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Arab World

Israel Strikes Kill Senior Hamas Commander, Palestinians Fire Rockets

The remains of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo)
The remains of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo)
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Israel Strikes Kill Senior Hamas Commander, Palestinians Fire Rockets

The remains of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo)
The remains of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo)

Israel said it killed 16 members of the Hamas armed wing in Gaza in a barrage on Wednesday and Palestinian militants rained rockets into Israel as Washington said it would send an envoy to try to calm their most intense hostilities in years.

At least 56 people have been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday, according to the enclave's health ministry. Six people have been killed in Israel, medical officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the brigade commander for Gaza City was among senior members of the militant group who had been killed. "This is just the beginning. We'll hit them like they've never dreamed possible," he said.

Soon after the announcement, a new rocket barrage was fired at the Israeli city of Ashdod and Israeli media said the military was preparing for new salvoes on the Tel Aviv area.

Hamas confirmed the death of the commander and of "other leaders and holy warriors" in a statement. Its leader Ismail Haniyeh added: "The confrontation with the enemy is open-ended."

A Palestinian source said truce efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations had made no progress to end violence that flared this week after tension during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan and clashes in East Jerusalem.

Describing the scenes of destruction as "harrowing", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a senior aide, Hady Amr, would be sent to urge Israelis and Palestinians to seek calm.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin reaffirmed "ironclad support for Israel's legitimate right to defend itself". Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel would continue to strike Hamas to restore long-term calm, according to a statement on their call.

The fighting is the heaviest between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in the Hamas-ruled enclave, and concern is growing that the situation could spiral out of control.

In Gaza, a multi-storey residential building and a tower housing Hamas and other media outlets collapsed after Israel warned occupants in advance to evacuate, and another structure was heavily damaged in the air strikes.

Other air strikes hit what Israel's military said were rocket launch sites, Hamas offices and homes of Hamas leaders.

"Israel has gone crazy," said a man on a Gaza street, where people ran out of their homes as explosions rocked buildings.

Twenty-four people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry said. Witnesses and health officials in Gaza said one Israeli air strike killed three people, including a woman, in a car.

Many Israelis also spent a sleepless night as waves of rockets hit Israel's heartland.

"The children have escaped the coronavirus, and now a new trauma," an Israeli woman in the coastal city of Ashkelon told Channel 11 TV.

Israelis ran to shelters or lay on pavements in some communities far from Gaza.

"All of Israel is under attack. It's a very scary situation to be in," said Margo Aronovic, a 26-year-old student, in Tel Aviv.

Along the Gaza border, an Israeli soldier was killed by an anti-tank missile, the military said. Two people were killed by a rocket in Lod, near Tel Aviv.

Child casualties

US energy corporation Chevron said it had shut down the Tamar natural gas platform off the Israeli coast on the instructions of the Energy Ministry. Israel said its energy needs would continue to be met.

Hamas said it fired 210 rockets towards Beersheba in southern Israel and at Tel Aviv overnight in response to the strikes on a tower building in Gaza City.

"If they (Israel) want to escalate, the resistance is ready, if they want to stop, the resistance is ready," Haniyeh said.

For Israel, the targeting of Tel Aviv, its commercial capital, posed a new challenge in the confrontation with Hamas, regarded as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

The violence followed weeks of tension during Ramadan, with clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters near Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.

These escalated ahead of a court hearing - now postponed - that could lead to the eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem homes claimed by Jewish settlers.

The conflict has led to the freezing of talks by Netanyahu's opponents on forming a governing coalition to unseat him after Israel's inconclusive March 23 election.

Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank. Medical sources said a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli forces on Wednesday. Gaza's health ministry said 14 of the people reported killed in the enclave were children. The Israeli military said 200 of more than 1,000 rockets fired by Gaza factions had fallen short, potentially causing some Palestinian civilian casualties.

Israel has dispatched infantry and armor to reinforce tanks already gathered on the border, evoking memories of its last ground incursion into Gaza to stop rocket attacks in 2014.

Although the latest problems in Jerusalem were the immediate trigger for hostilities, Palestinians have also been frustrated as their aspirations for an independent state have suffered setbacks in recent years.

These include Washington's recognition of disputed Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a US plan to end the conflict that they saw as favorable to Israel, and continued settlement building.

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Arab World

Foreign Media Group Disappointed as Israel Court Postpones Gaza Ruling

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Foreign Media Group Disappointed as Israel Court Postpones Gaza Ruling

Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)

An international media association expressed disappointment after Israel's supreme court again postponed ruling on a petition seeking free and independent press access to Gaza, in a statement sent to media on Wednesday.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, the Israeli government has barred foreign journalists from independently entering the blockaded territory.

Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis, on embeds with its military.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) filed its petition in 2024, after which the court granted the government several extensions to submit its response.

The FPA represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and an AFP journalist sits on its board.

Following its latest hearing on Monday, the court once again postponed ruling on the FPA petition, and said it would give an update by March 31.

- 'Behind closed doors' -

"The Foreign Press Association is deeply disappointed that the Israeli Supreme Court has once again postponed ruling on our petition for free, independent press access to Gaza," the FPA said in its statement.

"All the more concerning is that the court appears to have been swayed by the state's classified security arguments, which were presented behind closed doors and without the presence of the FPA's attorneys.

"This secretive process offers no opportunity for us to rebut these arguments and clears the way for the continued arbitrary and open-ended closure of Gaza to foreign journalists," the statement added.

The FPA said there were no security arguments that justify what it called Israel's "blanket ban" on media access to Gaza.

The ban comes "at a time when humanitarian aid workers and other officials are being allowed into Gaza," it said.

In previous submissions, the government argued that allowing journalists into Gaza posed security risks for the military, particularly while troops were still searching for the remains of the last hostage held there.

However, the remains of Ran Gvili, the last Israeli captive, have now been returned to Israel, which the FPA said opens the way for independent media access to Gaza.

"The FPA urges the court to reconsider its decision and stresses the urgency of free, independent access to Gaza," the association said.

Palestinian fighters took 251 people hostage on October 7, 2023, in an attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 others, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 71,662 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

Media restrictions and limited access have meant that AFP and other media have been unable to independently verify casualty figures or freely cover all the violence.

Arab World

Sudanese Slowly Rebuild Their War-Ravaged Capital

A view of Sudan's Ministry of Finance building after nearly three years of devastation caused by the war, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes, in the capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
A view of Sudan's Ministry of Finance building after nearly three years of devastation caused by the war, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes, in the capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Sudanese Slowly Rebuild Their War-Ravaged Capital

A view of Sudan's Ministry of Finance building after nearly three years of devastation caused by the war, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes, in the capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)
A view of Sudan's Ministry of Finance building after nearly three years of devastation caused by the war, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes, in the capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)

A jungle of weeds fills the Sudanese finance ministry's courtyard in central Khartoum, where the army-backed government says it plans a gradual return after nearly three years of war.

Abandoned cars, shattered glass and broken furniture lie beneath vines climbing the red-brick facades, built in the British colonial style that shaped the city's early 20th-century layout.

"The grounds haven't been cleared of mines," a guard warns at the ruined complex, located in an area still classified as "red" or highly dangerous by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).

Even as war rages in the southern Kordofan region, Prime Minister Kamil Idris has announced that the government will return to Khartoum after operating from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan some 700 kilometers (440 miles) away for nearly three years.

Main roads have been cleared and cranes now punctuate the skyline of a capital scarred by the war between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army, which retook the city last March.

Since then, officials have toured reconstruction sites daily, promising a swift return to normal life.

Government headquarters, including the general secretariat and cabinet offices, have been refurbished. But many ministries remain abandoned, their walls pockmarked by bullets.

The central bank is a blackened shell, its windows blown out. Its management announced last week that operations in Khartoum State would resume, according to the official news agency SUNA.

A member of security stands in front of a destroyed high-rise building, as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)

- 'Still empty' -

At a ruined crossroads nearby, a tea seller has reclaimed her usual spot beneath a large tree.

Halima Ishaq, 52, fled south when the fighting began in April 2023 and came back just three weeks ago.

"Business is not good. The neighborhood is still empty," the mother of five told AFP.

Ishaq earns between 4,000 and 5,000 Sudanese pounds a day, less than two euros and about a third of her pre-war income.

More than a third of Khartoum's nine million residents fled when the RSF seized it in 2023. Over a million have returned since the army retook the city.

The UN estimates that rebuilding infrastructure will cost at least $350 million.

"We sell very little," glazier Abdellah Ahmed told AFP.

"People have no money and the big companies haven't come back yet."

Khartoum's international airport has been renovated, but remains closed after an RSF drone strike last September, just weeks before its planned reopening.

Near the city's ministries, workers clear debris from a gutted bank.

"Everything must be finished in four months," said the site manager.

Optimism is also on display at the Grand Hotel, which once hosted Queen Elizabeth II. Management hopes to welcome guests again by mid-February.

While its chandeliered lobby survived, much of the neo-classical building's rear was destroyed, just a few years after it was renovated during Sudan's oil boom in the late 2000s.

Elsewhere, symbols of Khartoum's former ambitions lie in ruins.

Men walk in front of a destroyed high-rise building as efforts to restore the city's infrastructure resumes after nearly three years of devastation caused by war, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 17, 2025. (AFP)

The tower of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, unveiled when the city aspired to become "Africa's Dubai", stands charred and hollow.

Sudan lost half of its oil revenues during the war, on top of losses following South Sudan's secession in 2011, which removed about a third of the country's oil production.

Life is returning more quickly to the commercial districts of Khartoum's twin city Omdurman. On Liberty Street, Khartoum's main commercial avenue, only a few of the looted shops have reopened.

"Many shopkeepers aren't coming back," said Osman Nadir, an appliance seller.

"Suppliers are demanding repayment for goods destroyed during the fighting," added Nadir, who himself faces legal action.

For residents, restoring water and electricity remains the most urgent task.

- Dark streets -

At night, the streets are "dark and deserted," said Taghreed Awad al-Reem Saeed.

"You don't feel safe," the 26-year-old medical intern told AFP.

Men have returned to work alone, leaving their families elsewhere.

"Before I could go with my friends," Saeed said.

"I want my social life back," she added. "Like before."

"Like before and even better than before," hopes former National Theater director Abdel Rafea Hassan Bakhit, a retiree deeply involved in restoring the building.

Near the Nile, volunteers are repairing the National Theater, once graced by performers such as Umm Kulthum and Louis Armstrong.

The stage remains intact, but sound and lighting systems were destroyed. In recent weeks, official visits have multiplied, each bringing fresh promises of aid.

A few kilometers away, workers are clearing fallen trees from the red and yellow stands of Al-Merreikh Stadium, nicknamed "the Red Castle" and home to one of Africa's oldest football clubs.

Burnt-out cars still line the street outside. The pitch has been levelled, but machinery lies idle. The last match was played a week before the war. Since then, the club has competed in Rwanda's top division.

Arab World

Qassem's Threat of New War Sparks Outrage in Lebanon 

Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
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Qassem's Threat of New War Sparks Outrage in Lebanon 

Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)
Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (AFP)

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem's statements that the party will not remain on the sidelines should Iran come under attack sparked outrage in Lebanon over dragging the country yet again into regional conflicts.

He made his remarks as the Lebanese state has been under intense international and internal pressure to come up with a plan to impose state monopoly over arms, including Hezbollah's arsenal, to avert a new conflict.

Qassem's statements, however, undermined those efforts by declaring that the party will come to Iran's aid in a new war.

Ministerial sources close to the presidency questioned Qassem's statements, saying they give Israel an excuse to escalate its attacks against Lebanon.

They told Asharq Al-Awsat: "He is obviously speaking of a new 'support war'... Hasn't Qassem seen what the first support war did to Lebanon and his party's environment in particular?"

Lebanon is still suffering from the consequences of that war, added the sources, asking: "Should it be dragged into another destructive conflict?"

Hezbollah launched its support war against Israel in 2023 in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Israel escalated its attacks against the party in 2024, turning into an all-out war that decimated Hezbollah's leadership. The war ended in a November 2024 ceasefire.

Qassem's statements give Israel an excuse to continue to violate the ceasefire that will in turn delay reconstruction efforts and the return of the displaced to their homes, warned the sources.

Outrage

Officials were quick to slam Qassem's renewed war threat. During a parliament session on Tuesday, MP Firas Hamdan urged against "using the residents of the South and Lebanese people for Iran's interests."

Head of the Kataeb party MP Sami Gemayel said on X: "You want to defend your master [Iran], then go there. You want to commit suicide, then do so alone, but just leave Lebanon alone!"

Kataeb MP Ziad Hawat said: "Sheikh Naim Qassem did not learn anything from the support war and the catastrophe that he brought to Lebanon."

"The time of dragging Lebanon to ruin and destruction is over."

Dismissed

Political analyst and Hezbollah critic Ali al-Amine said Qassem wants to wage a new support war this time in support of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat: "He is proving that his party is helpless against the humiliating blows it has been receiving from Israel for over a year."

"He is declaring his embarrassing helplessness against the Israeli attacks on his party and Lebanon, while at the same time saying he is ready to support Iran. This demonstrates that his party is nothing more than an Iranian pawn," he went on to say.

On how Qassem's speech was received by Shiites, who form Hezbollah's widest support base, al-Amine said: "Some Shiites believe that such statements can no longer be taken seriously and that they no longer have any actual impact."

"There are others who react with real concern over such statements, not because they believe them," but because they could drag Lebanon and its people to a new war, he added.

He said that on the surface, Shiites may still be supporting Hezbollah, but this support has not reached the extent to demand it to seriously retaliate to Israel's repeated violations against Lebanon and the party.

"So how would they possibly react to dragging Lebanon to a new conflict because of Iran? Such a step will be met with greater resistance," he noted.

"In general, it's safe to say that the Lebanese people, especially the Shiites, are in agreement that they do not want to be fodder in the wars of others. This position played out on social media where users were quick to dismiss and mock Qassem's statements," al-Amine said.

"Ultimately, Qassem's speech was not convincing to Hezbollah's immediate supporters or Shiites in general. He appeared to be carrying out foreign orders, more so than expressing Lebanon's national interest or even the actual concerns of the environment he should be addressing," he stated.