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Libya: LNA Says in Control of Southern Border Areas

LNA leader Khalifa Haftar. Reuters file photo
LNA leader Khalifa Haftar. Reuters file photo
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Libya: LNA Says in Control of Southern Border Areas

LNA leader Khalifa Haftar. Reuters file photo
LNA leader Khalifa Haftar. Reuters file photo

The Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar is now in control of border areas with Algeria, Chad and Niger as part of its operation to clear southern Libyan territories from terrorists and criminals, the LNA announced on Friday.

Members of LNA's Tariq Bin Ziad battalion said their forces have gained full control of the joint border areas with Algeria, Chad and Niger after the escape of members of the Chadian opposition.

The LNA media office said the army entered the area of Umm al-Araneb amid a huge welcome by the area’s residents.

LNA’s major gains this week came after weeks of advances as part of a campaign to secure the country’s lawless south.

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte thanked the United Arab Emirates after the head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, and Haftar agreed in UN-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi to reform Libya's constitution and hold national elections.

“There can’t be any progress in Libya unless the two sides reach an agreement,” Conte said.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who met his Libyan counterpart Fathi Bashaga in Rome, also said that there should not be any interference on setting the date for the elections.

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Arab World

Palestinian President Welcomes Joint International Statement Rejecting E1 Settlement Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
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Palestinian President Welcomes Joint International Statement Rejecting E1 Settlement Plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference in Ankara on Wednesday (EPA)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed a joint statement issued by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Norway rejecting the Israeli occupation government's continuation of the E1 settlement plan and demanding an immediate halt to settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank.

Abbas called on the Israeli occupation government to immediately cancel the plan, stressing that severing the northern West Bank from its southern territory and isolating East Jerusalem constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and undermines the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, SPA reported.

The Palestinian president urged the signatory nations, the European Union, the UN Security Council, and the international community to translate their positions into concrete measures to halt settlement activities and to refuse recognition of any unlawful changes imposed on occupied Palestinian land.

Arab World

UN Warns 94% of Gaza's Population Urgently Needs Shelter and Basic Aid

People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Warns 94% of Gaza's Population Urgently Needs Shelter and Basic Aid

People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)
People stand at a site destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that civilians in the Gaza Strip continue to face severe risks from airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire, reporting ongoing casualties, including child deaths, SPA reported.

OCHA stated that the remains of 50 people, including 19 children, were recently recovered and buried after being discovered under rubble in Gaza City, where they had remained trapped for over two years, SPA reported.

The office highlighted that 94% of Gaza's 2.1 million residents require urgent shelter and basic household assistance, with nearly two-thirds of families enduring rapidly deteriorating conditions in tents or temporary shelters.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Palestinian Man in West Bank Raid

The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Palestinian Man in West Bank Raid

The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)
The wife of 58-year-old Fathi Khazem, who was killed by the Israeli military as they tried to arrest him, stands at the bedroom door near a pool of his blood at their home in the northern city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank on August 21, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man on Friday in the city of Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, with the military saying he had attempted to stab a soldier.

Fathi Zidan Hazem, 58, "died from injuries sustained after being shot by Israeli forces early Friday in the city of Jenin," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement, adding that his body was being withheld by Israel.

The Israeli military said a "terrorist armed with a knife attempted to stab an Israeli soldier" while troops were operating in the area of Jenin.

"The soldiers responded by firing toward the terrorist and eliminating him," it said, adding no injuries were reported among troops.

Hazem was a retired colonel in the Palestinian National Security Forces.

In April 2022, after his son, Raad Hazem, carried out a shooting spree in Tel Aviv in which he killed three Israelis and wounded several others, Israeli authorities demanded that Fathi Hazem hand himself in.

His son was shot dead by Israeli forces after a massive manhunt.

A second son, Abdul Rahman Hazem, was killed during an Israeli military raid targeting alleged militants in the Jenin refugee camp in September 2022.

AFP footage from the scene on Friday showed a pool of blood and bullets scattered among groceries in the family's home.

A Palestinian eyewitness, who declined to give her name to AFP, said Israeli forces raided her neighbor's house in the early hours and told Hazem to raise his hands, which he refused to do.

"He then attacked them with a knife, and they shot him seven times in front of his 10-year-old son. They dragged him down the stairs and took him with them," she said.

Violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since the Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 1,098 Palestinians, including fighters, have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to Palestinian figures.

Official Israeli data shows that at least 48 Israelis, both civilians and security personnel, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.