Palestinian Nurse Spots Own Father Among Casualties from Israel Raid

Palestinian nurse Elias al-Ashqar stands by a billboard bearing an obituary for his father Abdel Aziz, on February 24, 2023.  (Photo by Zain Jaafar / AFP)
Palestinian nurse Elias al-Ashqar stands by a billboard bearing an obituary for his father Abdel Aziz, on February 24, 2023. (Photo by Zain Jaafar / AFP)
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Palestinian Nurse Spots Own Father Among Casualties from Israel Raid

Palestinian nurse Elias al-Ashqar stands by a billboard bearing an obituary for his father Abdel Aziz, on February 24, 2023.  (Photo by Zain Jaafar / AFP)
Palestinian nurse Elias al-Ashqar stands by a billboard bearing an obituary for his father Abdel Aziz, on February 24, 2023. (Photo by Zain Jaafar / AFP)

When Israel conducted its deadliest raid in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades this week, a young Palestinian nurse rushed to help.

As critical case after critical case succumbed to their wounds, Elias al-Ashqar, 25, let out a blood-curdling roar.

"My father! My father," he screamed, as he realised his dad was among the 11 people killed in the raid on the flashpoint city of Nablus.

"I was on my regular shift in the hospital on Wednesday morning. I was busy with a group of medical students from An-Najah University," Ashqar told AFP.

It was then that the emergency department alarm bell sounded, warning of multiple incoming casualties, an increasingly frequent occurrence amid the growing violence of recent months.

As he entered, he saw two people on opposite beds. "The doctors were trying to resuscitate them," he told AFP, tears welling in his eyes.

"I helped the doctors with the first patient. He was young but soon died, so I tried to help save the life of the second man without looking at his face.

"The doctors were trying to resuscitate him, so I left them to help other cases... but I had a strange feeling the second wounded man belonged to me.

"I ran back and asked about him, and they told me that he had been martyred, so I subconsciously pulled back the curtain, and discovered that the martyr was my father."

Ashqar said his father Abdel Aziz, 65, had been returning from prayers in the Old City when he was caught up in the Israeli incursion. He said his father was unarmed.

Recent clashes in Nablus are at least partly the result of the emergence of a new militant group in the city dubbed the Lions' Den, that claims to rise above traditional factional loyalties and has been blamed for a number of attacks on Israeli targets.

Israel said Wednesday's raid targeted two Lions' Den members, as well as a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group.

As young men lined up to offer their condolences on Friday, Ashqar said his father had simply been going about his everyday life and lamented the prospects of ever winning justice for him.

"I don't know whether the Palestinian person is different to the European or American person," he said.

"We just wish we could have a life, we just want a life."



Egypt’s Sisi to Meet Trump on the Sidelines of Davos, Presidency Says

US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meet ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meet ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt’s Sisi to Meet Trump on the Sidelines of Davos, Presidency Says

US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meet ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meet ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's President Abdel ​Fattah al-Sisi will meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Egypt's presidency said on Tuesday.

This ‌will be ‌the first ‌meeting ⁠between ​the ‌two leaders since the US announced it was launching the second phase of its plan to end the war in Gaza.

Sisi and ⁠Trump met in the ‌Red Sea resort ‍of Sharm ‍el-Sheikh in October during a ‍summit convened by Egypt to sign a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the ​war.

On Friday, Trump said that he was also ⁠ready to restart US mediation between Egypt and Ethiopia to resolve the dispute over an Ethiopian dam, which both Egypt and Sudan consider a serious threat to vital water supplies.


Palestinian Infant Dies Due to Severe Cold in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
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Palestinian Infant Dies Due to Severe Cold in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians in a temporary camp in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip (EPA)

A Palestinian infant died Tuesday morning due to extreme cold in the Gaza City.

The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) quoted medical sources as saying that "the 7-month-old infant, Shatha Abu Jarad, died in Gaza due to severe cold."

According to the agency, "the number of children who have died in the Gaza Strip due to the extreme cold since the beginning of winter has risen to nine, amid a shortage of aid and a lack of heating".

The Civil Defense in Gaza warned on Monday of the possibility of increased deaths among children due to an unprecedented drop in temperatures.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza, said in a statement: "The sharp drop in temperatures we are witnessing tonight is unprecedented since the beginning of winter. The cold is so severe that we no longer feel our feet, so how about infants, patients, and families living in dilapidated tents?"

Displaced people in Gaza are facing a very difficult situation due to a stormy weather accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, coinciding with temperatures dropping to freezing levels.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned last week that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire, as severe weather conditions threaten progress in the field of humanitarian response, noting that more than one million people are in dire need of shelter as rainstorms continue.


PKK Says Will 'Not Abandon' Syrian Kurds

Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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PKK Says Will 'Not Abandon' Syrian Kurds

Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
Kurdish children and their families fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli on January 19, 2026. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Outlawed Kurdish militants in Türkiye will "never abandon" Kurds in Syria following an offensive by Damascus, a leader of the PKK armed group said, quoted by the Firat news agency Tuesday.

Syrian forces began an offensive nearly two weeks ago which pushed Kurdish-led SDF forces out of the northern city of Aleppo, and expanded over the weekend to push deep into territory that has been held by Kurdish forces for over a decade.

"You should know that we will not leave you alone. Whatever the cost, we will never leave you alone.. we as the entire Kurdish people and as the movement, will do whatever is necessary," Murat Karayilan of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was quoted as saying by Firat.

A close ally of Syria's new leadership that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the Turkish government is simultaneously leading a drive to reach a settlement with the PKK -- listed as a terror group by Türkiye and its Western allies.

Karayilan said the Damascus-led offensive was an "attempt to nullify" the peace process in Türkiye.

"This decision by international powers to enable these attacks, will be a black mark for the US, the UK, Germany, France and other international coalition states," he said.

On Monday, at least 500 people rallied in Türkiye’s Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir against the Syrian offensive. Clashes erupted when police tried to break up the protest.

The pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest force in the Turkish parliament, called for a rally on Tuesday in the town of Nusaybin, located on the border with Syria.