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Islamic Jihad Accuses Israel of Wanting to 'Annex West Bank by Force' after Tanks Deployed

People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025. Israel on February 23 said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. - AFP
People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025. Israel on February 23 said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. - AFP
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Islamic Jihad Accuses Israel of Wanting to 'Annex West Bank by Force' after Tanks Deployed

People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025. Israel on February 23 said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. - AFP
People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025. Israel on February 23 said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. - AFP

Palestine's Islamic Jihad on Monday accused Israel of wanting to "annex the West Bank by force" after Israel deployed tanks into the occupied territory for the first time in decades.

Israel said on Sunday its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there were displaced by an intensifying, weeks-long military operation.

The military also announced tank deployments in Jenin, where it said it was expanding its operations. This is the first time tanks have operated in the occupied West Bank since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005.

In a statement, Islamic Jihad said Israel's use of tanks and the evacuation of three Palestinian refugee camps "confirms the occupation's plans to annex the West Bank by force."

The militant group, which alongside Hamas fought a deadly war against Israel in Gaza until a ceasefire was announced last month, described the move as "a new act of aggression", AFP reported.

It was "aimed at uprooting our people from their land and consolidating military domination by creating settler corridors that reinforce the separation of West Bank cities and their camps," the group said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday said that three Palestinian refugee camps -- Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams -- were "now empty of residents" following Israel's offensive, which began last month.

Katz said he had instructed troops "to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism".

He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive had so far killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare visit to troops in the territory last week and ordered the army to step up its operations in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Violence in the territory has surged since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many militants, in the territory since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

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Arab World

Egyptian-Turkish Military Talks Focus on Strengthening Partnership

The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
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Egyptian-Turkish Military Talks Focus on Strengthening Partnership

The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)
The Commander of the Egyptian Air Force during his meeting with the Turkish Air Force chief in Cairo on Wednesday (Egyptian military spokesperson)

Senior Egyptian and Turkish air force commanders met in Cairo on Wednesday for talks focused on strengthening military partnership and expanding bilateral cooperation, in the latest sign of warming defense ties between the two countries.

The meeting brought together the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force, Lt. Gen. Amr Saqr, and his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Ziya Cemal Kadioglu, to review a range of issues of mutual interest amid growing cooperation between the two air forces.

Egypt’s military spokesperson said the talks reflect the Armed Forces’ commitment to deepening military collaboration with friendly and partner nations.

Earlier this month, Egypt and Türkiye signed a military cooperation agreement during talks in Cairo between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Sisi highlighted similar viewpoints on regional and international issues, while Erdogan noted that enhanced cooperation and forthcoming joint steps would help support regional peace.

Cairo and Ankara also signed an agreement last August on the joint production of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drones. Production of unmanned ground vehicles has also begun under a partnership between the Turkish firm HAVELSAN and Egypt’s Kader Factory.

During the talks, Saqr underscored the importance of coordinating efforts to advance shared interests and expressed hope for closer ties that would benefit both air forces.

Kadioglu, for his part, stressed the depth of bilateral partnership and the strong foundations of cooperation between the two countries’ air forces.

According to the military spokesperson, Kadioglu also toured several Egyptian Air Force units to review the latest training and armament systems introduced in recent years.

Military cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye has gained momentum since 2023, following the restoration of full diplomatic relations and reciprocal presidential visits that reflected positively on the defense sector.

In September last year, the joint naval exercise “Sea of Friendship 2025” was held in Turkish territorial waters, aimed at enhancing joint capabilities and exchanging expertise against a range of threats.

Arab World

UN Says Israeli Actions Raising 'Ethnic Cleansing' Fears in West Bank, Gaza

A member of the Salhab family weeps as he sits on the on the rubble of apartment building after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers near the Israeli settlement of Hagai, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on February 18, 2026. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
A member of the Salhab family weeps as he sits on the on the rubble of apartment building after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers near the Israeli settlement of Hagai, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on February 18, 2026. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
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UN Says Israeli Actions Raising 'Ethnic Cleansing' Fears in West Bank, Gaza

A member of the Salhab family weeps as he sits on the on the rubble of apartment building after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers near the Israeli settlement of Hagai, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on February 18, 2026. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
A member of the Salhab family weeps as he sits on the on the rubble of apartment building after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers near the Israeli settlement of Hagai, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on February 18, 2026. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

Israel's increased attacks and forcible transfers of Palestinians "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the United Nations said Thursday.

The UN human rights office said the cumulative impact of Israel's military conduct during the war in Gaza, plus its blockade of the territory, had inflicted living conditions "increasingly incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group in Gaza".

"Intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza", the office said in a report.

"This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank."

The report looked at November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025.

In the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, the report said the "systematic use of unlawful force" by Israeli security forces, "widespread" arbitrary detention and the "extensive unlawful demolition" of Palestinian homes was being carried out to "systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate the Palestinian people".

"These violations were "altering the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied West Bank, raising serious concerns of ethnic cleansing", it said.

- 'Inhumane choice' -

In Gaza, the report condemned the continued killing and maiming of "unprecedented numbers of civilians", the spread of famine, and destruction of the "remaining civilian infrastructure".

During the 12 months covered in the report, at least 463 Palestinians, including 157 children, starved to death in Gaza, it said.

"Palestinians faced the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risking being killed while trying to get food," said the report.

"The situation of famine and malnutrition was the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government," with the deaths and suffering from hunger "foreseeable and repeatedly foretold".

Across the reporting period, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continued to hold Israeli and foreign hostages seized on October 7, 2023 -- dead or alive -- as "bargaining tools".

The rights office said the hostages' treatment amounted to war crimes.

"Israeli forces, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, gross violations and abuses of international human rights law, and atrocity crimes," the report concluded.

- Impunity 'kills' -

Last week, UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that the world was witnessing "rapid steps to change permanently the demography of the occupied Palestinian territory".

On Tuesday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed to encourage "emigration" from the Palestinian territories.

And on Wednesday, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council that steps by Israel to tighten control of areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority amount to "gradual de facto annexation".

Thursday's rights office report concluded that considered together, Israeli practices "indicated a concerted and accelerating effort to consolidate annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to deny Palestinians' right to self-determination".

The report said there was a pervasive climate of impunity for serious violations of international law by the Israeli authorities in the Palestinian territories.

"Impunity is not abstract -- it kills. Accountability is indispensable. It is the prerequisite for a just and durable peace in Palestine and Israel," Turk said in a statement.

Arab World

UN Probe: RSF Actions in Sudan's el-Fasher Point to Genocide

Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
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UN Probe: RSF Actions in Sudan's el-Fasher Point to Genocide

Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)
Forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces in the city of el-Fasher, Darfur region (AFP)

Mass killings of non-Arab communities when the Rapid Support Forces captured the Sudanese city of el-Fasher bears hallmarks that point to genocide, an independent UN probe said in a new report on Thursday.

At the end of October last year, the RSF took over the city - which had been the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the Darfur region in the west of the country - with thousands of people killed and raped during three days of horror, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said.

It followed an 18-month siege where the RSF imposed conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of non-Arab communities, in particular the Zaghawa and the Fur, ‌the report stated.

The ‌UN mission said it found evidence that the RSF carried out a pattern ‌of ⁠coordinated and repeated ⁠targeting of individuals based on ethnicity, gender and perceived political affiliation, including mass killings, rape and torture, as well as inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction - core elements of the crime of genocide under international law.

The final draft of the report was shared with the Government of Sudan but no response was received, while the RSF did not respond to the UN mission's request to meet with its leadership, the report stated. The RSF and SAF did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

In the past, the RSF has ⁠denied such abuses - saying the accounts have been manufactured by its enemies and ‌making counter-accusations against them.

"The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation ‌by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around el-Fasher were not random excesses of war" said Mohamad ‌Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan.

"They formed part of a planned and organized operation ‌that bears the defining characteristics of genocide," he added.

Before its takeover el-Fasher's population mainly consisted of the Zaghawa, a non-Arab community, while displacement camps around the area were comprised of the Fur community, as well as Berti, Masalit and Tama, the report said.

"Survivors describe explicit threats to 'clean' the city," the report stated. Alongside attacking displacement camps, communal kitchens and medical centers ‌with drones and heavy weapons, the RSF also carried out killings, looting, beatings and sexual violence in el-Fasher, the report stated.

The RSF's "exterminatory rhetoric" and other violations indicated ⁠its intent to destroy ⁠the Zaghawa and Fur communities in whole or in part, the report said.

"Witnesses heard the Rapid Support Forces saying, 'Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all'," the report said.

Survivors recounted point-blank executions of civilians, as well as bodies of men, women and children filling roads, the report stated.

Women and girls aged 7 to 70 years old from non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa were raped and subject to other acts of sexual violence, including whipping and forced nudity, the report stated.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the international response to the report and the situation in Sudan had to be emphatic and urged for a ceasefire.

"The findings of this UN report are truly horrific - atrocities including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting used on the most horrendous scale during the Rapid Support Forces siege of el-Fasher," she said in a statement.

The UN mission was mandated by members of the Human Rights Council, following backing from countries that included Britain, to urgently investigate violations and abuses under international law in and around el-Fasher.