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Number of Tunisian Migrants Landing in Italy Rose Fivefold in 2020

A rescuer from the Open Arms humanitarian group helps a migrant boarding a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea. (Reuters)
A rescuer from the Open Arms humanitarian group helps a migrant boarding a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea. (Reuters)
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Number of Tunisian Migrants Landing in Italy Rose Fivefold in 2020

A rescuer from the Open Arms humanitarian group helps a migrant boarding a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea. (Reuters)
A rescuer from the Open Arms humanitarian group helps a migrant boarding a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea. (Reuters)

The number of Tunisian migrants landing on Italian shores soared fivefold to 13,000 in 2020, a rights group said on Tuesday, citing economic privations in Tunisia that fuel migration in boats across the Mediterranean.

Tunisia has come under strong pressure from European nations on opposite shores of the Mediterranean to stem the flow of migrants, especially after a deadly extremist attack at a church in the French city of Nice by a Tunisian migrant last year.

The Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights said that the number of illegal Tunisian migrants reaching Italy in 2019 was 2,654 in 2019, and 5,200 in 2018.

Human traffickers increasingly use the Tunisian Mediterranean towns of Sfax, Zarzis and Mahdia as launch pads for migrants heading by boat to Europe.‮ ‬

Tunisia is in the throes of economic and social crisis a decade after the fall of longtime ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to a popular uprising.

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Arab World

Senior Hamas Commander Killed in Israeli Strike

File photo of Samir Abu Younis
File photo of Samir Abu Younis
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Senior Hamas Commander Killed in Israeli Strike

File photo of Samir Abu Younis
File photo of Samir Abu Younis

Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday that a senior commander who helped plan and oversee the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The Al-Qassam Brigades identified the commander as Samir Abu Younis, 53, the commander of its Rafah brigade, and said he was killed on Saturday.

The Israeli military said ⁠on Sunday it ⁠had struck a senior commander in Hamas' armed wing but did not identify him.

Medics said Abu Younis was killed and others were wounded in an airstrike that targeted him in a street in ⁠the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas said Abu Younis joined Hamas' armed wing in 1991 and had held several senior operational roles in Rafah before becoming commander of the brigade.

Hamas said his funeral would be held on Sunday afternoon in Khan Younis.

An October 2025 ceasefire halted major fighting but has not stopped Israeli attacks ⁠or ⁠secured Hamas' disarmament.

Gaza health authorities say at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period.

Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign against Gaza, launched after Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel in October 2023.

Arab World

EU Urges ‘Immediate, Unimpeded’ Flood Aid to Gaza

Displaced Palestinians walk through a rain-soaked tent camp following heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians walk through a rain-soaked tent camp following heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
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EU Urges ‘Immediate, Unimpeded’ Flood Aid to Gaza

Displaced Palestinians walk through a rain-soaked tent camp following heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians walk through a rain-soaked tent camp following heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP)

The European Union on Saturday demanded Israel grant urgent access for aid groups to Gaza to help the victims of devastating floods there.

"We urge Israel to allow immediate, unimpeded access and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance and early recovery support at scale, and to reopen all Gaza border crossings," it said in a statement.

Arab World

Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
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Israeli Drone Strike Kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk through a tent camp housing displaced people amid buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP)

An Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hospital officials said.

The drone struck two Palestinians walking down a street in Jabaliya, on the northern edge of Gaza City, said Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where the casualties were taken.

The American field hospital said several other people were wounded but did not provide a number.

Asked about the attack, the Israeli military said it had struck two Hamas fighters in the area.

Near-daily Israeli fire and airstrikes have continued in Gaza more than a year after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal.

At least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and is seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll but says women and children make up around half the dead.