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Tunisia Retrieves Bodies of 24 Drowned Migrants Off Sfax Coast

A Tunisian national coast guard helps a migrant child to get off a rescue boat in Jbeniana, Safx, Tunisia April 23, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a handout video taken April 23, 2022. (Reuters)
A Tunisian national coast guard helps a migrant child to get off a rescue boat in Jbeniana, Safx, Tunisia April 23, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a handout video taken April 23, 2022. (Reuters)
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Tunisia Retrieves Bodies of 24 Drowned Migrants Off Sfax Coast

A Tunisian national coast guard helps a migrant child to get off a rescue boat in Jbeniana, Safx, Tunisia April 23, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a handout video taken April 23, 2022. (Reuters)
A Tunisian national coast guard helps a migrant child to get off a rescue boat in Jbeniana, Safx, Tunisia April 23, 2022, in this screen grab taken from a handout video taken April 23, 2022. (Reuters)

Tunisia’s coastguard has retrieved 24 more bodies of migrants who had been among about 120 people on boats that sank off the Tunisian coast in late April, a judicial official said on Wednesday.

On April 23, the Tunisian coast guard said four boats carrying 120 African migrants headed for Italy through the Mediterranean had sunk off the coast near the city of Sfax.

The confirmed death toll has now reached 67. More than 50 people are still missing.

The Interior Ministry revealed that it had arrested 20,616 people in 2021 during attempts to cross towards Italy. Among these were 10,371 foreigners, most of who are from sub-Saharan African countries.

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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.