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Tunisia to Hold Presidential Elections in Last Quarter This Year

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (Reuters)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (Reuters)
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Tunisia to Hold Presidential Elections in Last Quarter This Year

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (Reuters)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (Reuters)

The 2024 presidential elections are expected to be held in September or October 2024, spokesman for the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), Mohamed Tlili Mnasri, announced Sunday.
The Authority will begin preparations for the 2024 presidential elections just after the setting up of the National Council of Regions and Districts, he added.
Mnasri was speaking on the sidelines of a press briefing held by the ISIE on Sunday in Tunis.
Mnasri pointed out that, under the laws in force - which he said had not been amended - the presidential elections should be held within the constitutional timeframe, during the last three months of the presidential term.
Chapter 90 of the 2022 Constitution stipulates that the President is to be elected for a five-year term through a general, free, direct, and secret election within the final three months of the presidential term by an absolute majority of the votes cast.
President of the Republic Kais Saied won the run-off presidential elections in 2019 against Nabil Karoui with 72.71% of the vote.
According to the Tunisian constitution, the president's five-year term is set to end in the upcoming fall.
On Sunday, Tunisians voted in the second round of local elections with more than four million registered voters.
Farouk Bouasker, the commission’s chief, said that the polling stations nationwide opened at 8:00 a.m. local time Sunday morning.
The turnout in the first round of the election was 11.6%, according to Bouasker.
According to figures released by Mourakiboun, the turnout in the run-off local council elections had been 1.7% between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Wajdi Hamdi, member of the steering committee of the Chahed Observatory for election monitoring, said no major offenses were reported since the start of polling.
A total of 1,558 candidates competed over 779 seats at the councils, in the presence of approximately 14,000 local and foreign observers, as well as representatives of the candidates and civil community organizations concerned with electoral affairs.
The preliminary results of the elections are expected to be announced by February 7, with final results released on March 8-9.

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Arab World

Israeli Settler Violence Rises in West Bank Under Iran War Curbs

Mourners carry the bodies of three Palestinians killed in a reported attack by Israeli settlers in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, during the funeral on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Mourners carry the bodies of three Palestinians killed in a reported attack by Israeli settlers in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, during the funeral on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
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Israeli Settler Violence Rises in West Bank Under Iran War Curbs

Mourners carry the bodies of three Palestinians killed in a reported attack by Israeli settlers in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, during the funeral on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Mourners carry the bodies of three Palestinians killed in a reported attack by Israeli settlers in the town of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, during the funeral on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed during the war on Iran to attack Palestinians, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances reaching victims quickly, rights groups and medics say.

Settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank since the United States and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A sixth man died after inhaling teargas fired during an attack, according to Israeli rights group B'Tselem.

Israel's military blocked many West Bank roads with iron gates and mounds of earth on the first day of the war, and has largely shut crossings with Israel.

The Israeli military says the curbs are preemptive measures while it is carrying out airstrikes on Iran and against Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has fired missiles at Israel in solidarity with Tehran.

Palestinians in remote West Bank villages say the roadblocks have left them increasingly exposed to settler violence.

The Israeli military has also continued to carry out the raids it frequently conducts in Palestinian cities and towns during peacetime to arrest Palestinians, often without charge, they say.

A spokesperson for the Yesha Council, which represents Jewish settlements, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the attacks.

Malak ⁠Beirat's husband, Thaer, ⁠was one of two Palestinians who residents and the Palestinian health ministry say were shot dead by settlers before dawn on Sunday in Abu Falah, north of the city of Ramallah.

"Thaer loved life. I never expected he would die," said Beirat, fighting back tears as she sat with her two children.

Witnesses told Reuters that when over 100 settlers gathered on the outskirts of Abu Falah, a local WhatsApp group rallied men to protect the small village. The initial confrontation involved stone throwing, but armed settlers arrived later and began shooting, they said.

Beirat's husband was shot dead while trying to protect a house from attack, a man who helped defend the village said.

Blood could still be seen on Monday in olive groves at the scene of the attack, where villagers have erected ⁠two Palestinian flags at the spots where the two men were killed - one for each victim.

A third Palestinian died after the attack. B'Tselem said his death was probably caused by the effect of teargas fired by Israeli troops deployed to the village during the attack.

The Israeli military says an investigation has been launched into the incident and that it condemns "violence of any kind".

Medics say the new roadblocks have led to delays in reaching injured Palestinians.

"There are obstacles - and even attacks by settlers and the military on the (medical) crews," said Ahmed Jibril, spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service.

There have been over 109 reports of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war with Iran including shootings, physical assaults, property damage, and threats, said Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din.

All the reported killings of Palestinians by settlers this year were in the last week, B'Tselem said.

Settlers shot dead Amir Muhammad Shanaran in a village near the city of Hebron on Saturday, and brothers Muhammad and Fahim ‘Azem were shot dead in Qaryut southeast of the city of Nablus last Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

"Taking advantage of the war, armed settler ⁠militias, often operating with support from the ⁠army, continue to attack and harass Palestinian communities across the West Bank in an effort to force them out," B'Tselem said.

In three of the settler shootings, the settlers were wearing Israeli army uniform, Yesh Din said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Palestinians accuse the military of protecting settlers rather than villagers. Israel's military denies this.

Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At the end of 2025, Yesh Din said that of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023 that led to the Gaza war, only 2% resulted in indictments.

The United Nations says nearly 700 Palestinians were displaced by settler violence from the start of 2025 through early February 2026.

Israel's government has expanded settlements in a construction push that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says is aimed at burying the idea of a Palestinian state.

Right-wing Israeli minister Yossi Dagan announced on Wednesday the establishment of a new settlement in a strategic position in the mountain overlooking Nablus, one of 22 new settlements announced by the Israeli government last May.

Palestinians have long sought an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

Over 700,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among more than 3 million Palestinians, according to a European Union report in 2024.
Most of the world considers Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank illegal under international law relating to military occupations. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Pope Laments Death of Children in Iran War, Pledges Closeness to Lebanon

Civilians gather in the courtyard of a school where they take shelter, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Civilians gather in the courtyard of a school where they take shelter, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Pope Laments Death of Children in Iran War, Pledges Closeness to Lebanon

Civilians gather in the courtyard of a school where they take shelter, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Civilians gather in the courtyard of a school where they take shelter, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Pope Leo on Wednesday lamented the death of numerous civilians in the Iran war and also expressed closeness to people in Lebanon, saying the country, targeted by Israeli strikes, was going through a "great trial."

Leo, who has appealed several times for an end to the expanding conflict and warned that ‌the violence ‌could spiral out of control, called on ‌pilgrims ⁠in his weekly ⁠audience in St. Peter's Square to pray for peace.

"Let us continue to pray for peace in Iran, and throughout the Middle East, especially for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children," said the pontiff, as the war continued into ⁠its 12th day.

He made no mention ‌of any specific incident ‌involving children.

A girls' school in Minab, in southern Iran, ‌was hit on February 28 during the first ‌day of US and Israeli attacks on the country. Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. Reuters could not independently ‌confirm the death toll.

The US military is investigating the incident.

Leo also lamented ⁠the ⁠death of a priest who was killed on Monday in strikes on southern Lebanon, where Israel is attacking the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel from Lebanon in solidarity with the government in Iran.

The pope said Rev. Pierre El Rahi was a "true shepherd" who was killed while trying to offer aid to parishioners who had been injured in a strike.

Leo visited Lebanon in December as part of his first overseas trip as pope.

Arab World

Erdogan: War Must be Stopped 'Before it Engulfs Entire Region in Flames'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, March 9, 2026. Mustafa Kamaci/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, March 9, 2026. Mustafa Kamaci/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Erdogan: War Must be Stopped 'Before it Engulfs Entire Region in Flames'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, March 9, 2026. Mustafa Kamaci/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, March 9, 2026. Mustafa Kamaci/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

The war raging in much of the Middle East must be stopped before it engulfs the entire region at increasing cost to the global economy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

"This war must be stopped before it becomes bigger and completely engulfs the region in flames," he said, describing the Middle East as "once again enveloped in a smell of blood and gunpowder".

"If diplomacy is given a chance, this is entirely possible," he insisted, a day after Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi effectively ruled out negotiations with Washington, saying Tehran had had "a very bitter experience of talking with Americans".

The war, sparked by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has caused death, displacement and destruction while roiling oil markets and leading to a spike in oil prices.

"If this senseless, lawless and irregular war continues, there will be more loss of life and property, and the cost to the global economy will increase even further," Erdogan added, saying Türkiye was pursuing efforts to find a diplomatic solution.

Since the war began, Tehran has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East.

Aside from two ballistic missile interceptions in Turkish airspace by NATO defense systems over the course of five days, Türkiye appears to have been spared.

Türkiye has no natural gas or fuel supply problems and currently does not foresee any, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said ⁠on Wednesday, despite worries ⁠about supply constraints pushing prices higher.