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Palestinian Factions Warn of Gradual Escalation in Gaza

Egyptian workers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed during latest war in Gaza. (EPA)
Egyptian workers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed during latest war in Gaza. (EPA)
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Palestinian Factions Warn of Gradual Escalation in Gaza

Egyptian workers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed during latest war in Gaza. (EPA)
Egyptian workers remove the rubble of buildings destroyed during latest war in Gaza. (EPA)

Palestinian factions in Gaza will gradually escalate the situation in the strip amid faltering efforts to maintain calm, according to well-informed Palestinian sources.

The sources confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that an agreement was reached to start marches on the borders, followed by the resumption of the launching of incendiary balloons and the activation of the “night confusion units”.

They said that the agreement with mediators over Gaza was reached weeks ago and still no progress has been made. “The facilitations were lies and the blockade has intensified,” they said.

The factions warned they would not stand idly by in the face of the current situation.

Head of the Hamas politburo, Ismail Haniyeh said the “sword of Jerusalem” operation would continue, asserting that confronting the Israeli occupation will continue and will not stop until freedom and the right of return are achieved.

Member of the “Islamic Jihad” movement, Daoud Shehab said Israel was still hostile against the Palestinians.

Shehab accused Israel of tightening the blockade on the Strip, stressing that the Palestinian resistance will not stand idly by and will not allow the occupation to change the rules of engagement.

An official Israeli military source said that the absence of progress and the ongoing escalation in the West Bank will increase the chances of a new confrontation.

The Israeli Army Radio stated that despite the facilities that have come into force in the Strip, the security establishment estimates that there is a high probability for escalation, mainly due to the failure to transfer the Qatari grant to the coastal enclave.

It also indicated that the agreement on these funds faltered due to the refusal of banks with branches in Gaza to work as a channel for distributing the money for fear of being accused of supporting terrorism.

Israel had stopped transferring Qatari funds, of $30 million per month, to the Gaza Strip since the 11-day war last May and stipulated that it should be transferred through the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations.

Gaza officials told Hamas-affiliated and independent media outlets that the Authority is obstructing the transfer.

Several mediators, including Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations, are pressuring Hamas to give them a chance to resolve the issue.

Egypt and Qatar requested additional time to advance the truce agreement. However, the factions are not satisfied because of the withholding of Qatari funds and the prevention of the entry of construction materials and other raw materials.

Reports said Gaza is suffering from scarcity and a hike in the prices of building materials, which has led to an almost complete halt to the operation of construction companies.

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Arab World

Israeli Attack Kills Son of Hamas’ Khalil Al-Hayya

FILE PHOTO: Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo
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Israeli Attack Kills Son of Hamas’ Khalil Al-Hayya

FILE PHOTO: Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo

Azzam Al-Hayya, the son of Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' exiled Gaza chief who had been leading indirect talks with Israel over the Palestinian enclave's future, died on Thursday, a day after he was wounded in a strike in Gaza City, medical sources and others from the Hamas movement told Asharq Al-Awsat.

One source at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital said that Azzam Al-Hayya’s injuries were “severe and critical,” while a Hamas source indicated that the Israeli attacks on Wednesday were large-scale and extensive, resulting in the deaths of at least five people across the Gaza Strip, in addition to the son of the senior Hamas leader.

Khalil Al-Hayya had already lost three sons in previous Israeli attempts on his life - two in Gaza in the 2008 and 2014 rounds of fighting, while the third was killed in an Israeli attempt to kill Hamas leadership in Doha last year.

Several of Al-Hayya’s daughters and grandchildren have also been killed in a series of attacks during the war in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Hayya is in Cairo as part of a Hamas delegation and is holding talks with regional mediators and the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, Nickolay Mladenov.

Al-Hayya on Wednesday accused Israel of trying to undermine mediators' efforts to ⁠push ahead with US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan, overseen by his Board of Peace.

Arab World

South Sudan's President Kiir Sacks Army Chief, Finance Minister in Latest Reshuffle

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (archive - Reuters)
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (archive - Reuters)
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South Sudan's President Kiir Sacks Army Chief, Finance Minister in Latest Reshuffle

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (archive - Reuters)
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (archive - Reuters)

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dismissed the country's military chief and a finance minister who had been in post for less than three months, state media reported late on Wednesday.

The dismissals were the latest of frequent ‌changes in the top ‌ranks of Kiir's government ‌in ⁠recent years that ⁠analysts say signal an effort to consolidate power amid succession uncertainty.

The fired army chief, General Paul Nang, had occupied his position since October and his tenure had come under increasing scrutiny amid worsening insecurity in ⁠the country while the finance minister, ‌Salvatore Garang Mabiordit, ‌had served in the position since Feb 23, reported Reuters.

Kiir reappointed ‌General Santino Deng Wol as the ‌new army chief, state media South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation said. Wol, from South Sudan's Bahr El Gazal region where Kiir hails from, is ‌a close ally of the President and had served in the same ⁠post between ⁠2020 and 2024.

Kuol Daniel Ayulo, a career technocrat who had previously served at the finance ministry and ministry of trade as an undersecretary, has been appointed as the new finance minister, according to the state media. South Sudan has struggled to fully implement key reforms outlined in the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war, including the unification of the armed forces and holding of elections.

Arab World

Lebanese President Stresses National Unity, PM Says No Normalization with Israel

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. NNA
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. NNA
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Lebanese President Stresses National Unity, PM Says No Normalization with Israel

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. NNA
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. NNA

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has stressed the importance of “national unity” as Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said it was premature to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel.

Speaking during a meeting with heads of Akkar municipal federations and mukhtars at Baabda Palace on Wednesday, Aoun stressed “the importance of strengthening national unity,” noting that “preserving Lebanon requires not repeating the mistakes of the past.”

“We will preserve Lebanon, and we will not forget the past so that we do not repeat it in the present or the future. Let this past be a lesson from which we learn; we must always remember that we have always been together in this country and will remain so, and this is our shared responsibility,” Aoun added.

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued to rage in southern Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced on April 16.

Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Salam said Lebanon was not seeking "normalization with Israel, but rather achieving peace.”

The current circumstances "are not ripe to talk about high-level meetings," he added.

"Our minimum demand is a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal," he said, adding that the government would develop its plan to restrict weapons to state control - an effort aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament.

Also Wednesday, the Council of Maronite Bishops reiterated its support “for all efforts made by the President of the Republic, the government, and the Parliament to stop the war, reclaim Lebanese territories, rebuild, and facilitate the return of displaced persons and prisoners.”

The Council meeting, which was chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, stressed in a statement that “the moment Lebanon is experiencing is historic and pivotal, requiring courageous and responsible national stances rooted in Lebanon's supreme interest and national security.”

The Council affirmed that “Lebanon is not merely a circumstantial political entity, but a message founded on freedom, pluralism, and coexistence,” emphasizing that “the full and non-selective implementation of the Taif Agreement remains the fundamental entry point for rebuilding the state, consolidating the principle of exclusive state control over arms, and strengthening the role of institutions.”

It also considered that “the language of treason, threats, and blatant media campaigns serves only the enemies of Lebanon,” affirming Lebanon's commitment to Arab and international legitimacy and to international resolutions, especially Security Council resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701.

The Council spoke of “major transformations in the region,” noting that they “necessitate an approach to the negotiation process with Israel under Arab and international sponsorship in a way that serves Lebanon's supreme interest,” considering that “a return to the 1949 Lebanese-Israeli Armistice Agreement can constitute a fundamental milestone in this path.”