Egypt Enhances Medical Capabilities Through Chinese Aidhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2288346/egypt-enhances-medical-capabilities-through-chinese-aid
Egypt Enhances Medical Capabilities Through Chinese Aid
Aid convoy sent to a number of Egyptian towns on Saturday, May 16, 2020. (Egyptian government)
Egypt received on Saturday the third batch of medical supplies from China, which would enhance its capabilities and allow it to do more tests for suspected coronavirus cases.
The delivered cargo, which weighs over 35 tons, includes one million surgical face masks, 180,000 N95 masks, 90,000 sets of medical protective wear, 80,000 testing reagents, 70,000 pairs of disposable surgical gloves and 1,000 sets of thermometers, said the Health Ministry.
The Ministry noted that the new shipment, which was received at Cairo international airport, was immediately sterilized.
Egypt received the first shipment of medical aid from the Chinese government in mid-April. It included 20,000 N95 masks, 10,000 protective suits and 10,000 testing kits for COVID-19.
The second shipment, which was delivered on May 10, included 10,000 N95 masks, 10,000 protective suits and 70,000 nucleic acid detection reagents.
Egyptian medical authorities conducted 100,000 tests between mid-February and May 7, according to official statements.
A ceremony was held on Saturday at Cairo airport during which Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said the shipment delivery coincided with the 64th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries.
In early March, Egypt sent Health Minister Hala Zayed to China to convey a message of solidarity from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and a shipment of preventive medical supplies.
In other news, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly attended Saturday the launching of “Tahya Misr Fund” (Long Live Egypt Fund) as part of the third phase of an initiative to address the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak.
The initiative targets the delivery of aid to 300 Egyptian towns.
Shells of Unknown Origin Land Near Military Airport in Damascus, Syrian State TV Sayshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5217749-shells-unknown-origin-land-near-military-airport-damascus-syrian-state-tv-says
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike on Damascus over the summer. (Reuters file)
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Shells of Unknown Origin Land Near Military Airport in Damascus, Syrian State TV Says
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike on Damascus over the summer. (Reuters file)
Shells of unknown origin fell in the vicinity of Syria's Mezzah military airport in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV reported.
Syria's state news agency earlier reported the sound of an explosion in the vicinity of Damascus and said the matter was under investigation.
The airbase sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria.
Israeli Army Takes Journalists into a Tunnel in a Gaza City It Seized and Largely Flattenedhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5217718-israeli-army-takes-journalists-tunnel-gaza-city-it-seized-and-largely-flattened
Mattresses and a plastic chair lie on the floor inside a tunnel in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
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Israeli Army Takes Journalists into a Tunnel in a Gaza City It Seized and Largely Flattened
Mattresses and a plastic chair lie on the floor inside a tunnel in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
One by one, the soldiers squeezed through a narrow entrance to a tunnel in southern Gaza. Inside a dark hallway, some bowed their heads to avoid hitting the low ceiling, while watching their step as they walked over or around jagged concrete, crushed plastic bottles and tattered mattresses.
On Monday, Israel's military took journalists into Rafah — the city at Gaza's southernmost point that troops seized last year and largely flattened — as the two-month-old Israel-Hamas ceasefire reaches a critical point. Israel has banned international journalists from entering Gaza since the war began more than two years ago, except for rare, brief visits supervised by the military, such as this one.
Soldiers escorted journalists inside a tunnel, which they said was one of Hamas' most significant and complex underground routes, connecting cities in the embattled territory and used by top Hamas commanders. Israel said Hamas had kept the body of a hostage in the underground passage: Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old soldier who was killed in Gaza more than a decade ago and whose remains had been held there.
Hamas returned Goldin's body last month as part of a US-brokered ceasefire in the war triggered by the fighters' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and hundreds taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says roughly half the dead have been women and children.
Israel and Hamas are on the cusp of finishing the first phase of the truce, which mandated the return of all hostages, living and dead, in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel. The body of just one more hostage remains to be returned.
Mediators warn the second phase will be far more challenging since it includes thornier issues, such as disarming Hamas and Israel’s withdrawal from the strip. Israel currently controls more than half of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Washington this month to discuss those next steps with US President Donald Trump.
Buildings lie in ruins amidst the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Piles of rubble line Rafah's roads
Last year, Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, where many Palestinians had sought refuge from offensives elsewhere. Heavy fighting left much of the city in ruins and displaced nearly one million Palestinians. This year, when the military largely had control of the city, it systematically demolished most of the buildings that remained standing, according to satellite photos.
Troops also took control of and shut the vital Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that was not controlled by Israel.
Israel said Rafah was Hamas’ last major stronghold and key to dismantling the group’s military capabilities, a major war aim.
On the drive around Rafah on Monday, towers of mangled concrete, wires and twisted metal lined the roads, with few buildings still standing and none unscathed. Remnants of people's lives were scattered the ground: a foam mattress, towels and a book explaining the Quran.
Last week, Israel said it was ready to reopen the Rafah crossing but only for people to leave the strip. Egypt and many Palestinians fear that once people leave, they won't be allowed to return. They say Israel is obligated to open the crossing in both directions.
Israel has said that entry into Gaza would not be permitted until Israel receives all hostages remaining in the strip.
Israeli soldiers gather next to the entrance of a tunnel where the army says the body of soldier Hadar Goldin was held in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP)
Inside the tunnel
The tunnel that journalists were escorted through runs beneath what was once a densely populated residential neighborhood, under a United Nations compound and mosques. Today, Rafah is a ghost town. Underground, journalists picked their way around dangling cables and uneven concrete slabs covered in sand.
The army says the tunnel is more than 7 kilometers (4 miles) long and up to 25 meters (82 feet) deep and was used for storing weapons as well as long-term stays. It said top Hamas commanders were there during the war, including Mohammed Sinwar, who was believed to have run Hamas’ armed wing and was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack. Israel has said it has killed both of them.
“What we see right here is a perfect example of what Hamas did with all the money and the equipment that was brought into Gaza throughout the years," said Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. "Hamas took it and built an incredible city underground for the purposes of terror and holding bodies of hostages.”
Israel has long accused Hamas of siphoning off money for military purposes. While Hamas says the Palestinians are an occupied people and have a right to resist, the group also has a civilian arm and ran a government that provided services such as health care, a police force and education.
The army hasn’t decided what to do with the tunnel. It could seal it with concrete, explode it or hold it for intelligence purposes among other options.
Since the ceasefire began, three soldiers have been killed in clashes with about 200 Hamas fighters that Israeli and Egyptian officials say remain underground in Israeli-held territory.
Hamas has said communication with its remaining units in Rafah has been cut off for months and that it was not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.
Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated violations of the deal during the first phase. Israel has accused Hamas of dragging out the hostage returns, while Palestinian health officials say over 370 Palestinians have been killed in continued Israeli strikes since the ceasefire took effect.
ICC Sentences Darfur Janjaweed Militia Leader to 20 yearshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5217646-icc-sentences-darfur-janjaweed-militia-leader-20-years
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a Sudanese national, waits to hear the verdict of the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 9, 2025. Peter Dejong/Pool via REUTERS
ICC Sentences Darfur Janjaweed Militia Leader to 20 years
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a Sudanese national, waits to hear the verdict of the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 9, 2025. Peter Dejong/Pool via REUTERS
Judges at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a Janjaweed militia leader to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region, including beating detainees to death with an axe.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was convicted in October on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and orchestrating rape and other atrocities carried out by Janjaweed militias more than 20 years ago.
In their sentencing, judges rejected defense arguments that Abd-Al-Rahman had limited authority and expressed empathy for the victims, Reuters reported.
"Abd-Al-Rahman not only gave the orders which led directly to the crimes, but in Mukjar and Deleig also personally perpetrated some of them, using the axe he carried to beat prisoners," presiding judge Joanna Korner said.
The trial chamber imposed a joint sentence of 20 years, a term that likely means the 76-year-old will die in prison.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, describing Abd-Al-Rahman as an axe murderer for killing two detainees held in a police station and as an enthusiastic, energetic and effective perpetrator of the abuses.
His defense argued he was a victim of mistaken identity and said that any sentence beyond seven years would amount to a de facto life term, given his age.
Both prosecution and defense can appeal the conviction and the sentence but both parties said they would study the rulings before making that decision.
The ruling closes the ICC's first trial addressing the Darfur conflict, accusing it of marginalizing the remote western region.
In response, Sudan's then-government mobilized Arab militias known as the Janjaweed to crush the revolt, unleashing violence that the US and human rights groups said amounted to genocide.
The United Nations Security Council referred the case to the ICC in 2005. The Hague-based court was established to prosecute the gravest crimes when local courts fail.
Fresh clashes broke out in Darfur and across Sudan in 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, widely seen as successors to the Janjaweed.
Fighting in Darfur, particularly its city of al-Fashir, has unleashed waves of ethnically driven killings and caused mass displacement.
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