UN: Israel Orders More Evacuations Of Gaza's Main Southern City

Palestinian children above the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli strikes on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohammed ABED / AFP
Palestinian children above the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli strikes on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohammed ABED / AFP
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UN: Israel Orders More Evacuations Of Gaza's Main Southern City

Palestinian children above the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli strikes on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohammed ABED / AFP
Palestinian children above the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli strikes on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohammed ABED / AFP

Israel ordered the evacuation Wednesday of large areas of Gaza's main southern city, the United Nations said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israel had released maps showing new areas covering about 20 percent of the Khan Yunis city that had been marked for evacuation.

Before fighting broke out, the area was home to more than 110,000 people, OCHA said.

The area also includes 32 shelters that housed more than 140,000 internally displaced persons, the vast majority of whom were previously displaced from the north, it added, AFP reported.

The Israeli army said Wednesday that "ground, aerial and naval operations were carried out on dozens of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure" on military command and control centres in Khan Yunis.

Israel's ensuing military campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 20,000 people, the majority of them children and women, according to the Hamas government.



Syria Unable to Import Wheat or Fuel Due to US Sanctions, Trade Minister Says

Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Unable to Import Wheat or Fuel Due to US Sanctions, Trade Minister Says

Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)

Syria is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict US sanctions and despite many countries wanting to do so, Syria's new trade minister said.

In an interview with Reuters at his office in Damascus, Maher Khalil al-Hasan said Syria's new ruling administration had managed to scrape together enough wheat and fuel for a few months but the country faces a "catastrophe" if sanctions are not frozen or lifted soon.

Hasan is a member of the new caretaker government set up by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group after it launched a lightning offensive that toppled autocratic President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after 13 years of civil war.

The sanctions were imposed during Assad's rule, targeting his government and also state institutions such as the central bank.

Russia and Iran, both major backers of the Assad government, previously provided most of Syria's wheat and oil products but both stopped doing so after the opposition factions triumphed and Assad fled to Moscow.

The US is set to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while maintaining its strict sanctions regime, people briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The exact impact of the expected measures remains to be seen.

The decision by the outgoing Biden administration aims to send a signal of goodwill to Syria's people and its new rulers, and pave the way for improving basic services and living conditions in the war-ravaged country.

Washington wants to see Damascus embark on an inclusive political transition and to cooperate on counterterrorism and other matters.

Hasan told Reuters he was aware of reports that some sanctions may soon be eased or frozen.