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Cairo Ministerial Conference Aims to Boost Humanitarian Response in Gaza

Dignitaries pose for a family photo at the “Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza” on Monday. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Dignitaries pose for a family photo at the “Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza” on Monday. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
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Cairo Ministerial Conference Aims to Boost Humanitarian Response in Gaza

Dignitaries pose for a family photo at the “Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza” on Monday. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)
Dignitaries pose for a family photo at the “Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza” on Monday. (Egyptian Foreign Ministry)

Egypt hosted on Monday the “Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza” aimed at securing clear commitments to provide aid to the Palestinian enclave.

The conference was organized by Egypt and the United Nations and attended by delegations from 103 countries and organizations.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the event also seeks to bolster international aid and ensure sustainable response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It also aims to plan the early recovery in the enclave.

Palestinian political analyst and Fatah member Dr. Ayman al-Raqab underscored to Asharq Al-Awsat the importance of providing relief aid at this time.

The conference delivered a strong message that there can be no substitute to UNRWA, he added, predicting that financial pledges will meet Gaza’s needs.

Speaking at the conference, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty condemned the ongoing and “unprecedented” Israeli assault on Gaza.

“Israel has been committing atrocities for the whole world to see for over a year,” he added, saying it has used “starvation, siege tactics and displacement as collective punishment against the Palestinians in flagrant violation of international laws.”

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi urged immediate action to aid the people of Gaza. “All forms of pressure are needed to allow the delivery of aid in the enclave,” he stressed.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed said the disaster in Gaza is a “test to humanity” and it must end immediately.

Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini warned that the “international humanitarian response in Gaza is today being severely tested.”

The gatherers at the conferences underlined UNRWA’s role in providing aid to the Palestinians and condemned the Israeli Knesset’s recent legislation to end its operations.

Abdelatty stressed that Egypt condemns the “illegal” move, saying it was a “dangerous precedent to ban a UN agency”.

It reflects a dismissal of the international community and its institutions, he remarked, adding that there can be no substitute to UNRWA in Gaza and no other organization can replace it or carry out its work.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa echoed these remarks, saying UNRWA has a pivotal role to play after the war on Gaza is over.

He called for rejecting all Israeli legislations that target the organization.

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Arab World

Strike Kills at Least Four Iraqi Fighters Near Syria Border

Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Strike Kills at Least Four Iraqi Fighters Near Syria Border

Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)
Members of the Iraqi border forces patrol along a concrete wall on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the town of al-Baghuz in the Al-Qaim district of western Iraq, on January 21, 2026. (AFP)

A strike on Monday near Iraq's western border with Syria killed at least four fighters from a former coalition, two security officials said.

The fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), now part of Iraq's regular army -- "were killed and three others were wounded" in the late afternoon attack on a checkpoint at the entrance to the city of al-Qaim, a local security official said, AFP reported.

An official with the PMF, which includes pro-Iranian groups, put the toll higher, at six dead, blaming the United States for the strike.

He said the checkpoint, which also housed army and police personnel, was targeted again when ambulances arrived to help victims.

Iraq has recently regained a sense of stability following years of conflict, and was unwillingly drawn into the current Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.

Since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, bases belonging to PMF have been hit several times, with strikes mostly targeting Tehran-backed armed groups.

These groups are also united under a loose alliance called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has claimed attacks against US bases in Iraq.

Arab World

Israel Says Lebanese Displaced Won’t Return Until Its Own Citizens Are Safe

Israeli soldiers gather on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Israeli soldiers gather on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Israel Says Lebanese Displaced Won’t Return Until Its Own Citizens Are Safe

Israeli soldiers gather on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Israeli soldiers gather on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Israel on Monday warned that displaced Lebanese driven from their homes by its military campaign would not be able to return until the safety of Israelis living near the border was ensured, as Israeli troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon. 

In a briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that soldiers were now conducting ground operations in "new locations", describing the latest offensive as "limited and targeted". 

The extended operation began days after Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military had been ordered to expand its campaign. He later warned that the country could face territorial losses and damage to its infrastructure unless Hezbollah was disarmed. 

Israel's military, which has occupied five positions in southern Lebanon since a November 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, sent additional forces into the country ‌after Hezbollah fired ‌a salvo of rockets on March 2, dragging Lebanon into an expanding regional war. 

Hezbollah ⁠said its attack was in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Israel has responded with an intensive bombing campaign on Lebanon. 

COMPARISON WITH GAZA 

The military has framed the ground offensive, launched after March 2, as a defensive effort to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks, which it says have averaged at least 100 rockets and drones a day and have reached as far as central Israel. 

More than 880 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to Lebanon's health ministry, and more than 800,000 have been driven from their homes, many from the ⁠south as well as from areas near the capital, Beirut. 

On Monday, Katz linked the ‌return of displaced Lebanese residents to the safety of Israelis living near ‌the border. 

"Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes in southern Lebanon and ‌Beirut will not return to areas south of the Litani line until the safety of northern residents is ensured," he ‌said in a statement.  

He said the military had been instructed to destroy "terrorist infrastructure" in villages in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, drawing a comparison to operations in cities in the Gaza Strip that were largely destroyed by Israeli forces.  

Katz also suggested that Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, could face a fate similar to that of his predecessor, and to Iran's supreme leader, both of ‌whom were killed in Israeli strikes.  

Qassem said last week threats against his life were “worthless.” 

ISRAELI TROOPS ADVANCE WEST  

Over the weekend, Israeli troops encircled the key southern Lebanese town ⁠of Khiam and were advancing ⁠west toward the Litani River, a move that could leave large swathes of southern Lebanon under Israeli control, Lebanese security sources told Reuters. 

Israeli troops battled Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon throughout the day on Monday, and advanced towards Bint Jbeil, a Lebanese village and Hezbollah stronghold located about 4 km from the border with Israel, the sources said. 

Two Israeli officials said on Sunday that Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire which would see Hezbollah disarmed. 

A Lebanese source familiar with the matter said it didn't seem talks with Israel would be taking place soon, though they would happen eventually. 

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told reporters that a "few players were trying to mediate and host talks", adding: "I believe the next step will be talks but first we have to degrade the capability of Hezbollah." 

Under the November 2024 ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull back from southern Lebanon as the Lebanese military took over. 

Israel said Lebanon never upheld its part of the deal, continuing near-daily air strikes against what it said were Hezbollah positions and weapons.  

Arab World

Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Türkiye by Pipeline as War Cuts off Exports

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
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Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Türkiye by Pipeline as War Cuts off Exports

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq is hoping to ship up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day to a port in Türkiye via a rehabilitated pipeline, its oil minister said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran cut off its main export route.

The amount would be just a fraction of the roughly 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) that Iraq exported before the conflict, mostly through its southern Basra port and the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been severely disrupted by the war.

Authorities want to restore an old pipeline -- out of service for years -- that links the northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where the oil could be shipped onwards to international buyers.

Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said late Sunday that the pipeline's rehabilitation is "complete, but there is a 100-kilometer section that needs to be inspected".

Teams will "conduct a hydrostatic test, which is the final phase of the pipeline's rehabilitation", hopefully "within a week", Ghani added, citing an export target of roughly 250,000 bpd.

The pipeline was damaged by the ISIS group in 2014.

Its use, however, requires "contact with the Turkish side and an agreement on logistical and technical issues", said oil expert Assem Jihad.

Initially, Baghdad wanted to send exports to the Ceyhan port via another pipeline that runs through Kurdistan.

But "so far, no agreement has been reached", Ghani said, as relations between the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and the federal government in Baghdad have deteriorated.

He acknowledged that "Iraqi oil exports were halted two or three days after the start of the war".

The country is also considering the possibility of transporting 200,000 bpd by tanker trucks, primarily via Jordan and Syria.

Iraq derives more than 90 percent of its revenue from oil.

Experts have warned that without this income, the state -- Iraq's largest employer -- will be unable to pay civil servants' salaries and risks a foreign currency shortage to finance imports or stabilise its exchange rate.