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Sarraj in Jordan to Meet King Abdullah

Sarraj arrives in Jordan Saturday/Petra News Agency
Sarraj arrives in Jordan Saturday/Petra News Agency
    Cairo - Khaled Mahmoud, Jamal Jawhar
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Sarraj in Jordan to Meet King Abdullah

Sarraj arrives in Jordan Saturday/Petra News Agency
Sarraj arrives in Jordan Saturday/Petra News Agency

Head of the Presidential Council of the Libyan National Accord Government Fayez Al-Sarraj arrived in Amman Saturday for talks with King Abdullah II, expected to begin Sunday.

As Sarraj set foot in the Jordanian capital, the Special Deterrence Force (SDF) operating under the Government of National Accord in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, announced Saturday that one of its members was killed in an operation “conducted by rogue criminals.”

Sarraj, who is accompanied by a number of ministers and top officials, will also meet with Prime Minister Omar Razaz, who led senior officials to welcome the Libyan leader upon his arrival at the Marka Military Airport, Petra news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the SDF issued a statement late on Friday mourning the killing of one of its leading members, Fadl Younes, 20.

Spokesman of the Special Deterrence Force Ahmed Bin Salem said in several television interviews Saturday that Younes was assassinated after two men stole his car. He confirmed that the two criminals were identified and that ongoing search was underway to uncover their whereabouts.

For its part, Libya's National Human Rights Commission issued a statement on Saturday calling on Libya's Government of National Accord, headed by Sarraj, to open a comprehensive investigation into the recent murder incidents and assassinations taking place in the capital, Tripoli.

On Saturday, the US embassy in Tripoli also commented on the level of crimes committed in the capital and strongly condemned the recent killings carried out by armed group.

The embassy wrote on Twitter that those killings are generating instability and adversely impacting the lives of innocent citizens.

It also supported the call of United National Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Libyan authorities to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the protection of lives from these “heinous acts.”

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Arab World

Israel Strikes High-rise Building, Threatens to Hit More in Gaza City Offensive

Smoke rises as a building hit by an Israeli air strike collapses, in Gaza City, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Smoke rises as a building hit by an Israeli air strike collapses, in Gaza City, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Israel Strikes High-rise Building, Threatens to Hit More in Gaza City Offensive

Smoke rises as a building hit by an Israeli air strike collapses, in Gaza City, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Smoke rises as a building hit by an Israeli air strike collapses, in Gaza City, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israel struck a high-rise building in Gaza City on Friday after an evacuation warning, as the military stepped up operations aimed at seizing control of the famine-stricken city of some 1 million Palestinians.

The military accused Hamas militants of using high-rises in the city for surveillance and planned ambushes, and said it would carry out “precise, targeted strikes” on militant infrastructure in the coming days.

Israel has begun mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists and is repeating evacuation warnings as part of its plan to widen its offensive, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.

Palestinians said Friday's strike targeted the Mushtaha tower in Rimal, an upscale neighborhood before the war. Gaza City resident Ahmed al-Boari said people fleeing Israeli operations elsewhere in the city had sought shelter in and around the building. Satellite imagery showed a large number of tents nearby.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was wounded or killed in the strike.

Israel said it struck the building because it was used by Hamas for surveillance. Photos of the building taken before Friday’s strike showed that its roof was already heavily damaged from earlier raids.

Fears grow as Israeli forces advance Israel has declared Gaza City, in the north of the territory, to be a combat zone. Parts of the city are already considered “red zones” where Palestinians have been ordered to evacuate ahead of expected heavy fighting.

That has left residents on edge, including many who returned after fleeing the city in the initial stages of the war, which has already displaced around 90% of the territory's population.

The city's Shifa Hospital said 27 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight into Friday, including six members of a single family.

Arab World

Egypt Vows to Block Palestinian Displacement, Hardens Rhetoric on Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a press conference with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, Cyprus September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a press conference with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, Cyprus September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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Egypt Vows to Block Palestinian Displacement, Hardens Rhetoric on Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a press conference with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, Cyprus September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a press conference with Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, Cyprus September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Egypt said on Friday it would not tolerate mass displacement of Palestinians and what it described as genocide, continuing to ratchet up its criticism of Israel's Gaza offensive as thousands of residents of Gaza City defied Israeli orders to leave.

"Displacement is not an option and it is a red line for Egypt and we will not allow it to happen," Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters in Nicosia.

"Displacement means liquidation and the end of the Palestinian cause and there is no legal or moral or ethical ground to evict people from their homeland," he said, Reuters reported.

Repeating accusations of genocide levelled by the Egyptian leadership against Israel in recent months, he added: "What is happening on the ground is far beyond the imagination. There is a genocide in motion there, mass killing of civilians, artificial starvation created by the Israelis," Abdelatty said.

Israel has in the past strongly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as self defence. It is fighting a case at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that accuses it of genocide and which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned as "outrageous".

Israel launched its assault on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, after fighters from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group in control of the territory, attacked southern Israel, taking 250 hostages back into Gaza.

More than 64,000 Palestinians have since been killed, Gaza health authorities say, with much of the densely populated enclave laid to ruin and its residents facing a humanitarian crisis.

Israel began an offensive in Gaza City on August 10, in what Netanyahu says is a plan to defeat Hamas militants in the part of Gaza where Israeli troops fought most heavily in the war's initial phase. It now controls about 40 percent of Gaza City, a military spokesperson said on Thursday.

Much of Gaza City was laid to waste in the war's initial weeks in October-November 2023. About a million people lived there before the war, and hundreds of thousands are believed to have returned to live among the ruins, especially since Israel ordered people out of other areas and launched offensives elsewhere.

Arab World

Houthi Arrests of UN Staff Threaten Aid Operations in Yemen

UN staff live in an atmosphere of fear in Houthi-controlled areas (Local media). 
UN staff live in an atmosphere of fear in Houthi-controlled areas (Local media). 
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Houthi Arrests of UN Staff Threaten Aid Operations in Yemen

UN staff live in an atmosphere of fear in Houthi-controlled areas (Local media). 
UN staff live in an atmosphere of fear in Houthi-controlled areas (Local media). 

A new wave of arrests by Yemen’s Houthi movement has sparked fear among the United Nations and international aid workers operating in rebel-held areas, raising concerns that life-saving assistance could grind to a halt. At least 18 UN employees have been detained in recent weeks, part of a broader campaign that aid officials say has created an atmosphere of terror.

UNICEF warned that the risk of hunger and protection crises is reaching alarming levels, driven by displacement and the collapse of livelihoods. More than 12.5 million people in Houthi-controlled areas are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to UN figures.

Several aid workers told Asharq Al-Awsat they now face an impossible choice: flee Houthi areas - losing their jobs and income in a country where the economy has collapsed - or remain under the constant threat of arrest. Many believe the campaign, in which detained staff are accused of espionage, is aimed at sidelining employees unwilling to pledge loyalty to the group. If veteran aid workers are forced out, the sources warned, UN agencies could be left with no choice but to hire staff aligned with Houthi interests.

This strategy mirrors the group’s closure of local NGOs, which enabled it to control beneficiary lists and aid distribution as the sole local partner in large swathes of Yemen.

Houthi leaders have dismissed international condemnation, claiming they are dismantling “spy cells” involved in crimes, including the recent Israeli strike that killed members of their cabinet. In a statement, the group insisted its actions comply with Islamic law, national legislation, and international human rights norms, though it argued UN immunities do not cover espionage.

UN envoy Hans Grundberg warned that detentions, raids on UN offices, and confiscation of assets pose a “serious threat” to the organization’s ability to deliver assistance, stressing that all staff must be protected under international law.

UNICEF confirmed that some of its staff, including the deputy country director in Sana’a, are among the detainees. The agency highlighted that 19.5 million Yemenis will need humanitarian aid this year, with 500,000 children at risk of acute malnutrition and nearly 18 million people lacking access to basic healthcare. Poor sanitation could leave 17.4 million exposed to deadly diseases, while 4.5 million children remain out of school.

The UN’s 2025 response plan seeks $2.47 billion to reach 10.5 million of the most vulnerable, but only 13.6 percent has been funded. UNICEF alone requires $212 million to assist 8 million people, including 5.2 million children.

UN agencies continue to stress that while aid is essential to save lives, sustainable peace, economic recovery, and long-term development are the only way to reduce dependence and build resilience across Yemen.