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UN Chief Calls for Probe into Deaths Near Gaza Aid Site

People look for survivors following an Israeli strike that targeted the home of the Al-Bursh family in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2025. (AFP)
People look for survivors following an Israeli strike that targeted the home of the Al-Bursh family in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Chief Calls for Probe into Deaths Near Gaza Aid Site

People look for survivors following an Israeli strike that targeted the home of the Al-Bursh family in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2025. (AFP)
People look for survivors following an Israeli strike that targeted the home of the Al-Bursh family in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2025. (AFP)

UN chief Antonio Guterres called Monday for an independent investigation into the killing of dozens of Palestinians near a US-backed aid center in Gaza after rescuers blamed the deaths on Israeli fire and the military denied any involvement.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli gunfire killed at least 31 people and wounded 176 near the aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, with AFP photos showing civilians at the scene carting away bodies and medics at nearby hospitals reporting a deluge of gunshot wound victims.

The Israeli military, however, denied its troops had fired on civilians in or around the center, and both it and the aid site's administrator accused Hamas of sowing false rumors.

"I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food," Guterres said in a statement, without assigning blame for the deaths.

"I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable."

The Israeli government has cooperated with the group running the site, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to introduce a new mechanism for distributing aid in Gaza that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system.

The UN has declined to work with the group out of concerns about its neutrality, with some aid agencies saying it appears designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

- 'Killed right in front of me' -

An eyewitness from the scene in Rafah, Sameh Hamuda, 33, had told AFP he was headed towards the aid site amid a crowd of other Palestinians when "quadcopter drones opened fire on the people, and tanks started shooting".

"Several people were killed right in front of me," he said.

Another witness, Abdullah Barbakh, 58, also told AFP "the army opened fire from drones and tanks".

Following the reports, the Israeli army said an initial inquiry found its troops "did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site".

Army spokesman Effie Defrin said in a video message that "Hamas is doing its best, its utmost, to stop us from" distributing aid, and vowed to "investigate each one of those allegations" against Israeli troops.

"I urge you not to believe every rumor spread by Hamas," he added.

GHF also denied any deaths or injuries took place, adding that "these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas".

Israel has come under increasing international pressure to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza following a more than two-month blockade on aid that was only recently eased.

The UN has warned the entire population of the territory is facing the risk of famine.

It has also reported recent incidents of aid being looted, including by armed individuals.

- 'Points of contention' -

Talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the return of hostages taken by Hamas during its October 2023 attack that triggered the war have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Fighters took 251 hostages during the attack, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.

After the two sides failed to agree on a new ceasefire proposal last week, Hamas said it was ready to "immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention".

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said he had told the army "to continue forward in Gaza against all targets, regardless of any negotiations".

Since a brief truce collapsed in March, Israel has intensified its operations to destroy Hamas.

On Monday, Gaza's civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said 14 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza, "including six children and three women, in addition to more than 20 missing individuals still under the rubble".

"This house has been bombed before... and people were martyred previously," resident Mousa al-Bursh told AFP.

"The house primarily belongs to the Al-Bursh family, but it shelters many others, more than one family, and we don't know the number of victims inside."

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 4,201 people have been killed in the territory since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 54,470, mostly civilians.

Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

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Arab World

US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
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US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)

President Donald Trump's envoy said Wednesday that a plan to end the Gaza war was now moving to Phase Two with a goal of disarming Hamas, despite a number of Israeli strikes during the ceasefire.

"We are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President's 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction," envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X.

The second phase will also include the setup of a 15-person Palestinian technocratic committee to administer post-war Gaza. Its formation was announced earlier Wednesday by Egypt, a mediator.

Phase Two "begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel."

"The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences," he said.

Arab World

Lebanon Arrests Syrian Citizen Suspected of Funding Pro-Assad Fighters

A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Lebanon Arrests Syrian Citizen Suspected of Funding Pro-Assad Fighters

A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanese authorities have arrested a Syrian citizen who is suspected of sending money to fighters loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, judicial officials said Wednesday.

Ahmad Dunia was detained in recent days in Lebanon’s region of Jbeil north of Beirut and is being questioned over alleged links to Assad’s maternal cousin Rami Makhlouf as well as a former Syrian army general who left the country after Assad’s fall in December 2024, the officials said.

The officials described Dunia as the “financial arm” of the wealthy Makhlouf, saying he had been sending money to former Assad supporters in Syria who work under the command of ousted Syrian general Suheil al-Hassan who is believed to be in Russia.

The officials said the money was mostly sent to pro-Assad fighters who are active in Syria’s coastal region, where many members of his Alawite minority sect live.

Allegations that Dunia was financing Assad allies was first reported by Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV. He was then arrested by Lebanese security forces, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The arrest came a week after a Syrian security delegation visited Beirut and handed over to officials in Lebanon lists of dozens of names of former members of Assad’s security agencies whom they said are directing anti-government operations in Syria from Lebanon. Dunia’s name was one of those on the list, the officials said.

Since Assad’s fall, there have been several skirmishes between his supporters and the country’s new authorities.

In March last year, violence that began with clashes between armed groups aligned with Assad and the new government’s security forces spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and massacres that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority.

Arab World

Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Cairo as War Nears 3-Year Mark

Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Cairo as War Nears 3-Year Mark

Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday as Egypt, the United Nations and the United States called for the warring parties to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce, as the war between the army and its rival paramilitary nears the three-year mark.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Egypt wouldn't accept the collapse of Sudan or its institutions, or any attempt to undermine its unity or divide its territory, describing such scenarios as “red lines.”

Abdelatty said during a joint news conference with Ramtane Lamamra, the UN secretary‑general’s personal envoy for Sudan, that Egypt won't stand idly and won't hesitate to take the necessary measures to help preserve Sudan’s unity.

″There is absolutely no room for recognizing parallel entities or any militias. Under no circumstances can we equate Sudanese state institutions, including the Sudanese army, with any other militias,” he said on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance and Coordinate Peace Efforts.

Lamamra said that the fifth such meeting demonstrated that diplomacy remains a viable path toward peace.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the military have been at war since April 2023. The conflict that has seen multiple atrocities and pushed Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Although repeated attempts at peace talks have failed to end the war, Abdelatty said that there's a regional agreement to secure an immediate humanitarian truce, including certain withdrawals and the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors.

Humanitarian aid Massad Boulos, the US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, said Wednesday that more than 1.3 metric tons of humanitarian supplies entered el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Wednesday, with the help of American-led negotiations, marking the first such delivery since the city was besieged 18 months ago.

“As we press the warring parties for a nationwide humanitarian truce, we will continue to support mechanisms to facilitate the unhindered delivery of assistance to areas suffering from famine, malnutrition, and conflict-driven displacement,” Boulos posted on X.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed with Boulos the need to increase coordination between both countries to achieve stability in Sudan, with Sisi expressing appreciation to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war.

US and key mediators Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, known as the Quad, proposed a humanitarian truce, which both sides reportedly agreed to, but the conflict has persisted.

“The President emphasized that Egypt will not allow such actions, given the deep connection between the national security of both brotherly countries,” the Egyptian president’s office said in a statement.

The United States has accused the RSF of committing genocide in Darfur during the war, and rights groups said that the paramilitary group committed war crimes during the siege and takeover of el-Fasher, as well as in the capture of other cities in Darfur. The military has also been accused of human rights violations.

Latest wave of violence

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said on Tuesday that at least 19 civilians were killed during ground operations in Jarjira in North Darfur on Monday.

A military-allied Darfur rebel group said that it carried out a joint military operation with the army in Jarjira, saying that the operation liberated the area and its surroundings and forced RSF fighters to flee south.

At least 10 others were killed and nine others injured, also on Monday, in a drone attack that hit Sinja, the capital city of Sennar province, according to OCHA and the Sudan Doctors Network.

Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that the drone strike was launched by the RSF and hit several areas in the city, describing the attack as the latest crime added “to the long list of grave violations against civilians.”

The group said that civilians are being deliberately targeted in a “full-fledged war crime.”

The Sudan Doctors Network also said that it “holds the Rapid Support Forces fully responsible for this crime and demands an end to their targeting of civilians and the protection of civilian infrastructure.”

Recent violence displaced more than 8,000 people from villages in North Darfur, with some fleeing to safer areas within the province and others crossing into Chad, according to the latest estimate by the International Organization for Migration.