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Arab World

High Risk of Famine Persists Across Gaza, Global Hunger Monitor Says 

Men and children search through debris in the yard of the Asma school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees west of Gaza City, in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment on June 25, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Men and children search through debris in the yard of the Asma school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees west of Gaza City, in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment on June 25, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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High Risk of Famine Persists Across Gaza, Global Hunger Monitor Says 

Men and children search through debris in the yard of the Asma school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees west of Gaza City, in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment on June 25, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Men and children search through debris in the yard of the Asma school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees west of Gaza City, in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment on June 25, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

A high risk of famine persists across the whole of the Gaza Strip as long as conflict between Israel and Hamas continues and humanitarian access remains restricted, a global hunger monitor said on Tuesday.

Over 495,000 people, or more than one fifth of Gaza's population, are facing the most severe, catastrophic level of food insecurity, said an update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The IPC said increased deliveries of food and nutrition services to northern Gaza in March and April appeared to have reduced the severity of hunger in the area, where the UN-backed body had previously projected that famine was likely.

But Israel's offensive around the southern city of Rafah from early May and other hostilities and displacement have led to a renewed deterioration in recent weeks, it added.

"The humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip continues to shrink and the ability to safely deliver assistance to populations is dwindling. The recent trajectory is negative and highly unstable," the report said.

The Rafah offensive led to the closure of the crossing on Gaza's border with Egypt, which had been a main route for the delivery of food and other supplies, as well as an evacuation point for civilians who were critically ill or injured.

This factor, along with disruptions at the nearby Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, reduced humanitarian access to two million people in southern Gaza, the IPC said.

Within Gaza, displacement to areas with less water and fewer health services "increases the risk of disease outbreaks, which would have catastrophic effects on the nutritional and health status of large segments of the population", it said.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza was launched after Hamas-led fighters raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli response has killed almost 37,600 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, leaving Gaza in ruins and repeatedly displacing much of its population within the blockaded coastal territory.

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Arab World

‘Like a Threat’: What Gaza’s Latest Disarmament Proposal Includes

Gunmen from Hamas’ Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
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‘Like a Threat’: What Gaza’s Latest Disarmament Proposal Includes

Gunmen from Hamas’ Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)

Sources from Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat that its delegation received a proposal days ago to disarm the Gaza Strip, submitted by the executive body of the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump.

A senior Hamas source based outside Gaza said that what was presented appeared to be a “threat message.”

Two other Hamas sources and a third from another Palestinian faction, all inside Gaza, said the proposal calls for handing over “all weapons inside Gaza without exception.”

The Palestinian faction source said that “the demand is to remove the weapons of all factions, clans, and even personal arms, including those held by leaders at all levels, even if intended for personal protection.”

Reuters reported on Saturday, citing two sources, that the Board of Peace had submitted a written proposal to Hamas outlining how it would surrender its weapons.

The agency said the proposal was presented during a meeting in Cairo attended by Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative of the Board of Peace, and Aryeh Lightstone, a special assistant to US envoy Steve Witkoff.

A senior Hamas source said the movement’s delegation told the meeting that armed factions in Gaza remain committed to what has been agreed and are ready to implement all phases of the deal.

The source said the priority is to move ahead with agreed stages, then address weapons and negotiations over them.

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached in October under a 20-point plan proposed by Trump and divided into phases.

Israel has yet to implement the clause requiring withdrawal from areas it occupies in the enclave, which accounts for 55% of Gaza’s territory, while the disarmament clause comes later.

A Hamas source said the plan aims to tie reconstruction and changes to governance in Gaza exclusively to surrendering weapons.

“What was presented was a threat message, not a rational proposal that engages the issue through negotiation, weighing positives and negatives. There are attempts to impose dictates that are unacceptable to us and to the broader Palestinian national consensus,” the source said.

Hamas sources said the proposal has been referred for internal discussions within the movement and among Palestinian factions, noting it does not set a deadline for a response.

People familiar with the proposal said the prevailing view within Hamas and Gaza factions is to reject linking disarmament to reconstruction.

A Hamas source inside Gaza confirmed that it is one of several proposals previously put forward.

“What the movement received is not final and does not present a clear and comprehensive vision covering all aspects of the weapons issue and other matters related to the second phase,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

Hamas, betting on its position as the largest armed group in the enclave, is consulting Palestinian factions to reach a “unified national position, particularly on the issue of weapons.”

The senior Hamas source outside Gaza said: “We have no objection to reaching an agreement, provided it does not compromise national constants and key principles that keep the Palestinian cause at the forefront of global priorities until the occupation ends, even if through a clearly defined political path that grants Palestinians genuine sovereignty.”

US officials said the Iran-backed Hamas could be offered amnesty under any agreement in which it agrees to surrender both heavy and light weapons, including rifles.

Arab World

Iraq Arrests Four After Rocket Attack on Syria Base

Demonstrators carry a Syrian flag during a rally commemorating the15th anniversary of the Syrian uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Daraa, southern Syria, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP)
Demonstrators carry a Syrian flag during a rally commemorating the15th anniversary of the Syrian uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Daraa, southern Syria, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP)
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Iraq Arrests Four After Rocket Attack on Syria Base

Demonstrators carry a Syrian flag during a rally commemorating the15th anniversary of the Syrian uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Daraa, southern Syria, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP)
Demonstrators carry a Syrian flag during a rally commemorating the15th anniversary of the Syrian uprising against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Daraa, southern Syria, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP)

Iraq arrested four people in connection with an earlier rocket attack launched against a military base in neighboring Syria, officials said late Tuesday.

"Our security forces, supported by intelligence efforts, moved swiftly and succeeded in arresting four of the perpetrators," a short statement from the prime minister's office said.

It added that the suspects had been handed over to the "appropriate authorities" as part of the investigation.

Monday's attack targeted a northeastern Syrian military base in Hasakeh province that had until recently hosted US forces with an international anti-ISIS coalition.

These are the first arrests announced in Iraq related to the Middle East conflict that broke out on February 28.

However, drone strikes and rocket attacks have regularly targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, a US diplomatic center at the Iraqi capital's airport, and forces with the international anti-ISIS coalition.

Syria's army condemned the attack on Monday, and confirmed they were in contact with Iraqi authorities to "locate the perpetrators".

Arab World

Iraq Summons US, Iran Representatives After Deadly Strikes

Members of Iraq’s PMF guard the streets during the funeral for members of the PMF in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq’s PMF guard the streets during the funeral for members of the PMF in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Iraq Summons US, Iran Representatives After Deadly Strikes

Members of Iraq’s PMF guard the streets during the funeral for members of the PMF in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq’s PMF guard the streets during the funeral for members of the PMF in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)

Iraq said late on Tuesday it would summon the US charge d'affaires and the Iranian ambassador after deadly strikes blamed on their countries, as Iraqi authorities granted targeted former paramilitary groups the "right to respond".

Iraq has been pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the region.

The former paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), part of Iraq's regular armed forces but which also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups, blamed the United States for the deadliest strike so far on Iraqi territory, which killed a commander and 14 other fighters.

In the autonomous Kurdistan region, a ballistic missile attack killed six of the regional force's fighters, known as the peshmerga.

The region accused Iran of conducting the first such deadly attack on Kurdish security forces since the war began.

Neither the United States nor Iran commented on the accusations, but in a statement released late on Tuesday, Iraq said its foreign ministry would summon both representatives to "deliver formal notes of protest regarding the attacks".

It also emphasized the necessity of maintaining balanced relations both internationally and regionally to prevent Iraq being "drawn into areas of conflict".

Iraq has long been a proxy battleground for the United States and Iran, and has struggled to balance diplomatic ties with both countries.

Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups, including state-linked positions.

In the statement from the prime minister's office, however, Iraq granted former paramilitaries within the official armed forces the right to "respond to military attacks" by drones and aircraft that targeted their headquarters.

- 'Decisions of war' -

Late on Tuesday, the Coordination Framework, Iraq's ruling coalition of Shiite parties with varying degrees of links to Iran, backed the government decision.

However, it also condemned "attacks against state institutions and diplomatic missions", and called for the perpetrators to be punished.

The coalition said the government retained "the exclusive right of the state over decisions of war".

The PMF said those killed in the strike targeting its fighters included a top provincial commander.

It described the strike as a "treacherous American attack that targeted the operation headquarters", and later urged authorities to "confront these repeated American violations".

The overnight strike targeted a base in the western Anbar province bordering Syria, long the scene of operations against the ISIS group.

Since the start of the Middle East war, Baghdad has repeatedly denounced attacks on the PMF, formed in 2014 to fight ISIS.

After the extremists were defeated in 2017 in Iraq, the coalition gained influence within the security forces. Its armed factions also developed political roles, including representation in parliament, as well as economic interests.

Last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that combat helicopters had carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the current conflict.

On Tuesday night, the sound of fighter jets was repeatedly heard in the skies above the Iraqi capital.

- Iraqi Kurdistan -

Earlier, the PMF said a "Zionist-American strike" had targeted their Mosul office in northern Iraq, with a security official saying it was a second home for coalition leader Falih al-Fayadh, although he was not present during the attack.

The Kurdish defense ministry in the north separately said a strike targeting peshmerga forces killed six fighters and wounded 30 others, blaming the attack on Iran.

"Six Iranian ballistic missiles targeted them," said the Iraqi Kurdish authorities, branding the attack "hostile, treacherous".