'Keep up the Fight', Urges Tunisian Street Vendor's Sister

Leila Bouazizi says she was 'very disappointed' in the outcome of the uprising, even if it toppled Tunisia's longterm ruler -  AFP
Leila Bouazizi says she was 'very disappointed' in the outcome of the uprising, even if it toppled Tunisia's longterm ruler - AFP
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'Keep up the Fight', Urges Tunisian Street Vendor's Sister

Leila Bouazizi says she was 'very disappointed' in the outcome of the uprising, even if it toppled Tunisia's longterm ruler -  AFP
Leila Bouazizi says she was 'very disappointed' in the outcome of the uprising, even if it toppled Tunisia's longterm ruler - AFP

Tunisians should keep up the fight for their rights, believes the sister of a street vendor who set himself alight a decade ago, triggering a string of protests around the Arab world.

But Leila Bouazizi admitted the revolt which flared in late 2010 has done little to solve the economic problems that pushed her brother, Mohamed, over the edge.

"Everyone thought the government would do something," she told AFP in Quebec, where she moved to study in 2013 and has lived ever since.

"Unfortunately, it did nothing," she added, saying she was "very disappointed" in the outcome of the uprising, even though it brought down the north African country's long-time ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Mohamed Bouazizi and his family lived in modest circumstances in the run-down central rural town of Sidi Bouzid.

Like many young, unemployed Tunisians, Mohamed, then 26, provided for his loved ones with the limited means at hand, selling whatever fruits and vegetables were in season.

On the morning of December 17, 2010, the police seized Mohamed's handcart -- which served as a makeshift stall -- and his merchandise.

After a series of petty harassments, it was the last straw. Mohamed doused himself in petrol and set himself alight.

"It was an accumulation of things that made him explode," said Leila, now aged 34.

At the time, she was studying in another town, but she recalled hearing that her brother had been slapped by a policewoman during an altercation, although this was never confirmed.

When Mohamed asked local authorities to investigate, "he didn't get a response", she said.

"He was really annoyed... That's why he took petrol and did what he did."

The young man succumbed to his wounds in early 2011.

But his act had sparked unprecedented mass demonstrations across Tunisia, super-charged by social media, which then ignited a series of revolts across the Middle East.

"When my brother did that act, everyone exploded and protested against the system," Leila said.

"Everyone wanted the situation to change," she added, saying her brother had been in "the same situation" as most young people.

In the wake of his death, the Bouazizi family received "lots of threats" -- including death threats -- as well as harassment both online and in the streets by people opposed to the revolution.

Rumors were rife that they had become rich.

"It was dangerous," said Leila. Her mother, surviving brothers and sisters managed to emigrate to Quebec where Leila lives in a residential district and works in the aeronautics industry.

She said they are "well integrated", but continue to follow events in Tunisia.

The country has seen some progress in the past decade, she says -- it has a new constitution and has organised several democratic elections.

"You can speak, you can demonstrate," she said, noting the lack of political freedoms during the 23-year rule of Ben Ali.

But a succession of governments has not fixed the economic situation, particularly tough for young people, Leila added.

"Every time there's a vote, they say 'we're going to do this, things will change,'" she said.

"But when they take power, nothing changes."

She criticized the lack of solid measures to reform Tunisia's failing health system or fix its decrepit infrastructure, with deadly floods following every major rainstorm.

And despite some political progress, young people in marginalized regions such as Sidi Bouzid still face unemployment three times the national average.

With rising prices, stagnant incomes and few opportunities even for the highly educated, "the situation might even be worse now" than before the revolution, said Leila.

Tragically, dozens of young people still set themselves alight every year in Tunisia, which has also seen a spike in numbers of people, particularly jobless youth, attempting dangerous sea crossings to Europe.

"It's not just my brother," she said. "Lots of people have lost their lives."

But, she said, "I hope that things will change."

"Many people are still protesting, speaking out, for change," she said. "It might take more than 10 years, but young people must carry on protesting, speaking out, to get their rights."



UNIFIL Warns Israel, Hezbollah Attacks near Its Positions Risk Return Fire

A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
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UNIFIL Warns Israel, Hezbollah Attacks near Its Positions Risk Return Fire

A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A soldier of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions "could potentially draw return fire".

In a statement, UNIFIL said it was "extremely concerned" about attacks from both sides "carried out from near our positions, which could potentially draw return fire".

It urged them to "put down their weapons and work seriously toward a ceasefire".

Three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in two separate explosions in southern Lebanon last week. They were laid to rest in their hometowns on Sunday, said AFP.

Peacekeeper Farizal Rhomadhon, 28, died when a projectile exploded on March 29 in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war.

Two other blue helmets, Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33, and Muhammad Nur Ichwan, 26, died a day later when an explosion struck a logistics convoy of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), also in southern Lebanon.

The deadly incidents sparked calls from Indonesian authorities for an investigation and security guarantees for peacekeeping forces.

The soldiers were buried on Sunday in coffins draped in the Indonesian flag during military funerals with gun salutes.

Less than a week after the explosions that killed the three peacekeepers, another blast took place at a UN facility near Adaisseh on Friday, injuring three more Indonesian blue helmets.


After Gaza Devastation, Israeli Attacks on Lebanon's Health Care System Feel Familiar for Many

Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
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After Gaza Devastation, Israeli Attacks on Lebanon's Health Care System Feel Familiar for Many

Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Smoke rises from Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli strike, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Two years ago, Dr. Mohammed Ziara watched Israel ravage Gaza's health care system, shelling hospitals, striking ambulances and forcing patients to evacuate.

Now Ziara — along with other medical workers, human rights groups and many civilians — warns that the same scenario is unfolding in Lebanon.

Israel is pushing deep into the southern part of the country in its campaign against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, a powerful militant force and political party that long has exercised de facto control over much of Lebanon’s Shiite community.

To describe its strategy in this war, the Israeli military invokes the devastation it wrought in Gaza after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets over Beirut last month warning that after “great success in Gaza, a new reality is coming to Lebanon, too.”

“I've lived this before,” Ziara, a burn surgeon from Gaza City, told The Associated Press on Thursday at the government hospital in the Lebanese port city of Sidon. “I cannot go back to Gaza now,” Ziara said. “But I can be here, in Lebanon.”

As it did with Hamas in Gaza, Israel accuses Hezbollah of hiding in and operating from civilian areas, and using hospitals and ambulances for military purposes. Israel has increasingly targeted first responders and medical centers, forcing several hospitals to evacuate.

“I was besieged in a hospital,” Ziara said of his work in Gaza. “I lost my brother in an airstrike. I feel what these people feel.”

An Israeli offensive threatens a health system, again Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah reignited on March 2, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 54 health professionals as of Sunday, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israel has carried out 152 attacks against emergency medical workers and ambulances, and forced the closure of six hospitals and 49 health clinics through attacks or threats, the ministry says.

In Sidon, Ziara and his team from UK-based nonprofit Interburns have set up the Lebanese public health system's first specialized burn unit — a critical resource in this crisis-stricken country where the war between Israel and Hezbollah has already killed 1,461 people and wounded 4,430, according to the ministry. Israel claims to have killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives in the latest bombardment and ground invasion.

The Israeli military argues that Hezbollah’s use of medical facilities makes them legitimate military targets under international law. It does not offer evidence to support its claims.

Hezbollah denies conducting militant activities within civilian sites. Although the group's presence in residential areas is well-documented, there has been no independent verification of its use of hospitals for military purposes.

Interburns, which trains local medics in burn care around the world, began building up the unit at Sidon Government Hospital during the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war. Lebanese authorities asked the team to return when the war reignited last month.

As the first city just north of Israel’s evacuation zone that covers nearly all southern Lebanon, Sidon takes more wounded people every day.

The rising toll of rescue work Kamal Fakih, 27, hates when people ask him what happened on March 17.

It’s not that it pains him to recall the Israeli airstrike. It’s that he doesn’t remember anything at all. He regained consciousness a day later at the hospital in Sidon, his body burned and lacerated by shrapnel.

Once stabilized, Fakih tried to connect with the paramedic who pulled him and his friend Hassan from the burning rubble, hoping to hear his account and thank him for saving their lives. But by the time Fakih got his contact, Muhammad Tafili was already dead, killed with a fellow paramedic in an Israeli airstrike on ambulances in the southeastern village of Kfar Tebnit on March 28, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

That same day, Israeli attacks killed seven other medics across four additional villages, the World Health Organization said. Among the dead was a medic targeted while responding to an Israeli airstrike that killed three journalists working for pro-Hezbollah TV channels. Footage of the incident shows two strikes in quick succession — the first hitting journalists in their car, the second crashing into paramedics as they rushed to the rescue.

Israel's military accused the two medics, and two of the three journalists killed, of being Hezbollah operatives. Its claim alarmed watchdogs that witnessed its similar justifications for killing more than 260 journalists and 1,700 health workers in Gaza, according to the United Nations humanitarian agency.

Although Lebanese medical workers and journalists were killed during the 2024 war with Hezbollah, “this time is different,” said Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.

He pointed to a startling promise by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week that, to protect its border towns from Hezbollah rockets, Israel would flatten all the houses in southern Lebanon “in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza” — two cities that Israel almost entirely razed in its offensive against Hamas in the enclave.

“There’s a new kind of brazenness in declaring an intent to commit unlawful attacks,” Kaiss said. “It appears impunity has emboldened the Israeli military.”

Hospitals in the line of fire Sweeping Israeli evacuation orders in recent weeks have sent over 1 million Lebanese flocking north. As the south came under heavy bombardment, clinics shuttered or suspended operations. Nabih Berri Hospital was swamped by an influx of casualties. To make room, it evacuated dozens of patients.

Such transfers involve coordination with the Lebanese army, health ministry and UN peacekeeping force — a game of telephone, doctors say, that creates potentially life-threatening delays. Admitting patients isn’t easy either; the Sidon burn unit must discharge a patient to free up a bed.

But the referrals keep coming, straining a health system already crippled by economic collapse.

“The health system is on its knees,” Ziara said, as the hospital was plunged into darkness until backup generators kicked in 10 minutes later, a result of Lebanon’s long-running electricity crisis. “Now front-line hospitals are lacking staff and supplies. They're overwhelmed.”

Civilians search for answers Lebanese civilians say that Israeli bombs can come without warning and hit indiscriminately, leading to a growing feeling that Palestinians in Gaza know well — that nowhere is safe.

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, said his neighborhood of Zuqaq al-Blat in central Beirut had not received Israeli evacuation guidance before March 18, when Israeli munitions slammed into his seventh-floor apartment.

Carrying his wife from the smoldering ruins, he shouted for his sons. His eldest, Adam, called to him. But he couldn’t hear Jad.

Qubaisi ran back into the skin-searing steam to search for his 15-year-old. When he woke up at the hospital hours later, his face raw with second-degree burns, he knew his son was gone.

The Israeli military said it was targeting Hezbollah. Qubaisi pushed back.

“These are civilian buildings, not military targets. They hit us and we still don’t know why,” he said from the Sidon hospital. “We were sleeping safely in our home, and look what happened to us.”


Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
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Hamas Armed Wing Says Disarmament Calls Are Unacceptable

25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)
25 March 2026, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli military strike on a target in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (dpa)

Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday discussing the group's disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire was an attempt to continue what it called a genocide against the Palestinian people. 

In a televised statement, Hamas' armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida said raising the issue of weapons “in a crude manner” would not be accepted. 

The issue of Hamas relinquishing its weapons is a major obstacle in talks to implement US ‌President Donald Trump’s proposed "Board ‌of Peace" plan for Gaza, ‌aimed ⁠at cementing a ceasefire ⁠that halted two years of full-scale fighting last October. 

Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees that Israel will completely quit Gaza, three sources told Reuters last week. 

"What the enemy is trying to push through today against the Palestinian resistance, via our ⁠brotherly mediators, is extremely dangerous," he said. 

He said ‌the disarmament demands were "nothing ‌but an overt attempt to continue the genocide against our ‌people, something we will not accept under any circumstances." 

It ‌was not immediately clear whether the comments amounted to a formal rejection of the US-backed disarmament plan, and Hamas political officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

The Hamas-Israel ‌war in Gaza erupted after Hamas-led fighters carried out cross-border attacks on southern Israel, prompting ⁠a devastating ⁠Israeli offensive that displaced much of Gaza's population and left the enclave largely in ruins. 

Since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violating its terms. 

Abu Ubaida urged mediators to pressure Israel to fulfil its commitments under the first phase of the Trump plan before any discussion of the second phase can take place. 

"The enemy is the one who undermines the agreement," he said. 

There was no immediate comment from Israel on his remarks.