

Israel has raised the alert level of its military along the border with Lebanon, raising questions that Lebanon’s south may again be involved in a regional confrontation should the US attack Iran.

Given the heightened tensions between the US and Iran, questions have been asked over whether Hezbollah will become involved in a new war. Its Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem had recently announced that the party will not remain on the side if Iran is attacked.

On the ground, Israel blew up houses in southern Lebanon border towns and carried out air strikes in the south. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the raids targeted “Hezbollah infrastructure,” including arms caches and rocket launchers.

Their presence in the south is a violation of current agreements, he added.

Amid the high regional tensions, Israel’s Maariv quoted a military source as saying that the army has come up with plans, including a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, which would drag the south and the whole of Lebanon into a new war.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the presidency has been carrying out internal and foreign contacts since Thursday morning to keep Lebanon out of any escalation.

Hezbollah had launched a “support front” war against Israel a day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack. In 2024, the war spiraled into an all-out conflict, with Israel decimating the Hezbollah leadership and severely weakening the party.

Israel believes that Hezbollah has been rebuilding its capabilities since the ceasefire that was struck in November 2024.

Kassim Kassir, a political analyst who is close to Hezbollah, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “No one knows what Hezbollah will do because the situation is tied the extent of the attack, should it happen.”

He noted that Qassem was ambiguous when he said the party will decide what to do when the time is right, but at any rate, he stressed that the party will not remain on the sidelines or abandon Iran.

“No one knows what Hezbollah’s abilities are, so everything is possible,” Kassir said.

Riad Kahwaji, a security and defense affairs expert, said he does not rule out the possibility that Hezbollah would join the war should the US attack Iran.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he stressed that Iran is now the United States’ main target, when previously it used to confront its proxies.

It has now taken the fight directly to the heart of the problem, which is the Iranian regime, he remarked.

The extent of the military mobilization in the region and the frequent American statements about regime change all indicate that a major military operation may be imminent, he added.

Israel’s military also favors preemptive operations, so it is watching Hezbollah, which remains Iran’s most powerful regional proxy despite the blows it received in 2024 war, Kahwaji said.

Hezbollah still possesses a rocket arsenal that can threaten Israel, he remarked.

Israel’s high level of alert on the border with Lebanon could be in readiness for any development. Should Tel Aviv receive word from Washington that it intends to attack Iran, then it could launch operations against Hezbollah as part of preemptive strikes aimed at preventing the party from launching attacks against it, Kahwaji said.

“As long as Hezbollah possesses heavy weapons, such as rockets, and drones, that it has not handed over to the army, then Lebanon will continue to be vulnerable to attacks in the next confrontation. It will be exposed to Israeli strikes as long as this issue remains unresolved,” he added.