Report: Fires Turn Syrian Resorts, Fields Into Ashes

An almost final count of the Lattakia Agriculture Directorate estimated the size of the damage at 7,190 hectares (Photo: Reuters)
An almost final count of the Lattakia Agriculture Directorate estimated the size of the damage at 7,190 hectares (Photo: Reuters)
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Report: Fires Turn Syrian Resorts, Fields Into Ashes

An almost final count of the Lattakia Agriculture Directorate estimated the size of the damage at 7,190 hectares (Photo: Reuters)
An almost final count of the Lattakia Agriculture Directorate estimated the size of the damage at 7,190 hectares (Photo: Reuters)

The color of ash dominates the entire mountain ridges surrounding Qardaha, south of Lattakia, a week after firefighting teams controlled the worst wave of fires that engulfed the Syrian coast in decades.

A number of villagers stand in front of their modest homes on a small cliff in the town of Bsout in the city of Qardaha. They look with regret at the olive groves and the hundreds of acres of pine and cypress trees destroyed by the fire.

In the presence of the village mayor, the residents count their losses to government employees: “Here is an olive grove of 6 dunums and a smaller grove next to it...”

The employees do not scrutinize these details as it is impossible to know what these orchards contained before turning into ashes. They write what they hear. Only farmers hope that this information will bring some financial or relief support.

An almost final count of the Lattakia Agriculture Directorate estimated the size of the damage at 7,190 hectares, with around 1.3 million fruit trees that were completely burned, including 1.1 million olive trees, 200,000 citrus trees, 3,000 apple trees, and 44,000 trees of various types.

Civil aid began to reach the villages of Qardaha. In cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, NGOs sent trucks containing basic food such as sugar and rice and allocated sums of money to people of the affected areas. The government pledged to provide 1.53 billion pounds to about 150 fire-stricken villages and towns.

In the villages of Blouran and Umm al-Touyur, north of Lattakia, the fire destroyed large areas of land. The traditional Syrian resort destination has turned black due to the fire.

More than a hundred firefighting vehicles, heavy machinery, and helicopters of the Syrian army participated in the attempt to control the fires that first broke out on Friday, Oct. 9, in 65 sites and then spread to 30 other locations, which dispersed the efforts of the civil defense teams.



Doctors Visiting a Gaza Hospital are Stunned by the War's Toll on Palestinian Children

A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
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Doctors Visiting a Gaza Hospital are Stunned by the War's Toll on Palestinian Children

A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)

An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still fighting for her life with part of her face blown off by the same strike.
An unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed out in pain for his parents, not knowing that they were killed in the strike. Beside him was his sister, but he didn’t recognize her because burns covered almost her entire body.
These gut-wrenching casualties were described to The Associated Press by Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive-care doctor from Jordan, following a 10-hour overnight shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah.
Haj-Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks out about the war’s devastating effects, was part of a team that recently finished a two-week stint there.
After nearly six months of war, Gaza’s health sector has been decimated. Roughly a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning. The rest have either shut down or are barely functioning after they ran out of fuel and medicine, were surrounded and raided by Israeli troops, or were damaged in fighting.
That leaves hospitals such as Al-Aqsa Martyrs caring for an overwhelming number of patients with limited supplies and staff. The majority of its intensive care unit beds are occupied by children, including infants wrapped in bandages and wearing oxygen masks.
“I spend most of my time here resuscitating children,” Haj-Hassan said after a recent shift. “What does that tell you about every other hospital in the Gaza Strip?”
A different team of international doctors working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs in January stayed at a nearby guesthouse. But because of a recent surge of Israeli Israel strikes nearby, Haj-Hassan and her co-workers stayed in the hospital itself.
That gave them a painfully vivid look at the strain the hospital has come under as the number of patients keeps rising, said Arvind Das, the team leader in Gaza for the International Rescue Committee. His organization and Medical Aid for Palestinians organized the visit by Haj-Hassan and others.
Mustafa Abu Qassim, a nurse from Jordan who was part of the visiting team, said he was shocked by the overcrowding.
“When we look for patients, there are no rooms,” he said. “They are in the corridors on a bed, a mattress, or on a blanket on the floor.”
Before the war, the hospital had a capacity of around 160 beds, according to the World Health Organization. Now there are some 800 patients, yet many of the hospital's 120 staff members are no longer able to come to work.
Health care workers face the same daily struggle as others in Gaza in finding food for their families and trying to ensure some safety for them. Many bring their children with them to the hospital to keep them close, Abu Qassim said.
“It’s just miserable,” he said.
Thousands of people driven from their homes by the war are also living in the hospital grounds, hoping it will be safe. Hospitals have special protections under international law, though those protections can be removed if combatants use them for military purposes.
Israel has alleged that hospitals serve as command centers, weapons storage facilities and hideouts for Hamas, but has presented little visual evidence. Hamas has denied the allegations. Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in Gaza's largest hospital, Shifa, for the past week.
Israeli troops have not raided or besieged Al-Aqsa Martyrs but have attacked surrounding areas, sometimes striking close to the hospital. In January, many doctors, patients, and displaced Palestinians fled the hospital after a flurry of strikes.
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 75,000 more in the territory of 2.3 million people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the ministry says about two-thirds of those killed have been women and children.
Roughly half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are 17 or younger, the UN’s agency for children estimates.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for non-combatants' deaths and injuries because the group in Gaza operates from within civilian areas. It says over one-third of the dead are Hamas, though it has not backed up the claim with evidence.
The war was triggered on Oct. 7 by Hamas and other militants who attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. The Israeli government believes around 100 hostages being held in Gaza are still alive.
In the early stages of the war, Israel severely limited the entry of food, fuel and medical supplies into Gaza. While the flow of aid has increased — and Israel says there are no longer any limits — the international community has called on Israel to let in more.
Aid groups say complicated inspection procedures at the border, continued fighting, and a breakdown in public order have caused massive slowdowns in convoys. Israel accuses the UN of disorganization.
The result has been catastrophic, with hospital staff struggling to cope with a shortage of spare parts to maintain medical equipment. Al-Aqsa Martyrs has also been short on anesthetics, meaning surgeries and other procedures are frequently performed without painkillers.
Haj-Hassan says there is only one way to end Gaza’s health care crisis.
“They need the war to stop,” she said.


Yemen’s PLC Evaluates Performance, Names Al-Zindani Foreign Minister

Smoke rises after a Western strike targeted a Houthi site in Sanaa (Reuters)
Smoke rises after a Western strike targeted a Houthi site in Sanaa (Reuters)
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Yemen’s PLC Evaluates Performance, Names Al-Zindani Foreign Minister

Smoke rises after a Western strike targeted a Houthi site in Sanaa (Reuters)
Smoke rises after a Western strike targeted a Houthi site in Sanaa (Reuters)

Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) on Wednesday appointed Shayea Mohsen Al-Zindani as the country’s new foreign minister, succeeding Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, who also serves as the country’s prime minister.
The PLC also stressed the need for good governance and equal opportunities.
Having previously held the position of Yemen's ambassador to several nations, Al-Zindani's most recent post has been Yemen's ambassador to Saudi Arabia since 2017.
The PLC, led by Rashad Al-Alimi, met on Wednesday to discuss economic, living, political, security, and military developments.
According to the “SABA” news agency, PLC members also reviewed executive measures needed for the state’s obligations ahead. Members addressed pending issues and assessed past performance, ensuring adherence to council directives.
The PLC stressed the importance of following laws and regulations strictly, promoting fair governance and equal opportunities in all state institutions.
This, PLC members said, is crucial for serving the public interest, improving the effectiveness, transparency, and integrity of government agencies, and enhancing their ability to tackle challenges and ease citizen suffering, worsened by Houthi attacks on oil facilities and international shipping routes.
Amid heightened Houthi naval activity and Western counterattacks, the group’s media confirmed Wednesday’s airstrike in Qatineh, Baqim district, Saada province, a Houthi stronghold, believed to be carried out by the US and UK.
Houthi media didn’t provide details of the strike’s impact, and the US military hasn't claimed responsibility yet. However, since Jan. 12, the US has been conducting nearly daily strikes to weaken Houthi capabilities.
The US aims to limit Houthi capabilities and safeguard ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
On Tuesday, new terrorism-related sanctions were imposed on financial brokers and traders associated with the Houthis, Iranian Quds Force, and Lebanese Hezbollah.
According to the US Treasury Department, sanctions were imposed on six entities, an individual, and two vessels for their alleged involvement in facilitating illicit shipments and financial transactions.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller affirmed that Washington will keep using all tools to target those who unlawfully ship goods for terrorist groups.
These actions come amid rising doubts among Yemeni citizens about the Houthis’ commitment to peace, amidst fears of widespread fighting if UN efforts fail to calm tensions.


US-Israel Rift Heads For Moment of Truth Over Rafah

Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip - AFP
Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip - AFP
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US-Israel Rift Heads For Moment of Truth Over Rafah

Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip - AFP
Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip - AFP

The United States has taken a public distance from Israel as never before over the Gaza war but the decisive test will be Rafah and whether Israel heeds US warnings against an offensive in the packed city.

The United States on Monday abstained at the Security Council, allowing a resolution to pass for the first time that called for an immediate ceasefire, infuriating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who delayed a delegation to Washington to discuss US concerns on Rafah, AFP reported.

But in a stance surely noted by Netanyahu, President Joe Biden has made clear he will not use his key point of leverage -- cutting US military assistance to Israel.

Annelle Sheline, who recently resigned in protest from the State Department, where she had been on a fellowship working on human rights, said the Biden administration may be shifting but that its actions so far -- including the resolution and plans for an emergency pier to bring in aid -- amounted to "PR stunts."

"I can only hope that things are starting to change. Unfortunately, I don't yet see the US actually using its leverage as far as ending or withdrawing support for Israeli military operations, turning off the tap of weapons," she told AFP.

Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute who was a top White House aide on the Middle East under former president George W. Bush, said Biden was responding at the United Nations not just to domestic politics but to calls from US allies to compromise and not keep vetoing resolutions.

A resolution "is a signal, but it doesn't in any tangible way impact Israel's ability to prosecute the conflict," Singh said, while arms restrictions would "come at a much higher cost" strategically and politically.

Israel has been waging a relentless military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's surprise attack on October 7 that was the deadliest in Israel in its history.

The United States has repeatedly warned Israel not to attack Rafah, the southern city where more than 1.4 million Palestinians have taken shelter, but Netanyahu last week vowed to press ahead after a direct appeal from visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

US officials say they will present alternatives to the Israeli delegation on Rafah that will focus on striking Hamas targets while limiting civilian casualties.

Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that US officials' presentation of alternatives "indicates to me that they believe some sort of military operations will occur and they're trying to limit the damage of that operation."

Singh said the holding pattern on Rafah hurt the United States and Israel as international pressure builds.

"I would say that probably there's a desire in Washington for them to get on with whatever they're going to do one way or the other -- absolutely protect civilians from harm, but this kind of perpetual indecision, I think, is itself harmful," Singh said.

James Ryan, executive director of the Middle East Research and Information Project, said: "You do own it a bit more if you give them plans and they don't go well."

US criticism has been mounting against Netanyahu with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a staunch backer of Israel and the highest-level elected American Jew, in a bombshell speech criticizing the conduct of the war and urging new elections.

A Gallup poll released Wednesday said only 36 percent of Americans approved of Israel's actions, down from 50 percent in November.

Biden is a lifelong supporter of Israel who, facing a tough reelection fight in November, is feeling the wrath of the left in his Democratic Party on Gaza, where the United Nations is predicting famine.

Netanyahu, also battling for his political life at the helm of a far-right coalition, is a veteran fighter in Washington who has aligned himself with much of the Republican Party and clashed with three Democratic presidents.

"Both Biden and Netanyahu benefit from having some degree of friction between them," Wertheim said.

"Possibly the one thing that could save Netanyahu government once a new election occurs is for Netanyahu to be able to say to the public, I'm the one figure who was able to stand up to the Americans and also preserve America's support for us," he said.

Biden, in turn, is eager to show he is pushing back against Israeli "brutality" without imposing costs by restricting weapons.

"What we're seeing is a lot of theater that serves the political interests of the leaders," Wertheim said.


Gaza Aid Airdrops Questioned After 18 More Die On Ground

Jordan is coordinating airdrops for other countries - AFP
Jordan is coordinating airdrops for other countries - AFP
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Gaza Aid Airdrops Questioned After 18 More Die On Ground

Jordan is coordinating airdrops for other countries - AFP
Jordan is coordinating airdrops for other countries - AFP

Even before 18 people were killed when airdrops of aid into Gaza went disastrously wrong on Monday, many had questioned the sense in using planes when food can be delivered far more rapidly by road.

With only a trickle of aid getting into the starving north and the United Nations warning of "imminent famine" as it accuses Israel of blocking deliveries, foreign governments have turned to airdrops as "a way to show that they're doing something", said Shira Efron of the Israel Policy Forum.

The problem is that "airdrops are as inefficient as they are dangerous", according to a source from an international NGO working in Gaza who asked to remain anonymous.

And they can be deadly to the desperate people waiting on the ground.

Twelve hungry Gazans drowned trying to fish food packages from the sea on Monday and six more were killed in stampedes.

Others have been crushed by the crates after parachutes malfunctioned, with five killed and 10 injured earlier this month when crates fell "like rockets" on the Al-Shati refugee camp.

Despite the deaths and the risks, Palestinians like mechanic Ahmed Al-Rifi were back the day after the latest tragedy waiting for the next drop, on the same beaches where the 18 were killed.

"Everyday people get hurt or even killed fighting to get flour, water, lentils and beans," he said.

Taxi driver Uday Nasser said it was "deeply humiliating".

"The strong take from the weaker ones. Sometimes they use knives or even shoot," he said.

UNICEF's James Elder, who is in Gaza, said "typically food aid is delivered from the air because people are cut off and it's the only way to reach them".

"Here the lifesaving aid they need is a matter of kilometres away. We need to use the roads," he said.

Israel denies it is blocking food lorries but aid entering the Gaza Strip by land is far below pre-war levels -- around 150 vehicles a day compared with at least 550 before the war, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

And only a small amount of that is getting to the famine-threatened north, where the drops are concentrated.

After the latest tragedy, Hamas pleaded for foreign powers to stop the drops saying they were a "real danger to the lives of hungry citizens".

But the plea fell on deaf ears -- Jordan's army said five more drops were carried out on Wednesday with help from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Spain.

The United States also pledged to continue airdrops with US Central Command confirming it had dropped 46,000 powdered meals over northern Gaza on Monday.

Some of those dropping the aid admit it is little more than a gesture with so many of Gaza's 2.4 million people starving.

US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Anderson told AFP during a drop earlier this month that the aid delivered by air was only a "drop in the bucket" of what was needed.

He said that if a parachute failed to open they try to make sure it ends up in the water where "nobody is going to get hurt".

Tragically on Monday, people drowned as they tried to get the crates landing in the water, witnesses saying some of the dead were children.

"The countries doing the drops, particularly the US, know that it is making almost no difference," the humanitarian source claimed.

However, the drops are highly visible and make for striking television images.

You can see them from miles away -- military cargo planes flying low, leaving a trail of black, pink or grey parachutes behind them, each carrying up to a tonne of aid.

"I think it is a way of putting indirect pressure on Israel" to let more food aid in, the source added.

Washington insisted Tuesday it was working "around the clock" to increase the flow of aid into Gaza by land as well as setting up a sea corridor.

The US Army said a floating jetty that will enable aid deliveries via the sea in Gaza was now crossing the Atlantic.

Up to now, only one vessel carrying aid has been able to deliver -- a Spanish vessel towing a barge from Cyprus carrying 200 tonnes of aid earlier this month.

That was the equivalent of what 12 lorries can carry, said Elder, when "hundreds of trucks are waiting on the other side of the Gaza border" full of aid.


Widespread Anger in Iraq after Decision to Raise Fuel Prices

Traffic congestion in the center of the Iraqi capital (AFP)
Traffic congestion in the center of the Iraqi capital (AFP)
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Widespread Anger in Iraq after Decision to Raise Fuel Prices

Traffic congestion in the center of the Iraqi capital (AFP)
Traffic congestion in the center of the Iraqi capital (AFP)

Signs of a massive wave of anger are looming in Iraq as a result of the decision to increase the prices of car fuel, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday.
Although Iraqis felt relative satisfaction by the government of Mohammad Shiaa al-Sudani during the past year, especially after it employed more than 800,000 persons in the public sector, the spike in car fuel prices triggered dismay among them.
The government increased the cost of premium gasoline (95 octane) from 650 Iraqi dinars ($0.50) to 850 Iraqi dinars ($0.65) per liter. The price of super gasoline (98 octane) will rise from 1,000 to 1,250 dinars, while the regular gasoline (low octane) will remain at 450 dinars. The cabinet said that the new rates would take effect on May 1.
Popular anger often causes a decline in the prime minister's electoral chances. This means that Sudani might go back on his decision to increase the price of fuel, or face its possible repercussions, according to observers.
In contrast to the explanations provided by the government for increasing fuel prices to contribute to eliminating severe traffic congestion in Baghdad, experts said that the decision came in the wake of the losses incurred by the state as a result of subsidizing fuel prices, in addition to pressures exerted by international financial institutions.
In a post on Facebook, Researcher Salim Souza said that the “increase in gasoline prices in Iraq (and perhaps soon an increase in the prices of water, electricity, sewage, and other services bills, as I have heard) has local, internal and external reasons related to international monetary requirements, the size of debt, and global aid to Iraq.”
Al-Sudani had announced earlier this year that Iraq would stop fuel imports in mid-2025 after completing the construction of refineries in Baiji and Karbala and their production reaching its maximum capacity.
In January 2024, Iraq advanced globally to become the 13th country with the most affordable gasoline prices, according to data from the Global Petroleum Press website.

 

 


Arab Summit in Bahrain is Another Event to be Held Without Lebanon’s President

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati receiving the invitation to participate in the Arab Summit from the envoy of the King of Bahrain and the ambassador to Syria, Wahid Mubarak Sayyar. (Prime Minister’s website)
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati receiving the invitation to participate in the Arab Summit from the envoy of the King of Bahrain and the ambassador to Syria, Wahid Mubarak Sayyar. (Prime Minister’s website)
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Arab Summit in Bahrain is Another Event to be Held Without Lebanon’s President

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati receiving the invitation to participate in the Arab Summit from the envoy of the King of Bahrain and the ambassador to Syria, Wahid Mubarak Sayyar. (Prime Minister’s website)
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati receiving the invitation to participate in the Arab Summit from the envoy of the King of Bahrain and the ambassador to Syria, Wahid Mubarak Sayyar. (Prime Minister’s website)

For the third year in a row, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will be representing Lebanon in the Arab Summit, amid a vacuum at the top state post and the absence of any indications of ending the presidential crisis before the summit in May.
Mikati received an invitation from the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to participate in the 33rd regular session of the Council of the League of Arab States, which will be held on Thursday, May 16.
In his message, the King of Bahrain expressed his desire to “strengthen the process of joint Arab action and serve the interests of the Arab nation...” He stressed that Mikati’s “personal participation in the work of this important summit will have a great impact in light of the difficult circumstances and grave challenges facing our Arab nation...”
This will be the fourth time that Mikati participates in the Arab Summit at the head of a ministerial delegation, since the failure to elect a new president after the end of General Michel Aoun’s term in October 2022.
Lebanon’s constitution stipulates that the powers of the President of the Republic are transferred to the government in case of a presidential vacuum.
In this context, Legal expert Said Malek noted that the absence of the President of the Republic causes great harm to Lebanon’s image and representation abroad.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Lebanon is supposed to be represented by its president in the upcoming Arab summit, but in light of the presidential vacuum, the prime minister represents the state in accordance with the provisions of Article 62.”
This comes in light of divisions in Lebanon over the jurisdictions of the caretaker government, which some consider to be surpassing its constitutional powers. Mikati is also subject to widespread criticism, especially from some Christian parties and the Maronite Patriarch, Beshara al-Rai.

 

 

 


Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 27, 2024. Israeli army/Handout via REUTERS.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 27, 2024. Israeli army/Handout via REUTERS.
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Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 27, 2024. Israeli army/Handout via REUTERS.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 27, 2024. Israeli army/Handout via REUTERS.

By Sheera Frenkel

 

Within minutes of walking through an Israeli military checkpoint along Gaza’s central highway on Nov. 19, the Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha was asked to step out of the crowd. He put down his 3-year-old son, whom he was carrying, and sat in front of a military jeep.
Half an hour later, Abu Toha heard his name called. Then he was blindfolded and led away for interrogation.
“I had no idea what was happening or how they could suddenly know my full legal name,” said the 31-year-old, who added that he had no ties to the militant group Hamas and had been trying to leave Gaza for Egypt.
It turned out Abu Toha had walked into the range of cameras embedded with facial recognition technology, according to three Israeli intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. After his face was scanned and he was identified, an artificial intelligence program found that the poet was on an Israeli list of wanted persons, they said.
Abu Toha is one of hundreds of Palestinians who have been picked out by a previously undisclosed Israeli facial recognition program that was started in Gaza late last year. The expansive and experimental effort is being used to conduct mass surveillance there, collecting and cataloging the faces of Palestinians without their knowledge or consent, according to Israeli intelligence officers, military officials and soldiers.
The technology was initially used in Gaza to search for Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 cross-border raids, the intelligence officials said. After Israel embarked on a ground offensive in Gaza, it increasingly turned to the program to root out anyone with ties to Hamas or other militant groups. At times, the technology wrongly flagged civilians as wanted Hamas militants, one officer said.
The facial recognition program, which is run by Israel’s military intelligence unit, including the cyber-intelligence division Unit 8200, relies on technology from Corsight, a private Israeli company, four intelligence officers said. It also uses Google Photos, they said. Combined, the technologies enable Israel to pick faces out of crowds and grainy drone footage.
Three of the people with knowledge of the program said they were speaking out because of concerns that it was a misuse of time and resources by Israel.
An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment on activity in Gaza, but said the military “carries out necessary security and intelligence operations, while making significant efforts to minimize harm to the uninvolved population.” He added, “Naturally, we cannot refer to operational and intelligence capabilities in this context.”
Facial recognition technology has spread across the globe in recent years, fueled by increasingly sophisticated A.I. systems. While some countries use the technology to make air travel easier, China and Russia have deployed the technology against minority groups and to suppress dissent. Israel’s use of facial recognition in Gaza stands out as an application of the technology in a war.
Complete Dehumanization of the Palestinians
Matt Mahmoudi, a researcher with Amnesty International, said Israel’s use of facial recognition was a concern because it could lead to “a complete dehumanization of Palestinians” where they were not seen as individuals. He added that Israeli soldiers were unlikely to question the technology when it identified a person as being part of a militant group, even though the technology makes mistakes.
Israel previously used facial recognition in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to an Amnesty report last year, but the effort in Gaza goes further.
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israelis have a homegrown facial recognition system called Blue Wolf, according to the Amnesty report. At checkpoints in West Bank cities such as Hebron, Palestinians are scanned by high-resolution cameras before being permitted to pass. Soldiers also use smartphone apps to scan the faces of Palestinians and add them to a database, the report said.
In Gaza, which Israel withdrew from in 2005, no facial recognition technology was present. Surveillance of Hamas in Gaza was instead conducted by tapping phone lines, interrogating Palestinian prisoners, harvesting drone footage, getting access to private social media accounts and hacking into telecommunications systems, Israeli intelligence officers said.
After Oct. 7, Israeli intelligence officers in Unit 8200 turned to that surveillance for information on the Hamas gunmen who breached Israel’s borders. The unit also combed through footage of the attacks from security cameras, as well as videos uploaded by Hamas on social media, one officer said. He said the unit had been told to create a “hit list” of Hamas members who participated in the attack.
Corsight was then brought in to create a facial recognition program in Gaza, three Israeli intelligence officers said.
The company, with headquarters in Tel Aviv, says on its website that its technology requires less than 50 percent of a face to be visible for accurate recognition. Robert Watts, Corsight’s president, posted this month on LinkedIn that the facial recognition technology could work with “extreme angles, (even from drones,) darkness, poor quality.”
Unit 8200 personnel soon found that Corsight’s technology struggled if footage was grainy and faces were obscured, one officer said. When the military tried identifying the bodies of Israelis killed on Oct. 7, the technology could not always work for people whose faces had been injured. There were also false positives, or cases when a person was mistakenly identified as being connected to Hamas, the officer said.
To supplement Corsight’s technology, Israeli officers used Google Photos, the free photo sharing and storage service from Google, three intelligence officers said. By uploading a database of known persons to Google Photos, Israeli officers could use the service’s photo search function to identify people.
Google’s ability to match faces and identify people even with only a small portion of their face visible was superior to other technology, one officer said. The military continued to use Corsight because it was customizable, the officers said.
A Google spokesman said Google Photos was a free consumer product that “does not provide identities for unknown people in photographs.”
The facial recognition program in Gaza grew as Israel expanded its military offensive there. Israeli soldiers entering Gaza were given cameras equipped with the technology. Soldiers also set up checkpoints along major roads that Palestinians were using to flee areas of heavy fighting, with cameras that scanned faces.
The program’s goals were to search for Israeli hostages, as well as Hamas fighters who could be detained for questioning, the Israeli intelligence officers said.
The guidelines of whom to stop were intentionally broad, one said. Palestinian prisoners were asked to name people from their communities who they believed were part of Hamas. Israel would then search for those people, hoping they would yield more intelligence.
Abu Toha, the Palestinian poet, was named as a Hamas operative by someone in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahia, where he lived with his family, the Israeli intelligence officers said. The officers said there was no specific intelligence attached to his file explaining a connection to Hamas.
In an interview, Abu Toha, who wrote “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems From Gaza,” said he has no connection to Hamas.
When he and his family were stopped at the military checkpoint on Nov. 19 as they tried leaving for Egypt, he said he had not shown any identification when he was asked to step out of the crowd.
After he was handcuffed and taken to sit under a tent with several dozen men, he heard someone say the Israeli army had used a “new technology” on the group. Within 30 minutes, Israeli soldiers called him by his full legal name.
Abu Toha said he was beaten and interrogated in an Israeli detention center for two days before being returned to Gaza with no explanation. He wrote about his experience in The New Yorker, where he is a contributor. He credited his release to a campaign led by journalists at The New Yorker and other publications.
Upon his release, Israeli soldiers told him his interrogation had been a “mistake,” he said.
In a statement at the time, the Israeli military said Abu Toha was taken for questioning because of “intelligence indicating a number of interactions between several civilians and terror organizations inside the Gaza Strip.”
Abu Toha, who is now in Cairo with his family, said he was not aware of any facial recognition program in Gaza.
“I did not know Israel was capturing or recording my face,” he said. But Israel has “been watching us for years from the sky with their drones. They have been watching us gardening and going to schools and kissing our wives. I feel like I have been watched for so long.”

The New York Times


Israeli Strikes on Rafah Raise Fear Ground Assault Could Begin

 Smoke billows over buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Strikes on Rafah Raise Fear Ground Assault Could Begin

 Smoke billows over buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah on Wednesday, raising new fear among the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip that a long-threatened ground assault could be coming.

One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from a single family, health officials said.

Mussa Dhaheer, looking on from below as neighbors helped an emergency worker lower a victim in a black body bag from an upper storey, said he had awakened to the blast, kissed his terrified daughter, and rushed outside to find the destruction. His father, 75, and mother, 62, were among the dead.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I can't make sense of what happened. My parents. My father with his displaced friends who came from Gaza City," he told Reuters.

"They were all together, when suddenly they were all gone like dust."

At another bomb site, Jamil Abu Houri said the intensification of air strikes was Israel's way of showing its disdain for a UN Security Council resolution last week demanding an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Next up, he fears a ground assault on Rafah, which Israel has threatened for weeks to carry out despite pleas from its closest ally Washington that this would wreak a humanitarian disaster.

"The bombing has increased, and they have threatened us with an incursion, and they say that have been given the green light for the Rafah incursion. Where is the Security Council?" Abu Houri said.

"Look at our little ones. Look at our children. Where should we go? Where should we go?"

Another Israeli airstrike in Rafah on Wednesday afternoon killed four Palestinians including a woman and a child and injured other residents, Gaza health authorities said.

Just west of Gaza City in the enclave's north, seven people were killed in an airstrike on a house, health officials said.

The Israeli military says it is targeting armed Hamas militants who use civilian buildings, including apartment blocks and hospitals, for cover. Hamas denies doing so.

West Bank violence

Separately, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where bloodshed has worsened in parallel with the Gaza war, three Palestinians were killed and four wounded by Israeli fire during a raid in Jenin overnight, the Palestinian health ministry said.

At least 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground offensive into Hamas-run Gaza, according to the health ministry there, with thousands of other dead believed buried under rubble and over 80% of the 2.3 million population displaced, many at risk of famine.

The war erupted after Hamas gunmen broke through the border on Oct. 7 and rampaged through nearby communities, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

Israeli forces just north of Rafah kept the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, Al-Amal and Nasser Hospital, under a blockade imposed late last week. In the north, they were still operating inside Al Shifa, the enclave's largest hospital, which they stormed more than a week ago.

Israel says the hospitals have been lairs for Hamas gunmen, which Hamas and medical staff deny. The Israeli military has said it killed and captured hundreds of fighters in a battle in Al Shifa. Hamas says civilians and medics were rounded up.

Gaza's health ministry said wounded people and patients were being held inside Al Shifa's human resources department that was not equipped to provide them with healthcare.

Residents living nearby have reported hearing explosions in and around Al Shifa and columns of smoke coming from buildings inside the premises.

"A war zone, this is how it looks in and around Al Shifa," Mohammad Jamal, 25, who lives one km (less than one mile) away from Al Shifa, said via a mobile phone chat app.

"Explosions never stop, we see lines of smoke coming from inside, no one moves even in streets that are hundreds of meters away because of Israeli snipers on rooftops of buildings."

International mediation has failed to secure a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners so far as the two sides stick to irreconcilable demands. Hamas wants an end to the war and total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until its foe is eradicated.

Military plans

Meanwhile, Israel has asked to reschedule a meeting with US officials to discuss its military plans in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, a US official said on Wednesday, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly scrapped the planned talks.

Netanyahu called off a planned visit to Washington by a senior Israeli delegation after the US allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday, in a move that appeared to reflect growing US frustration with the Israeli premier.

US officials said the Biden administration was perplexed by the Israeli cancellation and considered it an overreaction to the Security Council resolution, insisting there had been no change in policy.

On Wednesday, a US official said Netanyahu's office "has said they'd like to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah. We are now working with them to set a convenient date."

Netanyahu is considering sending a delegation for a White House meeting on Rafah as early as next week, but the scheduling is still being worked out, an Israeli official in Washington told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister's office.

The planned talks are expected to focus on Israel's threatened offensive in Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The White House said last week it intended to share with Israeli officials alternatives for eliminating Hamas without a ground offensive in Rafah that Washington says would be a "disaster."


US Eyes April 18 for Possible Resumption of Sudan Peace Talks

Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
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US Eyes April 18 for Possible Resumption of Sudan Peace Talks

Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)

A US envoy voiced hope on Tuesday that Sudan’s warring generals will resume talks after Ramadan and work to prevent a broader regional war, despite the failure of previous negotiations.

Tom Perriello, a former congressman recently named to a new position of US special envoy for Sudan, said after a seven-nation trip that talks co-led with Saudi Arabia could start on or around April 18, according to AFP.

“Anyone who thought that either side had a path to outright victory should at this point be very clear that that’s not the case,” he told reporters after returning to Washington.

“A war of attrition,” he said, “is one that is not just a disaster for civilians, but actually easily becomes a more factionalised and regional war.”

War broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), killing tens of thousands, forcing millions to flee and pushing the impoverished country to the brink of famine.

Previous rounds of talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah failed to yield any more than general promises or to halt the conflict in Sudan, which had earlier been transitioning, if uneasily, toward democracy.

Perriello, while upbeat about resuming formal negotiations, added that it was important not to “fetishise the start of talks” and said the United States and other nations were looking at incentives to end the war.

The Rapid Support Forces has also allegedly received support from Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, while regional countries supported the Sudanese Army.

The United States has previously voiced alarm over reports that Iran is also working with the army, which could give Tehran’s clerical state, which also backs Yemen’s Houthi rebels, new access to the Red Sea.

Darfur

In this regard, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur revealed on Tuesday that over 561 children have died from food shortages and malnutrition in just 11 months of war. This translates to a devastating average of 17 child deaths daily.

The voluntary civil group also reported a rising death rate among children in the displacement camps, which include some 6 million people, saying they were “in urgent need of food.”

Adam Rijal, spokesperson for the displaced people’s coordination committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday that the displacement camps have officially reached the emergency levels of hunger.

“Children are starving. We face severe food shortages, malnutrition, and a collapse of the healthcare system,” he said.

Basic necessities like fortified food for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly are also critically lacking.

The spokesperson pointed to a critical shortage of life-saving medicines, adding that primary healthcare centres are shutting down due to a lack of personnel and supplies.

Additionally, 70% of the camps’ water sources are now inoperable, creating a severe water shortage, Rijal said.

He explained that the “newly displaced persons have no shelters, while the international and local communities have already ignored those displaced since 2003, estimated at about 3 million.”

Rijal said the number of internally displaced people in camps has reached 6 million, including over one million children who suffer from acute malnutrition.

Taqaddum

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum) launched a campaign to garner international support and pressure warring parties to allow aid access under the slogan “Save Sudan.”

Their move came in response to the recommendations of a Taqaddum meeting held last week under the presidency of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Hamdok had emphasized the urgency of international attention to the crisis in Sudan.

In a statement, Taqaddum said it has launched, in cooperation with Sudanese parties, a humanitarian campaign through its platform, as of Tuesday, with the hashtag #Save_Sudan.


Tunisia Sentences 4 to Death, 2 to Life in Prison for Assassination of Chokri Belaid

Tunisian political leader Chokri Belaid
Tunisian political leader Chokri Belaid
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Tunisia Sentences 4 to Death, 2 to Life in Prison for Assassination of Chokri Belaid

Tunisian political leader Chokri Belaid
Tunisian political leader Chokri Belaid

A Tunisian court on Wednesday sentenced four people to death and two people to life in prison on charges of participating in the murder of prominent political leader Chokri Belaid 11 years ago.

Belaid, a leftist politician, had been a fierce critic of Islamist Ennahda party. He was shot dead in his car by gunmen on Feb. 6, 2013.

Near Tunis court, dozens of Belaid supporters have gathered since Tuesday night, raising slogans demanding justice.

They chanted "Chokri is always alive" and "we are loyal to the blood of the martyrs".

Months after Belaid’s assassination, Mohamed Brahmi another leftist was shot dead by gunmen also.

Those involved in the assassination of Belaid and Brahmi belonged to Ansar al-Sharia, an organization classified as a "terrorist group" by the government in August 2013.

Ennahda deny strongly any connection to the assassination.

"The details concluded by the judicial circles clearly show evidence of the innocence of the Ennahda", Ennahda said on Wednesday in a statement.

It added that this verdict should restore respect to those who have been affected by false political accusations, especially the leader of Ennahda Rached Ghannouchi.

Ennahda called for opening a new page of major reconciliations and ending strife, exclusion and hatred.