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22 Palestinians Killed as Israel Strikes Gaza for Second Day

A vehicle burns after a factory caught on fire in Sderot, southern Israel November 12, 2019. (Reuters)
A vehicle burns after a factory caught on fire in Sderot, southern Israel November 12, 2019. (Reuters)
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22 Palestinians Killed as Israel Strikes Gaza for Second Day

A vehicle burns after a factory caught on fire in Sderot, southern Israel November 12, 2019. (Reuters)
A vehicle burns after a factory caught on fire in Sderot, southern Israel November 12, 2019. (Reuters)

Exchanges of fire triggered by Israel's targeted killing of a top Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza raged for a second day Wednesday and showed little sign of easing, with 22 Palestinians killed.

Fresh rocket barrages were fired at Israel, which responded with strikes on what it said were Jihad militant sites and rocket-launching squads in the Gaza Strip.

Air raid sirens wailed and fireballs exploded as air defense missiles intercepted rockets, sending Israelis rushing to bomb shelters.

In Gaza, residents surveyed damage and mourned the dead outside a mortuary and at funerals.

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov was expected in Cairo for talks on halting the fighting, a diplomatic source said, but a source close to the discussions warned the risk of further escalation remained high.

In comments Wednesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Jihad must stop its stop rocket attacks or "absorb more and more blows".

He reiterated his warning that "this could take time" and said Israel would respond to attacks "without mercy."

Jihad spokesman Musab al-Barayem said the group was not interested in mediation for now as it responded to the killing of one of its commanders.

Israel killed senior Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata and his wife Asma in a targeted strike early Tuesday, prompting barrages of rocket fire in revenge and retaliatory Israeli air strikes.

According to Israel, Ata was responsible for rocket fire at Israel as well as other attacks and was planning more violence, with the military calling him a "ticking bomb."

The flare-up raised fears of a new conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, who have fought three wars since 2008.

A total of 22 Palestinians have been killed so far, including Ata and his wife, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Jihad confirmed that the dead included other members of its armed wing.

220 rockets

Since Israel's killing of Ata in what was believed to be a drone strike, at least 220 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza and dozens have been intercepted by air defenses, according to the army.

There have been no Israeli deaths, though damage has been caused and one rocket narrowly missed cars on a busy highway.

Israeli medics said they had treated 48 people with light wounds, while schools were closed in areas near the Gaza border for a second day running.

On Tuesday, school closures included the commercial capital Tel Aviv.

Schools in the blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of two million people, have been closed since Tuesday.

Unusually and in a sign it was seeking to avoid a wider conflict, Israel's announced targets were confined to Jihad sites and not those belonging to Hamas.

It normally holds Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza Strip, responsible for all rocket fire from the enclave as the territory's de facto rulers.

Israeli analysts were quick to highlight the change of approach.

"For the first time in the current era, Israel drew a distinction between Hamas and Jihad," commentator Ben Caspit wrote in Israeli newspaper Maariv.

"By so doing, Israel deviated from its iron-clad principle that Hamas, as the sovereign power in Gaza, has to pay the price for any action taken by anyone in the Gaza Strip. That is now no longer the case."

Jihad is the second most-powerful armed group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas.

The flare-up comes at a politically sensitive time for Israel.

A September 17 general election ended in a deadlock and a new government is yet to be formed.

It was the second election since April, when polls also ended inconclusively.

The violence drew international calls for calm.

Britain's foreign office said "we call on all sides to rapidly de-escalate the situation, and support the UN and Egyptian efforts to achieve that objective."

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Arab World

Maliki Can Withdraw as Candidacy as Iraq PM the Easy or Hard Way

Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
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Maliki Can Withdraw as Candidacy as Iraq PM the Easy or Hard Way

Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)
Members of the Coordination Framework hold a meeting. (Iraqi News Agency)

Iraqi Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declined at the last minute to attend a meeting of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework on Monday night that was aimed at settling the crisis over his nomination as prime minister.

Instead of declaring that he was pulling out as candidate, as had been expected, Maliki informed his close circle that he is “following through with his nomination to the end,” trusted sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Iraq has come under intense pressure from the US to withdraw the nomination. In January, President Donald Trump warned Baghdad against picking Maliki as its PM, saying the United States would no longer help the country.

“Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again. Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Maliki also dismissed as “extortion and intimidation” talks of renewed US sanctions on Iraq, added the sources.

However, circles within the Coordination Framework have started to “despair” with the impasse over naming a new prime minister and are weighing the possibility of taking “difficult” choices, they revealed. Maliki has become a prisoner of his own nomination.

The Sunni Progress Party (Takadum) had voiced its reservations over Maliki’s nomination before Trump made his position clear and which has since weighed heavily on Iraq.

‘Indefinitely’

Maliki’s decision to skip the Framework’s meeting on Monday forced the coalition to postpone it “indefinitely”, exposing more differences inside the alliance that have been festering for months. The dispute over the post of prime minister is threatening to evolve into one that threatens the unity of the coalition itself.

Several sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Maliki had sent the Framework a written message on Monday night informing them that he will not attend the meeting because “he was aware that discussions will seek to pressure him to withdraw his candidacy.”

Maliki was the one to call for the meeting to convene in the first place, they revealed.

Reports have been rife in Iraq that Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaderships have all received warnings that the US would take measure against Iraq if Maliki continued to insist on his nomination.

Former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told Dijlah TV that “Shiite parties” had received two new American messages reiterating the rejection of Maliki’s nomination.

Necessary choice

Maliki and the Framework are now at an impasse, with the latter hoping the former PM would take it upon himself to withdraw his candidacy in what a leading Shiite figure said would help protect the unity of the coalition.

Leading members of the coalition were hoping to give Maliki enough time to decide himself to withdraw, but as time stretches on, the coalition may take matters into its own hands and take “necessary” choices, said the figure.

Other sources revealed, however, that Maliki refuses to voluntarily withdraw from the race believing that this is a responsibility that should be shouldered by the Framework. This has effectively left the alliance with complex and limited choices to end the crisis.

Sources close to Maliki said he has made light of US threats to impose sanctions, saying that if they were to happen, Iraq will emerge on the other side stronger, citing other countries that came out stronger after enduring years of pressure.

Moreover, he is banking on an American change in position, saying mediators have volunteered to “polish his image before Trump and his team.” Members of Maliki’s State of Law coalition declined to comment on this information.

Sources inside the Framework said the coalition may “ultimately withdraw Maliki’s nomination if he becomes too much of a burden on an already weary alliance.”

Doing so may cost them a strong ally in Maliki and force the Framework to yield to Washington’s will, said the Shiite figure. “Maliki may come off as stubborn and strong, but he is wasting his realistic options at this critical political juncture,” it added.

The Framework is divided between a team that is banking on waiting to see how the US-Iran tensions will play out to resolve the crisis and on Maliki voluntarily withdrawing his nomination. The other team is calling for the coalition to resolve the crisis through an internal vote.

Leading Shiite figures told Asharq Al-Awsat that opponents of Maliki’s nomination in the coalition have no choice but to apply internal pressure inside the Framework, which is on the verge of collapse.

Arab World

Australia Bars Citizen Held in Syria’s Roj Camp from Returning Home

Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Australia Bars Citizen Held in Syria’s Roj Camp from Returning Home

Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Members of Australian families believed to be linked to ISIS leave Roj camp near Derik, Syria February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Australia has barred one of its citizens from returning home from a Syrian detention camp because of security concerns, the government said Wednesday.

The unidentified person is among a group of 34 Australian women and children at the Roj camp related to suspected members of ISIS.

"I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a temporary exclusion order, which was made on advice from security agencies," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement sent to AFP.

"At this stage security agencies have not provided advice that other members of the cohort meet the required legal thresholds for temporary exclusion orders."

The minister can make temporary exclusion orders lasting up to two years to prevent terrorist activities or politically motivated violence.

The Australians were released from the camp on Monday but failed to reach the capital Damascus on their way home, a Kurdish official told AFP in Syria.

The official said they were turned back to the detention camp, citing "poor coordination" with the Syrian authorities.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese underscored his government's refusal to help repatriate the women and children.

"You make your bed, you lie in it," he said, accusing the group of aligning with an ideology that seeks to "undermine and destroy our way of life".

"We are doing nothing to repatriate or to assist these people," he told reporters Wednesday.

"I think it's unfortunate that children are caught up in this. That's not their decision but it's the decision of their parents or their mother."

The humanitarian organization Save the Children Australia filed a lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of 11 women and 20 children in Syria, seeking their repatriation.

But the Federal Court ruled against Save the Children, saying the Australian government did not control their detention in Syria.

Arab World

Saudi Intervention Ends Socotra Power Crisis

Socotra power generators restarted after Saudi intervention (X)
Socotra power generators restarted after Saudi intervention (X)
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Saudi Intervention Ends Socotra Power Crisis

Socotra power generators restarted after Saudi intervention (X)
Socotra power generators restarted after Saudi intervention (X)

Electricity has returned to Yemen’s Socotra archipelago after urgent Saudi intervention ended days of outages that disrupted daily life and crippled vital institutions, including the general hospital, the university and the technical institute.

The breakthrough followed a sudden shutdown of the power plants after the operating company withdrew and disabled control systems, triggering widespread blackouts and deepening hardship for residents.

The Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen said its engineering and technical teams moved immediately after receiving an appeal from local authorities. Specialists were dispatched to reactivate operating systems that had been encrypted before the company left the island.

Generators were brought back online in stages, restoring electricity across most of the governorate within a short time.

The restart eased intense pressure on the grid, which had faced rising demand in recent weeks after a complete halt in generation.

Health and education facilities were among the worst affected. Some medical departments scaled back services, while parts of the education sector were partially suspended as classrooms and laboratories were left without power.

Socotra’s electricity authority said the crisis began when the former operator installed shutdown timers and password protections on control systems, preventing local teams from restarting the stations. Officials noted that the archipelago faced a similar situation in 2018, which was resolved through official intervention.

Local sources said the return of electricity quickly stabilized basic services. Water networks resumed regular operations, telecommunications improved, and commercial activity began to recover after a period of economic disruption linked to the outages.

Health and education rebound

In the health sector, stable power, combined with operational support, secured the functioning of Socotra General Hospital, the archipelago’s main medical facility.

Funding helped provide fuel and medical supplies and support healthcare staff, strengthening the hospital’s ability to receive patients and reducing the need to transfer cases outside the governorate, a burden that had weighed heavily on residents.

Medical sources said critical departments, including intensive care units and operating rooms, resumed normal operations after relying on limited emergency measures.

In education, classes and academic activities resumed at Socotra University and the technical institute after weeks of disruption.

A support initiative covered operational costs, including academic staff salaries and essential expenses, helping curb absenteeism and restore the academic schedule.

Local authorities announced that studies at the technical institute would officially restart on Monday, a move seen as a sign of gradual stabilization in public services.

Observers say sustained technical and operational support will be key to safeguarding electricity supply and preventing a repeat of the crisis in a region that depends almost entirely on power to run its vital sectors.