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Israeli Plane Carrying Medical Aid Lands in Sudan

The scene after two planes collided is seen at Khartoum Airport, Sudan October 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GAMIL BANNA/via REUTERS
The scene after two planes collided is seen at Khartoum Airport, Sudan October 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GAMIL BANNA/via REUTERS
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Israeli Plane Carrying Medical Aid Lands in Sudan

The scene after two planes collided is seen at Khartoum Airport, Sudan October 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GAMIL BANNA/via REUTERS
The scene after two planes collided is seen at Khartoum Airport, Sudan October 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GAMIL BANNA/via REUTERS

A private Israeli jet landed at Khartoum airport on Tuesday and returned to Tel Aviv the same day, Israeli sources confirmed despite an official denial from Sudan.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth said that the private plane with the registration number N84UP, was previously used to transfer money from Doha to Tel Aviv. The sums were then transported by armored vehicle to the Gaza Strip and received by a Hamas representative.

Earlier, Israeli Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Shimon Aran reported that an Israeli private plane landed at Khartoum International Airport on Tuesday morning.

Later, Ynet website detailed the plane’s itinerary saying it set out from Tel Aviv towards Eilat airport at 9 am Tuesday, then flew over the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, and passed the Egyptian airspace. The jet entered Sudan airspace and landed at Khartoum airport, two hours after takeoff.

Sources in Tel Aviv said that the Israeli plane carried medicine and medical equipment to help the country confront the coronavirus outbreak.

They indicated that officials decided to send the plane to help treat the advisor to Sudan's leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Najwa Gadaheldam, who contracted the virus and died early Wednesday from complications stemming from the coronavirus.

Gadaheldam was instrumental in fostering relations between Tel Aviv and Khartoum after she sponsored the meeting between Burhan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Kampala earlier this year.

Yedioth Aharonoth related the reports about the plane with Netanyahu’s statement during a cabinet meeting that he called officials, including Burhan and Gadaheldam, to congratulate them on Eid al-Fitr.

Netanyahu stated that Sudan is witnessing a shift in its relations with Israel, recalling his February 3 meeting with Burhan at the invitation of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Khartoum International Airport spokesman Mohamed Mahdi Abdoun issued a statement denying claims about the arrival of the Israeli plane.

Abdoun asserted that no Israeli jet landed at the airport and there are no scheduled flights at the facility, stating that Sudan’s airspace has been closed to all commercial flights since the spread of the coronavirus.

Sudanese Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Amer Muhammad al-Hassan also denied that an Israeli plane had landed at Khartoum airport, asserting in a Facebook post that a plane arrived from Turkey carrying medical aid.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.