Morocco, Israel Sign Cooperation Agreements

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed cooperation agreements in Rabat on Wednesday FADEL SENNA AFP
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed cooperation agreements in Rabat on Wednesday FADEL SENNA AFP
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Morocco, Israel Sign Cooperation Agreements

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed cooperation agreements in Rabat on Wednesday FADEL SENNA AFP
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed cooperation agreements in Rabat on Wednesday FADEL SENNA AFP

The foreign ministers of Morocco and Israel signed three accords on Wednesday during the first visit by a top official from the Jewish state since ties were normalized last year.

Nasser Bourita and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid signed agreements on political consultations, aviation and culture.

Lapid told reporters the accords would "bring our countries innovation and opportunities for the benefit of our children -- and their children -- for years to come".

Israel and Morocco struck a deal last year after then US president Donald Trump recognized Morocco's contested sovereignty in Western Sahara.

"Today, we are restoring peace, restoring friendship," Lapid said, AFP reported.

Morocco was the fourth Arab state to establish ties with Israel last year after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

Bourita said that during his talks with Lapid, the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories was raised.

"King Mohammed VI insists on the need to break the current impasse and resume negotiations, as the only means of reaching a solution based on two states living side by side on the 1967 borders," Bourita said.

The monarch had reassured Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas after the normalization of ties that Morocco would continue to support the Palestinian cause.

"It is urgent that measures be taken today to restore confidence and maintain calm, to open a political horizon to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Bourita said.

Lapid said he preferred to focus on the normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

"Something is happening in the region," he said.

On Thursday, Lapid will officially open Israel's diplomatic representation in the capital Rabat.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Lapid's visit "significant for Israel, Morocco, and the broader region".

"The United States will continue to work with Israel and Morocco to strengthen all aspects of our partnerships and create a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future for all the people of the Middle East," Blinken said in a statement.

The American embassy in Rabat said that ties between the two countries generated "real benefits" for both sides including direct commercial flights and economic cooperation.

Before the Bourita-Lapid meeting, the Israeli delegation visited the royal mausoleum, where kings Hassan II and Mohammed V are buried.

Lapid is also expected to visit the Beth-El synagogue in Casablanca on his two-day visit, the Israeli foreign ministry said.

"Proud to represent Israel during this historic visit," Lapid wrote on Twitter, just after his flight operated by Israeli national airline El Al landed.

His visit comes a little over two weeks after direct flights were launched between Israel and Morocco.

Morocco and Israel maintained liaison offices in the 1990s, before closing them during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, that raged from 2000 to 2005.

Lapid's visit to Rabat follows a June trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he inaugurated the new Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi.

It comes just days before Israel is due to require all travelers returning from Morocco to quarantine following a review of the risks of Covid-19 infection.

Last December Israel and Morocco signed agreements on water, aviation and finance, when a delegation of Israeli officials arrived on a first direct flight between Rabat and Tel Aviv.

And in July, the two countries signed a cyber defense cooperation accord in Rabat.



Lebanon Says Two Killed in Israeli Strike on Palestinian Refugee Camp

22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
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Lebanon Says Two Killed in Israeli Strike on Palestinian Refugee Camp

22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)
22 January 2026, Lebanon, Qnarit: People inspect the damage of a building that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese village of Qnarit. (dpa)

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp killed two people on Friday, with Israel's army saying it had targeted the Palestinian group Hamas. 

The official National News Agency said "an Israeli drone" targeted a neighborhood of the Ain al-Hilweh camp, which is located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon. 

Lebanon's health ministry said two people were killed in the raid. The NNA had earlier reported one dead and an unspecified number of wounded. 

An AFP correspondent saw smoke rising from a building in the densely populated camp as ambulances headed to the scene. 

The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces "struck a Hamas command center from which terrorists operated", calling activity there "a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon" and a threat to Israel. 

The Israeli military "is operating against the entrenchment" of the Palestinian group in Lebanon and will "continue to act decisively against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate", it added. 

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. 

Israel has also struck targets belonging to Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas, including in a raid on Ain al-Hilweh last November that killed 13 people. 

The UN rights office had said 11 children were killed in that strike, which Israel said targeted a Hamas training compound, though the group denied it had military installations in Palestinian camps in Lebanon. 

In October 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel in support of Hamas at the outset of the Gaza war, triggering hostilities that culminated in two months of all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group. 

On Sunday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike near the Syrian border in the country's east killed four people, as Israel said it targeted operatives from Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. 


UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Says It Risks Halting Somalia Aid Due to Funding Cuts 

A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)
A Somali trader marks watermelons for sale at an open-air grocery market as Muslims start the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, within Bakara market in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday it would have to stop humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if it did not receive new funding.

The Rome-based agency said it had already been forced to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.

"Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to halt humanitarian assistance by April," it said in a statement.

In early January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, following the destruction of a US-funded WFP warehouse in the capital Mogadishu's port.

The US announced a resumption of WFP food distribution on January 29.

However, all UN agencies have warned of serious funding shortfalls since Washington began slashing aid across the world following President Donald Trump's return to the White House last year.

"The situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate," said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, in Friday's statement.

"Families have lost everything, and many are already being pushed to the brink. Without immediate emergency food support, conditions will worsen quickly.

"We are at the cusp of a decisive moment; without urgent action, we may be unable to reach the most vulnerable in time, most of them women and children."

Some 4.4 million people in Somalia are facing crisis-levels of food insecurity, according to the WFP, the largest humanitarian agency in the country.

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and also suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons.


Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
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Hamas Says Path for Gaza Must Begin with End to ‘Aggression’ 

Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Makeshift tents of displaced Palestinian families among the ruins of their homes at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan in Jabaliya northern Gaza Strip on, 19 February 2026. (EPA)

Discussions on Gaza's future must begin with a total halt to Israeli "aggression", the Palestinian movement Hamas said after US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace met for the first time.

"Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people's legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination," Hamas said in a statement Thursday.

Trump's board met for its inaugural session in Washington on Thursday, with a number of countries pledging money and personnel to rebuild the Palestinian territory, more than four months into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted however that Hamas must disarm before any reconstruction begins.

"We agreed with our ally the US that there will be no reconstruction of Gaza before the demilitarization of Gaza," Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader did not attend the Washington meeting but was represented by his foreign minister Gideon Saar.

Trump said several countries had pledged more than seven billion dollars to rebuild the territory.

Muslim-majority Indonesia will take a deputy commander role in a nascent International Stabilization Force, the unit's American chief Major General Jasper Jeffers said.

Trump, whose plan for Gaza was endorsed by the UN Security Council in November, also said five countries had committed to providing troops, including Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.