UN Plans to Aid 3 Million Sudanese Refugees

Displaced people from el-Geneina in Darfur on a French army truck en route to temporary shelters on the outskirts of Adre, Chad (Reuters)
Displaced people from el-Geneina in Darfur on a French army truck en route to temporary shelters on the outskirts of Adre, Chad (Reuters)
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UN Plans to Aid 3 Million Sudanese Refugees

Displaced people from el-Geneina in Darfur on a French army truck en route to temporary shelters on the outskirts of Adre, Chad (Reuters)
Displaced people from el-Geneina in Darfur on a French army truck en route to temporary shelters on the outskirts of Adre, Chad (Reuters)

The United Nations has recognized the need to scale up assistance in Sudan, according to the United Nations Integrated Transition Support Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

The UN agencies in Sudan held a meeting Wednesday in Port Sudan, announcing they are jointly mounting efforts to scale up humanitarian assistance for over three million displaced by the conflict, the majority being women and children.

A UN report issued in mid-July indicated that roughly half of Sudan's population needs urgent humanitarian aid, especially the millions trapped in combat zones in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan.

The ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians, as they continue to lose the necessary services, including electricity, water supply, and health care after more than half of the hospitals and service facilities became out of service.

The battles stopped Wednesday, and a state of cautious calm prevailed in Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, which witnessed violent and bloody clashes in the past days between the two parties, killing dozens of civilians and injuring many others.

Residents of separate suburbs of Khartoum told Asharq Al-Awsat that calm has returned to their areas, and there have been no gunfights.

Al-Rih al-Hindi, a resident of the al-Manshia suburb east of Khartoum, said that the clashes have subsided, but the Rapid Support forces are still deployed in many neighborhoods.

He indicated that the past days were challenging, and many homes were damaged due to artillery shelling and airstrikes.

Hindi noted that most neighborhoods east of Khartoum have become almost empty, except for a few families who decided to stay.

Another resident, Sarah Omar al-Sayed, said that the situation has calmed down significantly, adding that they have not seen any army planes or heard clashes.

She indicated that her family is considering leaving the house when it is safe.

According to UN data, supported by reports from the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Health, more than 1,136 people have been killed and 120,000 injured since the outbreak of fighting last April.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC), Malik Agar, said there was hope to end the war in the country, adding that some military-technical measures must precede the ceasefire according to monitoring mechanisms.

Agar explained in an interview with state television on Wednesday that there is no official negotiation between the army and the RSF at the Jeddah platform, noting that despite the presence of the two parties, the talks may be indirect.

He renewed his country's refusal to deploy any foreign forces, which may be met with hostility.



Gaza Health Officials Say Israeli Strikes Kill Five

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Gaza Health Officials Say Israeli Strikes Kill Five

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 18 June 2026. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes on Saturday killed five people, including four members of the same family, in the latest violence to rock the Palestinian territory despite a ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas trade near-daily accusations of truce violations and the Gaza Strip remains gripped by bloodshed as progress on permanently ending the war remains stalled.

An overnight Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City killed four members of the al-Safadi family, including the husband, wife and their two daughters, said the civil defense agency, a rescue service that operates under Hamas authority.

AFP quoted it as saying that the strike also injured 12 others.

Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four members of the al-Safadi family, including two children.

The hospital also said it had received another body following a separate Israeli drone strike near an intersection in the north of Gaza City.

When asked by AFP about the two incidents, the Israeli military did not offer an immediate response.

At least 1,012 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 10 last year, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The Israeli army has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.

Restrictions imposed on media outlets and limited access in Gaza prevent AFP from independently verifying tolls or freely covering the violence there.


‘Emirate of Hebron’ Raised Again According to Smotrich’s Arrangements

The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
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‘Emirate of Hebron’ Raised Again According to Smotrich’s Arrangements

The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
The Israeli military blocks the road as Palestinians protest against settlement near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 19, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

The establishment of the “Emirate of Hebron” has been raised again after far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that he had annulled the Hebron Accords and seized planning and construction powers at a Jewish and Muslim shrine in the occupied West Bank from Palestinian authorities.

The idea of “annulment” was already put forward more than a year ago but rejected by Palestinians.

The 1997 agreement gave the Palestinian Hebron municipality authority to construct and plan in the H2 area of the city, despite it being under Israeli military control.

And in what appears to be a coordinated plan, while Smotrich annulled the Hebron Accords, Likud Minister Nir Barkat brought five Hebron residents to a Knesset hearing to promote a government-backed plan to secede from the Palestinian Authority, establish an independent emirate and join regional normalization agreements.

“The dispute came to a head during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing this week, when Barkat brought five Hebron residents promoting the initiative,” Haaretz newspaper wrote on Friday.

“The group argued they could assume responsibility for their local areas and maintain order through a model of tribal leadership,” it added.

The newspaper explained that last year, five residents of Hebron had proposed breaking away from the Palestinian Authority in an initiative for an “Emirate of Hebron.”

According to a 2025 report in The Wall Street Journal, the group sent a letter to Barkat in which they expressed support for Israel as a Jewish state and proposed the creation of a joint Israeli-West Bank industrial zone near the separation barrier.

Haaretz said Barkat presented the five Hebron residents as those who are willing to accept responsibility for the areas where their extended families live, break away from the Palestinian Authority, and establish a system of local tribal leadership.

During the discussion, the sheikhs claimed that they had the power to restore order and protect their residents.

The five sheikhs, the newspaper wrote, presented far-reaching demands to the Israeli army and security forces during the discussion. They demanded that soldiers refrain from activities against them and their people, reduce arrests, and stop searching for weapons on their families' lands.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli also attended the discussion, expressing full support for the initiative. According to Chikli, the emirate model is “the future of the West Bank” and the most significant alternative offered to the Palestinian Authority so far.

Chikli argued that the local tribal structure may constitute a more stable basis for a Palestinian government than the PA's institutions, which the Israeli government seeks to dismantle.

The 1997 Hebron Agreement divided the city of Hebron into two zones: H1, under Palestinian control and H2, under Israeli security control.

Palestinians controlled planning and construction in the entire city, including the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the adjoining Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque.

Hebron's Old City is recognized as a Palestinian World Heritage site.

Hundreds of Jewish settlers live among tens of thousands of Palestinians in parts of the ancient city that are under Israeli security control.

Annulling the Hebron Accords means Israelis would again control the H2 area of the city, including religious affairs.

Smotrich said: “This is much more than a planning step, it is a step... of practical sovereignty, of governance.”

The Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Yousef Al-Jabari, called Smotrich's announcement a “racist decision aimed at stripping the Hebron municipality of its powers.”

He told Israel’s i24NEWS channel that the Palestinian people remain entirely capable of choosing their own leadership, despite active Israeli interference.

“We have a municipality that democratically elects its president and members. Hebron is ruled by Palestinian legitimacy and no one else will rule it,” he added.

On Friday, Haaretz said the Israeli military has rejected these estimates outright. Security sources who spoke to Haaretz said most of the figures presented as influential lack public status in Hebron, and are not recognized as the city's power centers.

Other sources warned that the very fact of holding the Knesset debate and granting official legitimacy to a model of tribal leadership supported by Israel could create the impression that Israel is trying to dismantle the existing Palestinian leadership by appointing cronies from collaborating clans.

Such a move, they warn, could actually strengthen support for extremist factions and deepen instability in the West Bank.

“When ministers bring the sheikhs to the Knesset, give them an official platform and present them as a governmental alternative to the Palestinian Authority, it can no longer be treated as just a public relations exercise – it has direct consequences on the ground,” said a security source who spoke to Haaretz.


Syria’s Grand Mufti Warns Against Acts that Could Fuel Strife

A Syrian woman holds pictures on April 24, 2026, of relatives killed by former regime forces in the 2013 Tadamon massacre south of Damascus. (EPA)
A Syrian woman holds pictures on April 24, 2026, of relatives killed by former regime forces in the 2013 Tadamon massacre south of Damascus. (EPA)
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Syria’s Grand Mufti Warns Against Acts that Could Fuel Strife

A Syrian woman holds pictures on April 24, 2026, of relatives killed by former regime forces in the 2013 Tadamon massacre south of Damascus. (EPA)
A Syrian woman holds pictures on April 24, 2026, of relatives killed by former regime forces in the 2013 Tadamon massacre south of Damascus. (EPA)

Syria’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Osama al-Rifai has called for calm after days of protests demanding the prosecution of supporters of the former regime, warning citizens against “undisciplined actions that could open the door to strife,” the official Syrian news agency SANA reported.

Rifai said Friday that accountability for criminals must be left to the state and its relevant agencies. He said demands for justice and for holding those involved in violations to account were “a legitimate right,” but must be pursued through the state and the law, not through unorganized individual or collective action.

“What the Syrian people endured over 60 years of injustice and suffering because of the practices of the defunct regime and its loyalists requires wise conduct today, far from strife,” SANA quoted him as saying.

He said the responsibility for applying the law and holding suspects accountable rests with the relevant state institutions, urging people to trust judicial and official procedures rather than resorting to individual acts that could have dangerous repercussions for social security.

AFP reported that dozens of Syrians joined a protest overnight Tuesday into Wednesday in which shops and cars were vandalized in a Damascus neighborhood. Protesters demanded that loyalists of the former rule be held to account, part of wider mobilizations that began in several areas and prompted the authorities to warn against turning to “revenge.”

Neighborhoods seen as supportive of the former regime in several areas, including Aleppo and Idlib, have seen similar protests in recent days. Demonstrators called for the trial of those they described as “shabiha” and “remnants of the regime,” terms used for loyalists of the ousted president, Bashar al-Assad.

Residents said the protests included attacks on private property, fueling tensions and fears of acts outside the law as the authorities work to launch a transitional justice process after years of war, AFP reported.

Videos on social media showed dozens of people moving through the Mezzeh 86 neighborhood, which had a mostly Alawite population. Shops and cars were attacked and chants were directed against residents.

A similar demonstration took place outside the nearby Great Mezzeh Mosque, demanding the expulsion of “shabiha,” before security forces deployed to control the situation and asked residents to stay in their homes.

The Ash al-Warwar neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus, which also has a mostly Alawite population, saw a similar protest on Monday night, an AFP photographer reported.

Leaflets have spread in several provinces in recent days, giving loyalists of the former rule the choice between leaving the country or staying in their homes “awaiting accountability.”

The first such protest began last week in Kafr Aweed in rural Idlib, in the northwest of the country.

The protests came despite the authorities starting trials of former security and military officials from the previous rule, and announcing the arrest of about 6,000 people, including soldiers, officers and loyalists linked to the former rule. The authorities are trying to contain the protests, which have raised concerns among rights advocates.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said last week, while receiving a delegation from Damascus, that “it is important that transitional justice not be used as a pretext for revenge or as a tool for domination,” warning that otherwise “we would be confronting one injustice with another.”

Arrests over the 2020 strike on Jabal al-Duwaila camp

In a related development, SANA said internal security units in Idlib province arrested Issa Ghannam and Fadi Maarouf on suspicion of leaking the coordinates of an opposition camp in Jabal al-Duwaila in the city of Kafr Takharim, Idlib province, in 2020.

The agency quoted the Interior Ministry as saying investigations showed that “Fadi Maarouf, known as Abu Jahl, sent the site’s coordinates to Issa Ghannam, who in turn transferred them to Brigadier General Abdulrahman Najm, head of the State Security branch under the defunct regime. The camp was then hit by direct air strikes during a meeting of its members, causing more than 100 deaths and injuries.”

The Interior Ministry statement did not say which faction the targeted camp belonged to or who carried out the strike.

Reports at the time said Russian warplanes bombed a parade by fighters at a Faylaq al-Sham camp, affiliated with the National Front for Liberation, in al-Duwaila in the Kafr Takharim area near the Turkish border, on Oct. 26, 2020, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.