Clashes Force Libya’s Bashagha from Tripoli after Brief Attempt to Enter

Libya's Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister by the eastern-based parliament, looks on during an interview with Reuters in Tunis, Tunisia March 30, 2022. Picture taken March 30, 2022. (Reuters)
Libya's Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister by the eastern-based parliament, looks on during an interview with Reuters in Tunis, Tunisia March 30, 2022. Picture taken March 30, 2022. (Reuters)
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Clashes Force Libya’s Bashagha from Tripoli after Brief Attempt to Enter

Libya's Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister by the eastern-based parliament, looks on during an interview with Reuters in Tunis, Tunisia March 30, 2022. Picture taken March 30, 2022. (Reuters)
Libya's Fathi Bashagha, who was appointed prime minister by the eastern-based parliament, looks on during an interview with Reuters in Tunis, Tunisia March 30, 2022. Picture taken March 30, 2022. (Reuters)

Clashes rocked Libya's capital early on Tuesday as the parliament-appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, tried to take over government there but was forced back out by a rival administration that refuses to cede power.

Bashagha entered Tripoli overnight after two months of stalemate between Libya's rival administrations, but withdrew hours later as fighting broke out, his office said.

The crisis risks plunging Libya back into prolonged fighting after two years of comparative peace, or returning it to partition between the eastern-backed government of Bashagha and a Tripoli administration under Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.

Political deadlock has already led to a partial blockade of Libya's oil facilities, cutting its main source of foreign revenue by half. Diplomacy to resolve the crisis or lay the ground for new elections is making slow progress.

The sound of heavy weapons and automatic gunfire reverberated across Tripoli on Tuesday morning. Schools were cancelled and the normally heavy rush hour traffic was sparse, but the clashes stopped after Bashagha's withdrawal.

"I don't think things will just return to being cool and static and relaxed," said Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui, adding that Dbeibah would likely try to put more pressure on the factions in Tripoli allied to Bashagha.

However, wider conflict seemed unlikely, he said, given Bashagha's rapid withdrawal from Tripoli.

Later on Tuesday, Dbeibah toured the areas where the clashes had taken place, speaking to passers by. In a statement, his government called Bashagha's convoy "an outlawed armed group trying to sneak into the capital under darkness".

Bashagha on Twitter accused Dbeibah's allied forces of a "dangerous military escalation" and said their actions showed Dbeibah's government would be unable to hold any credible election.

With neither side apparently able to establish a decisive military advantage across the country, Libya seems set for a longer period of deadlock, with Dbeibah firmly entrenched in Tripoli and his foes unable to take it.

That may prolong the shutdown of major oil facilities by forces in eastern Libya.

Deadlock
Libya has had little security since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Moammar al-Gaddafi and its split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions before a 2020 truce that brought it under Dbeibah's fragile unity government.

A plan for an election in December collapsed amid arguments among major factions and prominent candidates over the rules. In addition the parliament, which had sided with the east during the war, moved to appoint a new administration.

The unity government's prime minister Dbeibah rejected the parliament's moves, saying his administration was still valid and he would only hand over power after an election.

Bashagha, a former interior minister who like Dbeibah comes from the powerful coastal city of Misrata, has repeatedly said he would enter Tripoli without violence. His previous attempts to do so ended with his convoy blocked by rival factions.

Last week, the parliament said Bashagha's government could work for now from Sirte, a central city near the frozen front line between eastern and western factions.

Diplomacy has focused on talks between the parliament and a Tripoli-based legislative body to lay the ground for another attempt to settle Libya's conflict by holding an election.



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.

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.


7 Killed in Israeli Strike on Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah Retaliates

A damaged ambulance is seen at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A damaged ambulance is seen at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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7 Killed in Israeli Strike on Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah Retaliates

A damaged ambulance is seen at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A damaged ambulance is seen at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

At least seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, drawing retaliatory Hezbollah rocket fire on Wednesday.
The strike targeted the Islamic Group's emergency and relief center in Hebbariyeh village.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it launched dozens of rockets at Kiryet Shmona, a northern Israeli town close to the Lebanese border, in response to deadly Israeli strikes on south Lebanon on Tuesday.

Israeli emergency services said a rocket strike killed a factory worker in Kiryat Shmona following warning signs in the area.

Paramedics from the MDA ambulance service said the man was pulled from the wreckage of the factory with severe wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes near two towns in northeast Lebanon killed three Hezbollah members, the group posted on Telegram.

Israel confirmed the strikes near Ras Baalbek and Hermel and said its aircraft targeted a number of military sites used by Hezbollah in response to a rocket attack on one of its bases near the Lebanese border.

Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been trading fire since October in the worst cross-border violence since they fought a month-long war in 2006.


UN Palestinian Agency Chief Says Funding Secured Until End Of May

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had enough funding until the end of May - AFP
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had enough funding until the end of May - AFP
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UN Palestinian Agency Chief Says Funding Secured Until End Of May

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had enough funding until the end of May - AFP
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had enough funding until the end of May - AFP

UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

This led many donor nations, including the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver desperately-needed aid in Gaza, where the UN has warned of an impending famine.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini had warned last month that the funding crunch was so great the organisation might not be able to operate beyond March.

But after a number of countries recently resumed or increased their funding, including Spain, Canada and Australia, Lazzarini told Switzerland's Keystone-ATS news agency Tuesday that "the situation today is less dramatic".

"But we are still working from one month to the next," he said, adding that now "we have funding until the end of May".

Lazzarini was in Geneva to brief Switzerland's parliamentary foreign policy commission on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and to address questions about Israel's accusations against the UNRWA employees, the commission said in a brief statement.

The Swiss national is hoping to convince his country to follow the lead of the nations that have resumed their funding to UNRWA.

Switzerland, which in recent years has dished out around 20 million Swiss francs ($23 million) annually to UNRWA, said in late January the 2024 payment was in doubt following Israel's allegations against the agency.

The United Nations has launched both an internal and an independent investigation but has said Israel has not provided it with any evidence to support the claims against its staff.

According to AFP, Lazzarini has accused Israel of trying to destroy UNRWA, which employs some 30,000 people across the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, providing healthcare, education and other basic services.

He was himself barred last week from entering Gaza, and said at the weekend that Israel had definitively barred the agency from making aid deliveries into northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.


Yemen’s Alimi Underscores Military Readiness, Accuses Houthis of ‘Banking on War’

Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the meeting in Aden. (Saba)
Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the meeting in Aden. (Saba)
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Yemen’s Alimi Underscores Military Readiness, Accuses Houthis of ‘Banking on War’

Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the meeting in Aden. (Saba)
Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi chairs the meeting in Aden. (Saba)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen said on Tuesday they had mounted six attacks on ships with drones and missiles in the last 72 hours in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, but one of the companies named, Denmark's Maersk, denied its vessel had been targeted.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi underlined the readiness of the army, accusing the Houthis of "banking on war" to achieve their goals.

The Houthis said they attacked the Maersk Saratoga, APL Detroit, and the Huang Pu after identifying them as either US or British, in addition to Pretty Lady ship which they claim was heading to Israel, the militias' military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement.

Maersk denied that the Saratoga had been attacked.

"We can confirm that no such incident was reported by the vessel, which is currently safely continuing her normal journey far from the mentioned location," the company said in a statement.

Maersk Saratoga is part of Maersk Line, Limited (MLL) which is the Danish company's US subsidiary that carries significant amounts of cargo for the Department of Defense, Department of State, USAID, and other US government agencies.

The Houthis have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians, drawing US and British retaliatory strikes since last month.

The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of pursuing an Iranian agenda that has nothing to do with championing the Palestinian people in Gaza.

It has also said that the western strikes will not serve their purpose. It has instead stressed the need to support the government and its capabilities so that it can secure ports and regional waters and reclaim the state from the Houthis.

Sarea added that the militias also attacked two US destroyers in the Red Sea as well as Israel's city of Eilat.

It was not immediately clear which, if any, of the targets were struck by the drones or missiles.

The US Central Command said on Sunday that Houthis fired missiles in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker.

According to LSEG data, APL Detroit is a Singaporean-flagged container, while Pretty Lady is a Malta-flagged handymax ship.

The Houthis' escalating drone and missile campaign against commercial shipping has choked trade through the vital Suez Canal linking Asia and Europe and forced many ships to take the longer route around Africa.

In Aden, Alimi chaired an expanded meeting that included officials from the Defense Ministry and senior military leaders.

He accused the Houthis of "still banking on war in spite of their terrible failures over the years that have only led to more injustice, violations and suffering."

He underlined the need for the military to be effective in responding to developments and to bolster its deterrence capabilities – a reference to the possible return to fighting against the Houthis.

Alimi also stressed the need to continue work towards unifying the armed and security forces and all military formations under the Defense and Interior Ministries.


Israeli Hostage in Gaza Dead, Say Families

The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
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Israeli Hostage in Gaza Dead, Say Families

The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP

One of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack has been killed and his body is being held in Gaza, two groups representing hostage families said Tuesday.

Uriel Baruch, 35, a father of two, was taken from the Supernova music festival, where 364 people were killed by Hamas during the unprecedented attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

The Israeli army told his family that his body was being held in Gaza, the Tikva Forum hostages group said in a statement.

Another group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, also said Baruch had been killed.

It described the techno fan, whose children are aged eight and five, as "a joyful person who loved life and loved to have fun".

"Uriel's body is still being held captive by Hamas," it added.

Militants seized 253 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Around 100 hostages were released during a truce at the end of November, some in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel believes around 130 captives remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead.


US Denies Reports It Carried Out Dawn Strikes in Syria 

This picture taken on March 26, 2024 shows a view of a damaged building following an air strike in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor. (AFP)
This picture taken on March 26, 2024 shows a view of a damaged building following an air strike in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor. (AFP)
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US Denies Reports It Carried Out Dawn Strikes in Syria 

This picture taken on March 26, 2024 shows a view of a damaged building following an air strike in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor. (AFP)
This picture taken on March 26, 2024 shows a view of a damaged building following an air strike in Syria's eastern city of Deir Ezzor. (AFP)

The US on Tuesday denied that it had carried out dawn air strikes in Syria after Syrian and Iranian state media said US forces had bombed an eastern region and killed at least seven soldiers, including a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Syrian state media said a civilian was also killed and at least 19 other soldiers and 13 civilians were wounded in strikes on residential areas and military sites in Deir Ezzor province, with significant damage to public and private properties.

Iranian state media said a Revolutionary Guards adviser was killed in the air strikes, without giving his rank.

"We did not carry out air strikes in Syria last night," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters in Washington.

Iranian-backed forces in eastern Syria have previously attacked some of the 900 US troops based in the remote region. The United States has occasionally responded by carrying out strikes there against targets linked to Iran. Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian targets in Syria.

Iran says its officers serve in an advisory role in Syria at the invitation of Damascus to support President Bashar al-Assad against internal and external foes including during a decade-long civil war with opposition forces who failed to topple him.

Two regional intelligence sources said Israeli jets conducted several strikes on two locations within Deir Ezzor city and Al Bukamal where Iran's Revolutionary Guards have outposts.

Iranian militias have a strong presence in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border where Tehran has expanded its military presence, Western intelligence sources say.

The sources said another strike hit the town of Mayadeen along the Euphrates River which has become a major base for several Shiite militias, mostly from Iraq.

Israel, alarmed by Iran's growing regional influence and military presence in Syria, says it has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria to slow down Iranian entrenchment. It has not commented on Tuesday's strikes.

Over the past year, strikes by unmanned Israeli aircraft have concentrated on the border town of Albu Kamal, southeast of Mayadeen, that lies on a strategic supply route for Iranian-backed militias who regularly send reinforcements from Iraq into Syria. The Iranian-backed militias are also in control of large stretches of the frontier on the Iraqi side.

Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday's air strikes and said Washington was exchanging roles with Israel, adding that they sought to stir instability in the region.


Haniyeh from Tehran: Israel Has Failed to Achieve its Goals

Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei meets with Haniyeh and his accompanying delegation in Tehran. (IRNA)
Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei meets with Haniyeh and his accompanying delegation in Tehran. (IRNA)
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Haniyeh from Tehran: Israel Has Failed to Achieve its Goals

Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei meets with Haniyeh and his accompanying delegation in Tehran. (IRNA)
Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei meets with Haniyeh and his accompanying delegation in Tehran. (IRNA)

Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei stressed on Tuesday that Tehran “will not hesitate in supporting the Palestinian cause and the oppressed people of Gaza.”

Meeting with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, he also praised the “exemplary perseverance of the forces of the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza.”

“The historic struggle of the people of Gaza against the crimes and barbarism of the Zionist entity - that are taking place with the full support of the West – is a great phenomenon that is a source of pride for Islam,” he added according to the IRNA news agency.

“The struggle has transformed the Palestinian cause into the top issue in the world in spite of the enemy,” he continued.

Moreover, Khamenei declared that Iran “will not hesitate in supporting the Palestinian cause and oppressed people of Gaza.”

For his part, Haniyeh expressed his gratitude for Iran’s popular and official support to the Palestinian cause, especially the people of Gaza.

He briefed Khamenei on the political and field developments of the war. “The exemplary struggle and resistance of the people of Gaza and the forces of the resistance in the past six months have prevented the Zionist enemy from achieving any of its strategic goals in the Gaza war,” he stressed.

He said Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood Operation “shattered the image of the invincible Zionist entity. Over the past six months, the enemy has incurred massive losses and thousands of its soldiers have been killed.”

Haniyeh had arrived in Tehran at the head of a senior delegation of Hamas officials to hold a series of talks with the Iranian leadership over the political and field developments related to the war in Gaza.

Haniyeh described the conflict in Gaza as a world war, accusing the American administration of being “a main partner in the Zionist crimes because it is giving direct military orders to the Zionist entity.”

“Despite the barbaric practices, crimes and genocide being committed in Gaza, the people and forces of the resistance will persevere and they will not allow the Zionist enemy to achieve an ounce of its goals,” he vowed.

Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, he stressed that Israel has failed in achieving any of its military and strategic goals.

It has lost international support and “was now living in unprecedented political isolation. America is incapable of imposing its will on the international community,” he went on to say.

“We are witnessing a historic phase and standing at a fateful turn in the historic conflict with the Zionist entity,” he added, noting that the recent United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire “is an indication of the Israeli occupation’s unprecedented isolation.”