Tunisian Foreign Minister Discusses Illegal Migration in Italy

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
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Tunisian Foreign Minister Discusses Illegal Migration in Italy

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar has discussed the worsening illegal migration crisis with several Italian officials in Rome.

Thursday's visit comes after the Italian cabinet declared a state of emergency to deal with the increasing number of irregular migrants.

Data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior indicates that about 31,300 migrants have arrived since the beginning of 2023.

The Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Taiani, said in a statement carried by Aki news agency that Rome would bring 4,000 trained Tunisian workers.

Taiani added that the goal is to "promote legal migration," adding that combating human traffickers and illegal migration is "essential for Tunisia and Italy.

He asserted that the two countries are serious about their cooperation, and the agreements still in force will be implemented.

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry announced the visit, which came at the invitation of Talani, saying it would be an occasion to discuss ways to address illegal migration according to a comprehensive approach that serves the economic interest of both countries.

It also promotes legal and circular migration and investments and helps create job opportunities for the youth.

The Tunisian coasts are witnessing a record influx of migrants, compared to previous years, towards the Italian shores in search of better opportunities.

The most significant proportion of migrants hails from sub-Saharan African countries, according to data from the Tunisian Naval Forces.

More than 28,000 migrants arrived in Italy this year, according to Italian authorities, compared to 6,900 in the same period last year.

Rome says that Tunis has become the first transit country in the region to its territory this year, ahead of Libya.

Tunisia's coastguard confirmed that it recovered 25 bodies from a shipwreck off Tunisia.

The coastguard stated that a wooden boat packed with about 110 migrants sank on Wednesday off the coast of Sfax, and it recovered the bodies of 14 migrants, including six women from African countries and one Tunisian who was the captain of the boat.

The national guard official, Houssem Eddin Jebabli, announced earlier that the bodies of ten migrants from sub-Saharan African countries had been recovered.

The Maritime Security Units in the Sousse region rescued 14 Tunisians, including five females and nine children. The Maritime Security Units in the Monastir region apprehended six Tunisians preparing for an illegal migration trip to the northern shore of the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 441 migrants drowned trying to cross the central Mediterranean in the first three months of 2023, the most fatalities in three months since 2017.

According to the organization's Missing Migrants Project, half of those deaths were linked to delays in state-led rescue efforts and, in one case, the absence of any rescue mission.

"Delays in State-led rescues on the Central Mediterranean route were a factor in at least six incidents this year, leading to the deaths of at least 127 people. The complete absence of response to a seventh case claimed the lives of at least 73 migrants," said the organization.

IOM Director General, António Vitorino, said the "persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable."

According to IOM, the 441 deaths documented in the year's first three months are likely an undercount of lives lost in the Central Mediterranean.

Over the Easter weekend, 3,000 migrants reached Italy, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to 31,192 people.



Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

Delegations from both sides began discussions in Qatar last Sunday to try to agree on a temporary halt to the 21-month conflict sparked by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Both Hamas and Israel have said that 10 living hostages who were taken that day and are still in captivity would be released if an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire were reached, reported Reuters.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he hoped to clinch a deal "in a few days", which could then lead to talks for a more permanent end to hostilities.

But one Palestinian source, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the talks, said Israel's refusal to accept Hamas's demand to withdraw all of its troops from Gaza was holding back progress.

Another said mediators had asked both sides to postpone the talks until the arrival of US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Doha.

"The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel's insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal," one Palestinian source said.

The source said Israel was proposing to maintain military forces in more than 40 percent of the Palestinian territory, forcing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into a small area near the city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, they added.

"Hamas's delegation will not accept the Israeli maps... as they essentially legitimize the reoccupation of approximately half of the Gaza Strip and turn Gaza into isolated zones with no crossings or freedom of movement," the source said.

A second Palestinian source accused the Israeli delegation of having no authority, and "stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination".

- Latest strikes -

The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized, 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

At least 57,823 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 14 Palestinians were killed in the latest wave of Israeli strikes across the territory on Saturday.

More than 30 people were killed on Friday, including 10 people who were waiting for aid handouts, the agency said.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it had attacked "approximately 250 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the last 48 hours.

Targets included "terrorists, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional terrorist infrastructure sites", it added.

Two previous ceasefires -- a week-long truce beginning in late November 2023 and a two-month one from mid-January this year -- led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The second Palestinian source said "some progress" had been made in the latest talks on plans for releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and getting more aid to Gaza.

Netanyahu, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said this week that neutralizing Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks.

That included the group giving up weapons, he said, warning that failure to do so would mean Israel would have to do so by force.