Algerian Ambassador to Return to France in Coming Days, Says Elysee

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (L) leave at the end of a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 25, 2022. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (L) leave at the end of a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 25, 2022. (AFP)
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Algerian Ambassador to Return to France in Coming Days, Says Elysee

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (L) leave at the end of a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 25, 2022. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (L) leave at the end of a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 25, 2022. (AFP)

Algeria's ambassador to France will return to Paris in the coming days, French President Emmanuel Macron's Elysee office said on Friday, in a move signaling a recovery in relations a month after a diplomatic spat.

The Elysee palace said that during a telephone conversation, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had told Macron that the ambassador would return.

In February, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Paris, accusing France of orchestrating the escape of an activist it wants for arrest and triggering a new crisis between the countries after months of warming relations.

Amira Bouraoui, a rights activist detained during the 2019 mass protests in Algeria and freed from prison in 2020, had allegedly crossed into Tunisia illegally after evading Algerian judicial surveillance, according to Algerian and French media.

She was arrested in Tunisia in early February but was later allowed to fly to France, French media have reported.

"The two heads of state have discussed the conditions of the departure from Tunisia and arrival in France... of a Franco-Algerian national ... this discussion has cleared up misunderstandings," the Elysee statement said.

It added that following Macron's visit to Algeria last August, the presidents agreed on the need to boost cooperation between the two countries in every area, with a view to a future state visit to France by Tebboune.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.