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Arab World

Israeli Forces Quit East Khan Younis, Palestinians Recover Dozens of Bodies 

Palestinians make their way to return to neighborhoods in the eastern side of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way to return to neighborhoods in the eastern side of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Forces Quit East Khan Younis, Palestinians Recover Dozens of Bodies 

Palestinians make their way to return to neighborhoods in the eastern side of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way to return to neighborhoods in the eastern side of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip July 30, 2024. (Reuters)

Thousands of Palestinians returned to their homes in the ruins of Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis on Tuesday, after Israeli forces ended a week-long incursion there which they said aimed to prevent armed group Hamas from regrouping.

Palestinian health officials said rescue workers had so far recovered 42 bodies of Palestinians killed in the Israeli incursion into eastern Khan Younis. Gaza's Civil Emergency Service said more searches were underway with 200 people still reported missing.

The Israeli military said its forces killed more than 150 Palestinian gunmen during the week-long raid, destroyed militant tunnels and seized weapons.

After the Israeli forces left, people streamed back to their homes on foot and with donkey carts carrying their belongings. Many found their houses damaged or destroyed.

Witnesses said army forces had bulldozed the main cemetery in Bani Suhaila, the town on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis that was the main focus of the raid, as well as houses and roads nearby.

"I am coming back and I have faith in God. I don't know whether we will live or die, but it is all for the sake of the homeland," said Etimad Al-Masri, who had walked for at least five kilometers back to her home.

"Despite the suffering, we are patient and God willing we will have victory."

Many residents said they had been displaced from their homes several times.

"We hope there will be a ceasefire and calm. We hope that they act on a ceasefire so that we can live in security and safety," said Walid Abu Nsaira, holding some of his belongings on his shoulder as he walked back home.

Ten months into the war, Israeli forces have largely completed their storming of nearly the entire Gaza Strip and have spent the past several weeks launching new assaults on areas where they had already claimed to have rooted out Hamas. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, most of them previously displaced several times already.

Efforts to negotiate a ceasefire through mediators, ongoing for months, are once again faltering. On Monday, Israel and Hamas traded blame over the lack of progress.

Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the conflict will stop only once Hamas is defeated. There are also disagreements over how a deal would be implemented.

The war began with an assault on southern Israel by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and captured around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then Israeli forces have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities there who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half of the dead are women or children. Israel, which has lost around 330 soldiers in Gaza, says a third of the Palestinian fatalities are fighters.

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Arab World

In Gaza, Fiberglass Homes Aim to Offer More ‘Dignity’ for Displaced

Boys (C) play with a ball amid tents at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
Boys (C) play with a ball amid tents at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
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In Gaza, Fiberglass Homes Aim to Offer More ‘Dignity’ for Displaced

Boys (C) play with a ball amid tents at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
Boys (C) play with a ball amid tents at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)

In southern Gaza, aid workers are meticulously assembling fiberglass homes meant to shelter thousands of Palestinians still displaced six months after a ceasefire started between Israel and Hamas.

Nearly two million people in Gaza are living in makeshift shelters, and the humanitarian situation remains dire, according to aid agencies.

The fiberglass units are designed to offer a modicum of relief -- homes with slightly more comfort than a tent vulnerable to the coastal winds that hit Gaza.

Alessandro Markic, head of the United Nations Development Program office in Gaza, initiated the plan. He said families "are facing extremely difficult conditions".

Roughly 4,000 units are planned in the al-Mohararat area, west of Khan Younis.

Workers assemble walls, install small windows, and lay roofs for families who try to settle in with rugs and cushions inside.

"These are very basic and temporary solutions, while we continue to plan for recovery and reconstruction," Markic said. The homes, he added, "provide more dignity, privacy, and protection during the winter."

Some Gazans were visibly relieved to have an alternative to the tents where most displaced people continue to live.

Nasma Sharab has moved into one unit with her sons, and affirmed it was "better" than a tent.

The fiberglass homes "don't constantly blow away in the wind," she said.

But, she added, "it's a temporary solution while we wait for reconstruction to begin and for people to be able to go back to their homes."

Among those who remain in a tent is Ali Abu Nahl, in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, after being displaced to the center and south of the territory with his children and grandchildren.

His house was destroyed during the devastating conflict that erupted with the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.

"It's been half a year since the bombing stopped, but in Gaza, the war doesn't end when the strikes stop," he said.

Arab World

Pressure Mounts on Hamas as It Weighs Response on Disarmament

Family members and friends mourn outside the Nasser Hospital, the day after a Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
Family members and friends mourn outside the Nasser Hospital, the day after a Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
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Pressure Mounts on Hamas as It Weighs Response on Disarmament

Family members and friends mourn outside the Nasser Hospital, the day after a Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)
Family members and friends mourn outside the Nasser Hospital, the day after a Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10, 2026. (AFP)

Diplomatic momentum is building around a Gaza ceasefire, as Hamas and other Palestinian factions prepare their final response to a “Board of Peace” plan on the movement’s disarmament and the second phase of the deal.

Talks were set to begin in Cairo on Friday and Saturday, with more meetings possible, bringing together Palestinian factions, Egyptian officials, and the Board of Peace’s high representative, Nickolay Mladenov.

Mladenov has held several rounds of talks in Egypt with officials and European representatives, following a second meeting last week with a Hamas delegation.

Sources from Hamas and other factions told Asharq Al-Awsat the group will present a unified Palestinian position, outlining its vision and proposed amendments to the plan submitted more than two weeks ago.

The response will stop short of outright acceptance or rejection, the sources said. Instead, Hamas will propose clear amendments and push for deeper negotiations to prevent Israel from using the process as a pretext to resume the war.

The group also aims to convince mediators, the United States, and the Board of Peace to broaden the talks beyond weapons, to include key provisions from both the first and second phases.

In its latest meeting with Mladenov, Hamas stressed that Israel must fully implement the first phase before any move to the second.

A Hamas source said the group would show flexibility with mediators to reach solutions that prevent renewed fighting, accusing the hardline government of Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking a return to war.

Resetting the terms

Hamas and other factions want a new negotiating framework that reflects Palestinian demands, rather than accepting imposed terms without binding commitments on Israel, another source said.

Details of the response remain undisclosed. But earlier discussions suggested handing over a limited number of vehicles mounted with “Dushka” machine guns, which Israel classifies as heavy weapons. At a later stage, factions could retain light arms under a mechanism overseen by mediators as part of a long-term truce.

Factions say they no longer possess what Israel defines as heavy weapons, such as rockets. Their remaining capabilities, they say, are limited to small numbers of anti-armor projectiles, explosive devices, light weapons such as Kalashnikov rifles, and some vehicle-mounted Dushka guns.

Pressure or coordination

Hamas sources acknowledge the group will face significant pressure in the coming talks, but say key mediators in Egypt, Türkiye, and Qatar understand its demands, even as they urge it to scale back proposed amendments.

A senior Hamas delegation has held meetings in Egypt and Türkiye, including with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, both of whom played key roles in the initial ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas said the meetings were part of consultations on Gaza and proposed amendments, denying that it was coming under pressure from Ankara.

The Board of Peace plan calls for full consolidation of all weapons, including light, heavy, tribal, and personal arms. Israel backs the plan. Hamas rejects it in its current form, citing security threats to its leaders and rejecting any link between disarmament and reconstruction of Gaza.

On the Israeli side, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israel is awaiting Hamas’s response. If it is negative, the decision would fall to Netanyahu’s government, which may move to enforce disarmament by force.

Israeli sources told the paper all options remain open, but with focus on the northern front with Lebanon, a return to fighting in Gaza in the coming days appears unlikely.

Arab World

Türkiye, Syria Advance Strategic Partnership to Support Reconstruction

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani shake hands during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 09 April 2026. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani shake hands during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 09 April 2026. (EPA)
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Türkiye, Syria Advance Strategic Partnership to Support Reconstruction

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani shake hands during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 09 April 2026. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani shake hands during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 09 April 2026. (EPA)

Türkiye and Syria are moving to forge a broad strategic partnership spanning all areas of cooperation, backing reconstruction and efforts to restore stability after 14 years of war.

A flurry of meetings in recent days has aimed to accelerate coordination between the neighbors across multiple sectors.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said shielding Syria from spillover from the regional crisis, including tensions involving Iran, the US, and Israel, is essential.

He said protecting gains toward sustainable stability in Syria remains a top priority for Ankara.

Speaking alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Ankara, Fidan said Türkiye would stand by Syria’s efforts.

Ankara is closely tracking the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into state institutions and wants the process completed without disruption to safeguard Syria and its neighbors, he added.

Lasting peace in the Middle East will remain out of reach unless Israel stops its expansionist ambitions. He described Israel’s actions in Lebanon as “genocide,” warning that stability cannot be achieved under continued escalation.

Shaibani said Syria and Türkiye have entered a new phase defined by a “strategic partnership,” anchored in the “Four Seas Project,” aimed at turning them into a key energy corridor linking the Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Mediterranean and Black seas.

He said talks covered energy, trade, and infrastructure, as well as tighter security coordination to control borders and counter threats to national security.

Shaibani said Damascus is pressing ahead with a comprehensive agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces, with work underway to integrate them into the Syrian army and restore state control over border crossings, oil and gas fields, and civilian institutions.

Both ministers welcomed a temporary US-Iran truce and called for concrete steps to bolster regional stability.

Shaibani said Syria has endured more than 14 years of Iranian interference and militia activity, leaving one million dead, 15 million displaced or forced to flee, and 4 million homes destroyed.

He said Syria supports Arab countries hit by what he called unjustified Iranian attacks and backs efforts to ensure state control in Lebanon and Iraq, rather than armed groups operating outside official authority.

Shaibani said Syria seeks a strategic and economic partnership with Lebanon and supports a ceasefire and the Lebanese government's efforts to resolve issues through national means.

He also called for US and international backing to implement the 1974 disengagement agreement, urging Israeli forces to withdraw from Syrian territory and allow reconstruction to proceed.

After talks with Fidan, Shaibani met the US envoy to Syria and the ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack, to discuss regional and international developments.

Earlier, a Turkish-Syrian investment forum in Istanbul brought together Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Syrian Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar to boost cooperation in transport, energy, investment, trade, and customs.

Bolat said transit trade through Syria to the Middle East and the Gulf is set to resume after a decade-long halt, with operations expected to begin next week following eased visa procedures for Turkish truck drivers via Saudi Arabia.

He said bilateral trade reached $3.7 billion last year, up 40%.

Separately Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu signed a trilateral transport deal in Amman with Jordan’s Nidal Qatamin and Syria’s Yarub Badr to deepen regional integration and develop transport infrastructure amid disruptions linked to the Iran conflict.

Uraloglu said the deal will ease truck movement, expand rail transport, boost port activity, and expand market access, adding that a Turkish technical delegation will visit Saudi Arabia next week as part of a broader plan to link the Arabian Peninsula with Central Asia and Europe.