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Alarm over Missing Migrants after Setting Sail from Libya

A Libyan coast guard vessel is seen next to the Mission Lifeline rescue boat in the central Mediterranean Sea, June 21, 2018. Hermine Poschmann/ Misson-Lifeline/Handout via REUTERS
A Libyan coast guard vessel is seen next to the Mission Lifeline rescue boat in the central Mediterranean Sea, June 21, 2018. Hermine Poschmann/ Misson-Lifeline/Handout via REUTERS
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Alarm over Missing Migrants after Setting Sail from Libya

A Libyan coast guard vessel is seen next to the Mission Lifeline rescue boat in the central Mediterranean Sea, June 21, 2018. Hermine Poschmann/ Misson-Lifeline/Handout via REUTERS
A Libyan coast guard vessel is seen next to the Mission Lifeline rescue boat in the central Mediterranean Sea, June 21, 2018. Hermine Poschmann/ Misson-Lifeline/Handout via REUTERS

Europe's coast guard agency said Sunday it was looking for a dinghy believed to be carrying dozens of migrants when it went missing after setting sail from Libya for Italy.

The UN refugee agency told AFP it was "very worried" about the fate of what could be 85 migrants lost in Mediterranean Sea.

Two German monitors of dangerous migrant crossings first reported spotting four boats in distress off the southern coast of Malta over the weekend.

The European Union's Frontex border guard and coast guard agency later told AFP that one of the four boats had safely reached Italy and another two were still at sea.

It said a fourth boat initially spotted on Friday was unaccounted for.

"Frontex plane will fly again (Monday) morning in search of the remaining boat," a spokesman told AFP.

A spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it appeared that the missing boat had capsized.

"We are very worried," UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami told AFP.

Frontex said it had notified the coast guard authorities of Italy and Malta about the boats at sea.

Neither country's border authorities commented on the reported shipwreck when contacted by AFP.

Germany's Sea-Watch International group showed the boats' geolocation -- including one boat marked "unknown GPS contact lost" -- on its official Twitter account.

Sea-Watch presumed that the lost boat was carrying 85 people.

It said the other three boats were carrying 173 migrants in all.

Germany's United4Rescue monitor of migrant crossings said in a statement that it was receiving the same reports and feared for the lives of "dozens".

Italy has long established itself as the primary European port of entry for migrants seeking refuge from Africa and the Middle East.

But the Mediterranean country shut down its ports and said it would quarantine any illegal migrants because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swiss-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the reports were "very worrying" but difficult to verify.

"In the absence of boats in the area, it is very difficult at the moment to confirm that there has been a shipwreck, or the number of victims involved," IOM Italy spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo told AFP.

"And unfortunately, from experience, we also think it is likely that there have been shipwrecks of which we are not aware."

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Arab World

Lebanese State Media Says Three Killed in Israeli Strike on South

Residents arrive to inspect what is left of their homes and businesses, destroyed in Israeli military strikes, in the southern Lebanese village of Srifa on June 24, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP) /
Residents arrive to inspect what is left of their homes and businesses, destroyed in Israeli military strikes, in the southern Lebanese village of Srifa on June 24, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP) /
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Lebanese State Media Says Three Killed in Israeli Strike on South

Residents arrive to inspect what is left of their homes and businesses, destroyed in Israeli military strikes, in the southern Lebanese village of Srifa on June 24, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP) /
Residents arrive to inspect what is left of their homes and businesses, destroyed in Israeli military strikes, in the southern Lebanese village of Srifa on June 24, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP) /

An Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed three people on Thursday, Lebanese state media reported, despite a lull in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said "three people were killed and one person was wounded when an enemy drone targeted a... vehicle on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun".

It is the third deadly incident since Tuesday, bringing the number of people killed in Israeli attacks this week to seven. The strike comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials meet in Washington for a fifth round of direct negotiations.

Arab World

Palestinians Decry Israeli Push for Control over Ancient West Bank Sites

Pillars and archaeological remains in the ancient village of Sebastia, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Pillars and archaeological remains in the ancient village of Sebastia, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Palestinians Decry Israeli Push for Control over Ancient West Bank Sites

Pillars and archaeological remains in the ancient village of Sebastia, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Pillars and archaeological remains in the ancient village of Sebastia, near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

An Israeli bill that would extend civil control over ancient sites in the West Bank has drawn criticism from Palestinians and Israeli rights groups who say it is tantamount to annexation of occupied land and would expand Jewish settlements.

The "Heritage Authority in Judea and Samaria" bill passed one of three votes by Israel's parliament in May, but it is unclear whether the final vote will be held before parliament disperses ahead of an election expected by October 27.

The bill would bring management of Roman, Byzantine and Crusader-era sites under Israeli Ministry of Heritage management and allow related "expropriation and purchase of real estate" in the West Bank, which Israel calls by its Hebrew biblical name, Reuters reported.

That in effect would strip away oversight of some ancient sites from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which under the 1990s Oslo peace accords has exercised limited self-rule in parts of ‌the West Bank, ‌territory Israel captured in a 1967 war.

The PA's tourism minister, Hani Al-Hayek, said "control over these ‌antiquities ⁠is intended to ⁠expand control and expand settlements in these areas, deep inside Palestinian territories."

Israel says the bill's purpose is to protect ancient sites.

VILLAGE NEAR ANCIENT SEBASTIA SITE FACES LAND CONFISCATION

Peace Now, an Israeli settlements watchdog, said the bill "constitutes an annexationist measure in every respect" and would lead to broad-scale confiscation of Palestinian land.

Using archaeology to expand settlements is not a new practice, but the scope of the Israeli government's measures has been unprecedented, Peace Now said.

One example is the Palestinian village of Sebastia in the northern West Bank where residents, many of whom trace their roots to the land back centuries, rely heavily on tourism to a nearby archaeological site.

The ancient site in ⁠Sebastia has ruins from the 9th-century B.C. Israelite kingdom as well as Roman, Byzantine, Crusader ‌and Ottoman remnants, archaeologists say. It is on a tentative list for inclusion as ‌a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In late 2025, Israel announced a plan to seize about 1,800 dunams (445 acres) at the site, which it ‌said was meant to develop the area, affecting around 5,000 olive trees growing in the village groves, village officials said.

"They ‌are incorporating areas containing water resources, roads and antiquities, leaving us as residents without any resources. It is part of settlement expansion," said Sebastia Deputy Mayor Nizar Kayed.

Business had already been suffering since late 2023 with tourism dropping because of war in the region, said Nahed Sakha, whose Sebastia restaurant is on land slated for confiscation.

"It seems that the Israeli plan (is) to isolate the archaeological site from the people," Sakha said.

ISRAEL CITES ‌ANCIENT TIES TO THE LAND

Israeli parliament member Zvi Sukkot, who has been key in advancing the new bill, says extending Israeli control over the sites is meant to safeguard ⁠ancient remnants dating back to biblical ⁠times.

"There's nothing here that changes the legal status of Judea and Samaria," he told Reuters.

"There are many people who are bothered by our desire to prove the ties between the people of Israel and this land," he said. "All the stories of the Bible, all our history, the people (of Israel) were born in Judea and Samaria."

Sukkot is a member of the pro-settler Religious Zionism party. Like many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and advocates annexation of the West Bank.

UN bodies and most countries view Israel's settlements as illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention provision barring the transfer of civilian population into occupied territory.

Israel rejects this view, saying the West Bank, which it captured in the 1967 war, is disputed territory. It cites security needs and biblical and historical ties to the land.

But the new bill has also caused concern among legal officials in Israel's defense establishment and Israeli scientists.

In an open letter to Netanyahu and Sukkot, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities called for it to be scrapped.

"This will undoubtedly lead to an immediate deterioration in Israel's international relations in the field of archaeology, and it will also have an impact on other areas of science and research," the academy said.

Arab World

Israel Says One Soldier Killed in Lebanon after Vehicle Overturned

Israeli soldiers carrying the coffin of a soldier killed in southern Lebanon during his funeral in Kfar Saba, Israel, on Sunday (dpa)
Israeli soldiers carrying the coffin of a soldier killed in southern Lebanon during his funeral in Kfar Saba, Israel, on Sunday (dpa)
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Israel Says One Soldier Killed in Lebanon after Vehicle Overturned

Israeli soldiers carrying the coffin of a soldier killed in southern Lebanon during his funeral in Kfar Saba, Israel, on Sunday (dpa)
Israeli soldiers carrying the coffin of a soldier killed in southern Lebanon during his funeral in Kfar Saba, Israel, on Sunday (dpa)

An Israeli military official ‌said ‌on Thursday a ‌soldier ⁠was killed in ⁠southern Lebanon after a vehicle ⁠had ‌overturned.

The official ‌described the ‌incident ‌as an accident, Reuters said.

Earlier, the ‌military said a soldier ⁠had ⁠died during "operational activity".

The pace of violence in Lebanon has eased recently, but Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stressed that his forces would remain in southern Lebanon.

“We have stated that, in any case, we will not withdraw, and up to this moment — and this is a diplomatic achievement — there has been no US request for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” Katz said in an interview during a conference of local leaders in Tel Aviv.

Israel and Lebanon are currently holding US-mediated talks in Washington aimed at reaching a diplomatic solution to the conflict, including the disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Since April, Lebanon has engaged in direct talks with Israel under US pressure, with the aim of ending the latest war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanese authorities have stressed their determination to keep Lebanon’s file separate from negotiations involving Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer.

On Wednesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed that “the negotiations in Washington are separate from the meetings held in Switzerland last week between the United States and Iran, which were followed by Qatar and Pakistan.”