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Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 24 in Gaza City, Say Gaza Officials 

A boy carries water in al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, where UN agencies have warned of dire shortages of vital supplies. Eyad BABA / AFP
A boy carries water in al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, where UN agencies have warned of dire shortages of vital supplies. Eyad BABA / AFP
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Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 24 in Gaza City, Say Gaza Officials 

A boy carries water in al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, where UN agencies have warned of dire shortages of vital supplies. Eyad BABA / AFP
A boy carries water in al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, where UN agencies have warned of dire shortages of vital supplies. Eyad BABA / AFP

Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate airstrikes on Gaza City early on Tuesday, health officials said, while tanks deepened their incursion into the town of Rafah in the south of the enclave. 

Two of the strikes hit two schools in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people, medics said. Another strike on a house in the Shati (Beach) camp, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, killed 10 others. 

The house in Shati belonged to the extended family of Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, killing one of his sisters along with other relatives too, family members and medics said. 

Haniyeh, who leads Hamas' diplomacy and is the public face of the armed group that has been running Gaza, has lost many of his relatives in Israeli air strikes since Oct. 7, including three of his sons. 

Israel's military said its forces had targeted gunmen overnight in Gaza City who had been involved in the planning of attacks on Israel. The gunmen included some involved in holding hostages captive and some who had taken part in Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7. 

The Israeli Air Force struck two structures "used by Hamas terrorists in Shati and Daraj Tuffah in the northern Gaza Strip. The terrorists operated inside school compounds that were used by Hamas as a shield for its terrorist activities", the military statement said. 

Hamas denies using civilian facilities such as schools and hospitals for military purposes. 

More than eight months into the fighting, international mediation backed by the United States has so far failed to bring a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any agreement must bring an end to the war, while Israel says it will agree only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated. 

SHORTAGES OF MEDICINE 

Israel's ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

The Israeli offensive in retaliation has killed almost 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and has left the tiny, densely populated Gaza Strip in ruins. 

Gaza's health ministry said on Tuesday that hospitals and medical centers in the enclave were experiencing a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies due to the continued Israeli offensive, Israel's control and closure of all crossings and its targeting of the health sector in Gaza. 

In particularly short supply are medications needed for emergency, anesthesia, intensive care and operations, the ministry said in a statement, while cancer patients were unable to travel to hospitals. 

Since early May, fighting has focused on Rafah, on Gaza's southern edge abutting the border with Egypt, where around half of the enclave's 2.3 million people have been sheltering after fleeing other areas. 

Residents said fierce fighting had taken place overnight in western areas of Rafah, where tanks have extended their incursion in recent days, blowing up several homes in the area. 

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Arab World

US Federal Jury Convicts Assad-era Syrian Official of Torture

Officers keep watch outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., US, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
Officers keep watch outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., US, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
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US Federal Jury Convicts Assad-era Syrian Official of Torture

Officers keep watch outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., US, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
Officers keep watch outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., US, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted a former Syrian government official, who headed the Damascus Central Prison under the government of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, of torture, the US Justice Department said on Monday.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 73, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture for his involvement in the torture of prisoners at Adra Prison as it is colloquially known, in Damascus, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Alsheikh, who headed the prison from ‌2005 to 2008, ‌had pleaded not guilty, according to a court ‌filing. ⁠On Monday, his legal ⁠team said they were "disappointed" with the verdict and that Alsheikh "will pursue all appellate and post-trial relief", reported Reuters.

The jury also convicted Alsheikh of lying to US immigration authorities about his commission of these crimes, fraudulently obtaining a green card and attempting to naturalize as a US citizen, the department added.

He was charged in late 2024 and prosecutors said he ordered subordinates ⁠to inflict severe physical and mental pain and suffering ‌on political and other prisoners. He ‌was sometimes personally involved in such incidents, according to the US Justice Department.

The torture ‌aimed to deter opposition to the Assad government, the department said.

Alsheikh, ‌who held positions in the state security apparatus, was associated with Assad's Syrian Ba'ath Party, and was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour by the ousted leader in 2011, prosecutors said.

Alsheikh faces a maximum penalty of ‌20 years in prison for each of the three torture counts and the count of conspiracy to commit ⁠torture, the ⁠Justice Department said.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the immigration and attempted naturalization fraud charges and will remain in US custody pending his sentencing at a date to be determined by court, the department added.

Syrian opposition groups put an end to more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family in late 2024 following a lightning advance. A more than a decade long civil war killed hundreds of thousands, unleashed a refugee crisis and left cities bombed to rubble.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, took over after Assad's ouster and has aimed to improve ties with the West.

Arab World

Israeli Strikes Hit Beirut Neighborhoods, Apartment Block

A man inspects a site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 16, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
A man inspects a site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 16, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
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Israeli Strikes Hit Beirut Neighborhoods, Apartment Block

A man inspects a site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 16, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /
A man inspects a site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 16, 2026. (Photo by AFP) /

Israeli airstrikes rained down on three neighborhoods in Beirut early Tuesday, Lebanese state media reported, as Lebanon said more than one million people had been displaced in two weeks of fighting.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes, said AFP.

Israel has responded with broad air raids on its northern neighbor and troop incursions into border areas

"A series of raids and artillery shelling targeted southern towns at dawn," Lebanon's National News Agency said.

"Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes targeting the Kafaat and Haret Hreik areas" and another airstrike on a residential apartment building in the Doha Aramoun area, NNA added.

An Ethiopian woman was wounded in the strikes, it said, quoting the health ministry.

Israel confirmed it had carried out the attacks, saying it was targeting Hezbollah.

Israel said earlier it had launched a "wide scale wave of strikes" in the Iranian capital Tehran and was also targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

Israeli strikes have killed 886 people, including 67 women and 111 children, since the start of the fresh fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon's health ministry said Monday, adding that 2,141 others have been wounded.

Lebanese authorities said more than one million people have registered as displaced since March 2, with more than 130,000 people staying in upwards of 600 collective shelters.

The Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon, extending more than 40 kilometers (around 25 miles) from its border.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that displaced Lebanese should not return home "south of the Litani area until the safety of residents in the north (of Israel) is guaranteed".

Arab World

Drone, Rocket Attack Targets US Embassy in Baghdad

The US Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP)
The US Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP)
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Drone, Rocket Attack Targets US Embassy in Baghdad

The US Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP)
The US Embassy is seen across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP)

A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisors, security officials said, pulling Iraq deeper into the Middle East war.

An AFP journalist reported seeing black smoke rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defenses intercepting another drone.

The strikes came hours after air defenses thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy and a drone sparked a fire at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with strikes targeting Iran-backed groups that have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.

Meanwhile, a strike on a house in Baghdad killed four people early Tuesday, with initial reports suggesting that two of the dead were "Iranian advisors" to Tehran-backed groups, a security source told AFP.

Another source from an Iran-backed faction confirmed that four people were killed in the strike on a house hosting Iranian advisors in al-Jadiriyah neighborhood.

The attacks came shortly after the powerful Tehran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group announced that its senior security commander Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed, without providing details on the circumstances of his death.

Iraq's interior ministry initially said that a "projectile" fell on the roof of the luxury al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, before clarifying that it was a drone. It did not specify whether the building itself was the target.

"The incident caused no casualties or material damage," it added.

A street leading to the hotel, which hosts diplomatic missions including the US embassy, was blocked by a large security deployment, with firefighters and ambulances present, according to an AFP correspondent.

Witnesses saw a fire break out on the roof of the hotel.

Shortly after the hotel incident, a loud blast was heard in Baghdad, as air defenses were seen intercepting an attack over the US embassy, an AFP journalist said.

A security official told AFP "air defenses thwarted an attack with four rockets" on the embassy.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, head of the armed forces, denounced the attacks -- including a strike on a southern oil field -- calling them threats to his country's "security and stability".

He promised security services would "hunt down the perpetrators of these acts and bring them to justice immediately", according to a statement from his spokesman, Sabah al-Numan.

"These criminal acts have serious repercussions for our country and undermine the government's efforts toward reconstruction and prosperity."

- Fighters killed, oil attack -

Kataib Hezbollah announced Monday "the martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari", without providing any details on how and when he was killed.

A security official told AFP that "Abu Ali al-Askari is Abu Ali al-Amiri, the commander who was killed in a strike on Baghdad on Saturday".

Kataib Hezbollah referred to Askari as the group's security chief. He was also the spokesperson in charge of issuing all key statements in the group's name.

Drone and rocket attacks have also targeted oil fields and facilities.

Earlier Monday, two drones targeted the southern Majnoon oil field -- which had already paused production -- with the oil ministry spokesperson saying that one of the drones had hit a telecommunications tower.

A security official said a second drone had targeted the offices of a US firm, operating at the site.

In a separate incident in the west, eight Iraqi fighters from a former paramilitary coalition were also killed in strikes near the country's border with Syria.

The fighters belonged to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which are now part of Iraq's regular army.

In a statement, the PMF confirmed the attack, saying they were killed “while performing their duty in protecting the nation’s territory and sovereignty.” 

“It was the latest attack on our heroic security forces in recent days,” it added. 

“They attacks will only make us more determined and driven to perform our duty in defending Iraq and consolidating its sovereignty,” it stressed. 

PM Sudani has sacked a number of senior intelligence officers in Baghdad and Nineveh in an attempt to curb attacks inside Iraq, whether those carried out by Washington and Tel Aviv against the PMF and its affiliated armed factions, or by the factions against Baghdad airport and other civilian locations in Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. 

Military sources said the majority of attacks against Kurdistan are being launched from Nineveh or Kirkuk. Iran has also been firing at the region. 

There is a growing conviction in the country that Sudani’s caretaker government will be incapable of preventing the attacks on Iraq despite the statements of condemnation and the various probes that have been launched into them.