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Arab World

Rival Palestinian Factions Discuss Gaza Disarmament

A Palestinian woman stands amid debris at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman stands amid debris at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Rival Palestinian Factions Discuss Gaza Disarmament

A Palestinian woman stands amid debris at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman stands amid debris at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Members of Palestinian factions including Hamas agreed in principle for Gaza's armed groups to hand over parts of their arsenals to a yet-to-be-created, ad hoc Palestinian entity during talks in Cairo, Palestinian sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Such a proposal has almost no chance of being accepted by Israel, which demands a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, starting with Palestinian movement Hamas.

Several of those who attended the Cairo talks that began on Saturday expressed hope the proposal would break a months-long deadlock on negotiations over Gaza's future.

The talks are being attended by most major factions, including Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, but not the Fatah party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.

On Tuesday, the factions discussed the details of the weapons handover to a new entity with representation from various Palestinian political currents, according to a source close to negotiations.

They rejected the idea of a full disarmament, as demanded by Israel, several sources who asked for anonymity said.

"Egypt and the mediators are working to formulate a new, acceptable formula that takes into account the factions' agreement," one of the participants told AFP.

Another Palestinian taking part in the talks told AFP that Egyptian and Qatari mediators welcomed this approach.

"Hamas is linking the weapons question to a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and to Gaza's reconstruction," one Palestinian political official said.

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP that recent days had brought "significant progress", adding that the factions aimed to implement US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.

Israeli strikes have continued at an almost daily pace despite the ceasefire announced in October 2025 after two years of war, under Trump's phased peace plan.

Hamas and Israel blame each other for the current impasse, each accusing the other almost daily of violating the ceasefire.

Hamas accuses Israel of failing to honor its commitments, particularly on allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, while Israel insists on the complete disarmament of the movement before any further implementation of the plan.

Hamas has repeatedly stated that it is not opposed to handing over some of its arsenal, but only as part of a Palestinian political process.

Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal also suggested a weapons "freeze" or "storage", which Israel rejected.

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Arab World

First War Crimes Complaint Against Sudan’s RSF Filed in Kenya

Lawyers Antonio Mulvay, left, and Willis Otieno, center, who are part of the legal team filing a law suit against Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on behalf of Sudanese torture victims, speak to the media in Nairobi, Tuesday June 9, 2026. (AP)
Lawyers Antonio Mulvay, left, and Willis Otieno, center, who are part of the legal team filing a law suit against Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on behalf of Sudanese torture victims, speak to the media in Nairobi, Tuesday June 9, 2026. (AP)
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First War Crimes Complaint Against Sudan’s RSF Filed in Kenya

Lawyers Antonio Mulvay, left, and Willis Otieno, center, who are part of the legal team filing a law suit against Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on behalf of Sudanese torture victims, speak to the media in Nairobi, Tuesday June 9, 2026. (AP)
Lawyers Antonio Mulvay, left, and Willis Otieno, center, who are part of the legal team filing a law suit against Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on behalf of Sudanese torture victims, speak to the media in Nairobi, Tuesday June 9, 2026. (AP)

Victims of alleged atrocities linked to the war in Sudan on Tuesday asked prosecutors in Kenya to investigate allegations of torture and sexual violence by members of a notorious paramilitary group.

It is the first attempt to prosecute members of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, the paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military for over three years, outside Sudan.

The group, which has been accused by rights organizations of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has ties with Kenya’s government, while Kenyan President William Ruto has previously hosted RSF leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo for talks that he said were aimed at advancing peace efforts in Sudan, a move that sparked diplomatic tensions.

The complaint filed by the Switzerland-based global legal organization Legal Action Worldwide details torture and sexual violence committed by RSF members at various locations in and around Khartoum between April 2023 and March 2025 when the Sudanese capital was controlled by the paramilitaries.

The 12 victims are urging Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions to approve charges against 10 members of the RSF, some of whom are believed to be residing in Kenya.

The Associated Press has contacted the RSF for a comment.

According to this latest complaint, the victims were held in inhumane conditions, with little or no food, limited access to water, and inadequate sanitation facilities. They allege that they were beaten, burned, suffocated, subjected to electric shocks, and sexually abused, including through rape. Some were reportedly forced to transport dead bodies from detention facilities.

Legal Action Worldwide founder Antonia Mulvey said Kenya should consider prosecuting the alleged crimes under the country’s International Crimes Act of 2008.

“For Kenya, despite the sensitivity of the matter, it is an opportunity to lead in the fight against impunity. Authorities can now demonstrate the strength of the country’s investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial institutions in addressing the most serious international crimes, regardless of where they are committed,” she said.

The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese military since April 2023, when tensions between the two sides erupted into open conflict in Khartoum and other parts of the country.

The group emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias, which were accused of widespread atrocities in the early 2000s against communities identifying as East or Central African in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

The RSF has been accused by human rights organizations and the United Nations of committing atrocities during the conflict that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in Darfur, where the group maintains a strong presence.

Mulvey argued that the victims are unlikely to obtain justice in Sudan because the country’s justice system is currently “inaccessible, unavailable, and ineffective.”

She said the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction is limited to Darfur and does not extend to crimes committed in or around Khartoum.

Willis Otieno, a lawyer in Kenya who filed the complaint locally, said there was information suggesting that some of the persons of interest have links to Kenya and that the country possesses the legal framework necessary to investigate and prosecute such crimes.

Otieno described Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as competent, adding: “We have faith that the office will act. For now, let’s treat them with that goodwill.”

The RSF has in the past been accused of mass killing, gang rape, and ethnicity-motivated crimes, most recently in October during an assault on the Darfur city of el-Fashir, in which over 6,000 people were killed in three days. UN-commissioned experts have described the offensive as bearing the “hallmarks of genocide.”

In one of its last decisions, the Biden administration accused the group of genocide and imposed sanctions of its commanders, including Dagalo.

The war killed at least 59,000 people over the course of three years, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a US-based war tracking group which said the toll was almost certainly undercut given the difficulties in reporting.

The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with about 34 million people — almost two out of every three Sudanese — need assistance, according to the UN.

Arab World

UN Inquiry Finds Israeli Forces Shield Settlers during Attacks on Palestinians

Men attempt to extinguish a fire in a field in the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on June 6, 2026, after a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers according to local officials. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Men attempt to extinguish a fire in a field in the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on June 6, 2026, after a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers according to local officials. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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UN Inquiry Finds Israeli Forces Shield Settlers during Attacks on Palestinians

Men attempt to extinguish a fire in a field in the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on June 6, 2026, after a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers according to local officials. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Men attempt to extinguish a fire in a field in the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on June 6, 2026, after a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers according to local officials. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers, a UN inquiry said on Tuesday.

The report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli authorities have enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by judicial and law-enforcement bodies, Reuters said.

It said attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land have surged since 2023, rising by 130%, including incidents involving groups of masked assailants. Israeli security forces have routinely accompanied settlers and acted as a shield for the violence, the report said.

The Israeli Prime Minister Office and military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel rejects charges that its troops shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, saying ‌such actions are rogue ‌incidents that violate military protocol and are investigated. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say ‌such investigations ⁠rarely lead to ⁠punishment.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers live among millions of Palestinians on land Israel captured in a 1967 war, where Palestinians hope to build a state. Most countries and the UN's top court consider such settlements a violation of international law, which Israel disputes citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 injured last year, with violence continuing into 2026 in the form of near-daily attacks, according to the United Nations.

“The increasing participation of Israeli security forces in settler attacks amounts to a de facto collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers,” the report found.

It said such violence has been ⁠used to advance state policy, including the unlawful occupation, displacement of Palestinians and the annexation ‌of Palestinian territory.

The Commission documented cases of assaults, abductions and abuse of Palestinian ‌children by settlers. In one incident on April 19, 2025, a 12-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother were abducted at knifepoint, dragged ‌to an olive grove and tied to a tree with plastic restraints until their family intervened. In July 2024, the ‌International Court of Justice issued a non-binding advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements there are illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible, in its strongest findings to date on the conflict.

The Commission also said settlers committed or threatened sexual violence to instill fear and harassed Palestinian women.

“The relentless, daily assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians are intolerable — and must end,” said the commission's ‌head, S. Muralidhar, an Indian former senior judge. He urged the international community to pressure Israel to dismantle settlements and outposts and curb the violence.

Despite periodic condemnations and ⁠the dismantling of some unauthorized outposts, ⁠Israeli authorities have not taken sustained measures to stop the attacks, the report said.

HAMAS VIOLATIONS

The report said it was also gravely alarmed by serious abuses it documented in the Gaza Strip, another Palestinian territory, by the militant group Hamas which controls it.

Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated forces were involved in at least 60 of 249 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024 to 2025, including beatings with metal pipes and bone-breaking as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel or looting aid.

In two instances, 11 men were publicly executed. The Commission said these acts amount to war crimes and violations of international law.

The Commission found that October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, which killed 1,200 people and involved hostage-taking and destruction of property, amounted to war crimes. The attacks precipitated an Israeli assault on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory.

A previous report by the Commission found that Israel had committed genocide during its military offensive in Gaza, and that senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited these acts. Israel rejected those allegations as "scandalous".

Arab World

Pakistan, Lebanon Army Chiefs Meet as Middle East Mediation Drags On

This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
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Pakistan, Lebanon Army Chiefs Meet as Middle East Mediation Drags On

This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on June 9, 2026 by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) speaking with General Rodolphe Haykal, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces during their meeting in Rawalpindi. (Photo by Handout / Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) / AFP)

The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation on Tuesday as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on.

Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah, reported AFP.

Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday to meet his powerful Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir, with a Lebanon-based source telling AFP the visit was linked to the broader peace talks.

The two military commanders discussed "matters of mutual interest, (the) evolving regional security environment, defense cooperation and prospects for enhancing bilateral military relations", a statement from the media wing of the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.

Munir "underscored (the) Pakistan Army's commitment to expanding defense collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces," it said, after Haykal received a guard of honor ahead of the meeting in the city of Rawalpindi.

Conflict in Lebanon has become a centerpiece of weeks of stop-start efforts to bring a formal end to the war.

Armed hostilities flared further during Haykal's visit, though both Iran and Israel indicated on Monday that they had halted the fighting.

US President Donald Trump, who has expressed frustration at the slow progress of peace talks, said on Tuesday that negotiators were in the "final throes" of reaching a deal.

Lebanon was drawn into the war when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israel on March 2 to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Israel responded with an extensive campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion that have killed nearly 3,600 people. Exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have not stopped despite an ongoing truce.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said a US-Iranian agreement to end the war was "about to be achieved" when fresh fighting between Iran and Israel erupted on Sunday.

Even after an April 17 ceasefire agreement began, the Israeli military announced a so-called Yellow Line inside Lebanese territory about a dozen kilometers from its northern border where its ground troops are fighting with Hezbollah, who have fired rockets at Israel.