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New Israel FM Says Palestinian State Not ‘Realistic’

Israel's new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024. (AFP)
Israel's new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024. (AFP)
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New Israel FM Says Palestinian State Not ‘Realistic’

Israel's new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024. (AFP)
Israel's new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar speaks during a hand over ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024. (AFP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state as a "realistic" goal, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his commitment to a "sovereign" country.

"I don't think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic," the newly appointed minister said in response to a question about the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

The normalization drive was a part of the 2020 Abraham Accords overseen by Donald Trump, and the process could resume after the president-elect returns to the White House in January.

A Palestinian state would be "a Hamas state", Saar added of the Palestinian armed group in Gaza with which Israel has been at war for more than a year.

Abbas, in comments carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, said Sunday that "security and stability" could only be achieved with the establishment of "sovereignty and independence on the land of the Palestinian state".

The Palestinian Authority leader was speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary Monday of the death of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Abbas also reaffirmed his push for "peace, and we will continue to work to achieve it".

As Saar spoke in Jerusalem, Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for a summit addressing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is also fighting Hamas ally Hezbollah.

A draft resolution at the summit stressed "firm support" for "national rights" for the Palestinian people, "foremost among which is their right to freedom and to an independent, sovereign state".

The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,603 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack.

The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September when Israel intensified its air strikes and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.

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Arab World

Lebanon Says One Killed in Israeli Strike on Palestinian Refugee Camp

22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
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Lebanon Says One Killed in Israeli Strike on Palestinian Refugee Camp

22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)

An Israeli strike on Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp killed one person on Friday, state media reported, with the Israeli army saying it had targeted the Palestinian group Hamas.

The official National News Agency said "an Israeli drone" targeted a neighborhood of the Ain al-Hilweh camp, which is located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.

It reported that one person was killed and an unspecified number wounded.

An AFP correspondent saw smoke rising from a building in the densely populated camp as ambulances headed to the scene.

The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces "struck a Hamas command center from which terrorists operated".

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

Israel has also struck targets belonging to Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas, including in a raid on Ain al-Hilweh last November that killed 13 people.

The UN rights office had said 11 children were killed in that strike, which Israel said targeted a Hamas training compound, though the group denied it had military installations in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

In October 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel in support of Hamas at the outset of the Gaza war, triggering months of exchanges that culminated in two months of all-out war in Lebanon.

On Sunday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike near the Syrian border in the country's east killed four people, as Israel said it targeted operatives from Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.

Arab World

UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday it would have to stop humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if it did not receive new funding.

The Rome-based agency said it had already been forced to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.

"Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to halt humanitarian assistance by April," it said in a statement.

In early January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, following the destruction of a US-funded WFP warehouse in the capital Mogadishu's port.

The US announced a resumption of WFP food distribution on January 29.

However, all UN agencies have warned of serious funding shortfalls since Washington began slashing aid across the world following President Donald Trump's return to the White House last year.

"The situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate," said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, in Friday's statement.

"Families have lost everything, and many are already being pushed to the brink. Without immediate emergency food support, conditions will worsen quickly.

"We are at the cusp of a decisive moment; without urgent action, we may be unable to reach the most vulnerable in time, most of them women and children."

Some 4.4 million people in Somalia are facing crisis-levels of food insecurity, according to the WFP, the largest humanitarian agency in the country.

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and also suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons.

Arab World

Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
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Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)

Discussions on Gaza's future must begin with a total halt to Israeli "aggression", the Palestinian movement Hamas said after US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace met for the first time.

"Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people's legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination," Hamas said in a statement Thursday.

Trump's board met for its inaugural session in Washington on Thursday, with a number of countries pledging money and personnel to rebuild the Palestinian territory, more than four months into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted however that Hamas must disarm before any reconstruction begins.

"We agreed with our ally the US that there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader did not attend the Washington meeting but was represented by his foreign minister Gideon Saar.

Trump said several countries had pledged more than seven billion dollars to rebuild the territory.

Muslim-majority Indonesia will take a deputy commander role in a nascent International Stabilization Force, the unit's American chief Major General Jasper Jeffers said.

Trump, whose plan for Gaza was endorsed by the UN Security Council in November, also said five countries had committed to providing troops, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.