Arab Condemnations of Israeli Massacre against Displaced Palestinians in Rafah 

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
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Arab Condemnations of Israeli Massacre against Displaced Palestinians in Rafah 

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (AFP)

Arab countries and organizations slammed on Monday Israel for its strikes on a center for displaced Palestinians that killed dozens near the southern city of Rafah on Sunday.

The health ministry in Gaza said in a statement that the strikes "claimed the lives of 35 martyrs and left dozens injured, most of them children and women".

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza earlier said the attack hit a center run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees near Rafah, branding it a "horrific massacre".

The Palestinian Authority presidency in the West Bank called it a "heinous massacre", accusing Israeli forces of "deliberately targeting" the tents of displaced people.

The massacre is an act of "defiance to all international resolutions," it added in a statement.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed and wounded at least 50 people in the area, where it said 100,000 displaced people live.

Hamas said Palestinians must "rise up and march" against the attack.

The Israeli army said it had targeted Hamas fighters. Israel's army said its aircraft "struck a Hamas compound in Rafah", killing Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar, both senior officials for the Palestinian armed group in the occupied West Bank.

It added that it was "aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited, several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review."

Palestinians carry a body after an Israeli army raid on a camp at an area designated for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 27 May 2024. (EPA)

Qatar said on Monday the latest Israeli attack on Rafah could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, a foreign ministry statement said.

Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack, saying the Israeli forces’ actions against Palestinians "exposes their blatant war crimes and unprecedented genocide to the whole world."

"This calls for immediate and firm intervention by the international community to compel these forces into adhering to international legitimacy resolutions, including the International Justice Court resolution on immediately ceasing the aggression against Rafah, and protecting the Palestinian people," it demanded in a statement.

Egypt strongly condemned the attack, saying Israeli forces "deliberately" targeted the displaced.

The Foreign Ministry said Cairo had called on Israel "to meet its legal commitments as an occupying power" and respect the International Court of Justice’s call on it to immediately cease its military operations.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned the "ongoing heinous war crimes committed by the Israeli forces in Gaza," saying the latest attack in Rafah was a "flagrant challenge to the ICJ and grave violation of international law and international humanitarian law."

The Arab Parliament echoed the condemnation, warning in a statement that "failure to hold Israel to account for its crimes and massacres against the Palestinians and failure to take any deterrent measures against it will only make it commit more killings and cause more destruction."

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation slammed the "heinous Israeli massacre against Palestinian civilians," describing it as a "war crime, crime against humanity and state organized terrorism" and demanding that Israel be held to account before international justice.



UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
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UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)

A drone strike on a displacement camp in Sudan killed at least 15 children earlier this week, the United Nations reported late on Wednesday.

"On Monday 16 February, at least 15 children were reportedly killed and 10 wounded after a drone strike on a displacement camp in Al Sunut, West Kordofan," the UN children's agency said in a statement.

Across the Kordofan region, currently the Sudan war's fiercest battlefield, "we are seeing the same disturbing patterns from Darfur -- children killed, injured, displaced and cut off from the services they need to survive," UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said.


MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The head of Doctors Without Borders in the Palestinian territories told AFP the charity would continue working in Gaza for as long as possible, following an Israeli decision to end its activities there.

In early February, Israel announced it was terminating all the activities in Gaza by the medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

MSF has slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a "pretext" to obstruct aid.

"For the time being, we are still working in Gaza, and we plan to keep running our operations as long as we can," Filipe Ribeiro told AFP in Amman, but said operations were already facing challenges.

"Since the beginning of January, we are not anymore in the capacity to get international staff inside Gaza. The Israeli authorities actually denied any entry to Gaza, but also to the West Bank," he said.

Ribeiro added that MSF's ability to bring medical supplies into Gaza had also been impacted.

"They're not allowed for now, but we have some stocks in our pharmacies that will allow us to keep running operations for the time being," he said.

"We do have teams in Gaza that are still working, both national and international, and we have stocks."

In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations.

It had alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the medical charity has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

MSF says it did not provide the names of its Palestinian staff because Israeli authorities offered no assurances regarding their safety.

Ribeiro warned of the massive impact the termination of MSF's operations would have for healthcare in war-shattered Gaza.

"MSF is one of the biggest actors when it comes to the health provision in Gaza and the West Bank, and if we are obliged to leave, then we will create a huge void in Gaza," he said.

The charity says it currently provides at least 20 percent of hospital beds in the territory and operates around 20 health centers.

In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations, treated more than 100,000 trauma cases and assisted more than 10,000 infant deliveries.


Egyptian-Turkish Military Talks Focus on Strengthening Partnership

The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
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Egyptian-Turkish Military Talks Focus on Strengthening Partnership

The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)

Senior Egyptian and Turkish air force commanders met in Cairo on Wednesday for talks focused on strengthening military partnership and expanding bilateral cooperation, in the latest sign of warming defense ties between the two countries.

The meeting brought together the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force, Lt. Gen. Amr Saqr, and his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Ziya Cemal Kadioglu, to review a range of issues of mutual interest amid growing cooperation between the two air forces.

Egypt’s military spokesperson said the talks reflect the Armed Forces’ commitment to deepening military collaboration with friendly and partner nations.

Earlier this month, Egypt and Türkiye signed a military cooperation agreement during talks in Cairo between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Sisi highlighted similar viewpoints on regional and international issues, while Erdogan noted that enhanced cooperation and forthcoming joint steps would help support regional peace.

Cairo and Ankara also signed an agreement last August on the joint production of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones. Production of unmanned ground vehicles has also begun under a partnership between the Turkish firm HAVELSAN and Egypt’s Kader Factory.

During the talks, Saqr underscored the importance of coordinating efforts to advance shared interests and expressed hope for closer ties that would benefit both air forces.

Kadioglu, for his part, stressed the depth of bilateral partnership and the strong foundations of cooperation between the two countries’ air forces.

According to the military spokesperson, Kadioglu also toured several Egyptian Air Force units to review the latest training and armament systems introduced in recent years.

Military cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye has gained momentum since 2023, following the restoration of full diplomatic relations and reciprocal presidential visits that reflected positively on the defense sector.

In September last year, the joint naval exercise “Sea of Friendship 2025” was held in Turkish territorial waters, aimed at enhancing joint capabilities and exchanging expertise against a range of threats.