Palestinian Presidency Urges ‘Calm’ after Armed, Popular Clashes in Nablus

A side of the clashes in Nablus (AP)
A side of the clashes in Nablus (AP)
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Palestinian Presidency Urges ‘Calm’ after Armed, Popular Clashes in Nablus

A side of the clashes in Nablus (AP)
A side of the clashes in Nablus (AP)

The Palestinian presidency on Wednesday has urged Palestinians to maintain “calm” after violent confrontations having erupted between angry gunmen and security forces in the city of Nablus north of the West Bank.

Prior to the breakout of violence, the angry gunmen were protesting the arrest of wanted armed individuals being pursued by Israel.

Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh urged calm in Nablus in order not to give way to those conspiring against the national Palestinian project.

Abu Rudeineh also called for “confronting the conspiracies of the occupation and some regional countries that want to harm the Palestinian national project.”

According to Abu Rudeineh, the presidency called on Palestinians “to unite at this dangerous stage that their national cause is going through.”

The spokesperson also warned against Palestinians being drawn behind malicious agendas and reaffirmed that spilling Palestinian blood was unacceptable.

“We affirm the sanctity of Palestinian blood, the need to maintain order and security in the Palestinian street, and to display a spirit of responsibility,” noted Abu Rudeineh, stressing that the main battle is with the Israeli occupation.

The appeal for calm to prevail came during unprecedented confrontations in Nablus, where clashes continued throughout Monday and Tuesday night.

The altercations took two forms. Shooting confrontations took place between armed Palestinian organizations and members of the security services on one side, and popular confrontations, during which angry youths blocked roads and threw stones and bottles at the Palestinian security forces.

Clashes and widespread confrontations erupted after Palestinian Authority security forces arrested two individuals wanted by the Israelis, Musab Shtayyeh and Ameed Tabila.

Shatayyeh and Tabila were arrested in a tight ambush in Nablus.

The arrest of Shtayyeh, who is a Hamas operative, came amid a wave of Israeli operations against militants in the West Bank, concentrated largely in the cities of Jenin and Nablus.

The Israeli operations have been met by many confrontations and clashes over the past few weeks.



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.