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.



Syria Says No Turkish Build-up Planned

18 August 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani speaks during a press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raffaele Grossi after their meeting. Photo: Mohammed Al-Rifai/dpa
18 August 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani speaks during a press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raffaele Grossi after their meeting. Photo: Mohammed Al-Rifai/dpa
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Syria Says No Turkish Build-up Planned

18 August 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani speaks during a press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raffaele Grossi after their meeting. Photo: Mohammed Al-Rifai/dpa
18 August 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani speaks during a press conference with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raffaele Grossi after their meeting. Photo: Mohammed Al-Rifai/dpa

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani has said that he made clear to Israel his government wasn't working with Türkiye to amass a military presence at a Syrian airbase — but Israel went ahead and attacked the site anyway.

Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Syria on Tuesday, warning Syria was on the verge of violating a "status quo agreed with Israel in security matters" by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase.

"[T]here was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site," Al-Shaibani said in one of eight written responses to questions from Axios on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump told Axios in a phone call that he'd been briefed on the Israeli strike, but did not criticize it.

"I can't talk about it," he said. He declined to say whether his briefing came before or after the strike.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was "dragging Türkiye into dangerous adventures in Syria.”

Katz, in a post on X, said his country would not "allow any entity to threaten its security."

The strikes on Tuesday follow worsening security tensions between Israel and Türkiye and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria, where both countries' militaries are active.

Türkiye firmly rejected on ⁠Wednesday what it called "untenable allegations" by Israel regarding its military position in Syria after Israel said Syria was on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.


Katz: Erdogan 'Dragging Türkiye Into Dangerous Adventures in Syria'

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (dpa)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (dpa)
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Katz: Erdogan 'Dragging Türkiye Into Dangerous Adventures in Syria'

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (dpa)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz (dpa)

The Israeli defense minister on Thursday accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of dragging Türkiye into "dangerous adventures in Syria,” after Israel tacitly acknowledged a strike on a north Syria air base earlier in the week.

"Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security," Israel Katz wrote on X in both Hebrew and Turkish. "It is preferable for Erdogan to continue delivering empty, delusional speeches against Israel in the Turkish parliament rather than testing Israel's resolve to defend itself," he added.

The Turkish presidency said Wednesday that Israeli allegations that Syria had allowed Turkish forces to deploy at Abu al-Duhur were “baseless.”

Israel carried out eight airstrikes Tuesday on the base in southeastern Idlib province near the Turkish border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Syria of accepting a Turkish troop deployment, saying Israel had repeatedly warned Damascus that such a move would threaten its security but that those warnings had been ignored.

Israel “will not tolerate any threats to its security,” the statement said, adding that it would welcome a return to the status quo.


Lebanon: Israeli Airstrikes, Artillery Fire Hit Ali al-Taher, Explosions Reported in South

15 August 2026, Lebanon, Nabatieh District: People are searching the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in a tourist area of Ansar, southern Lebanon, before dawn, completely destroying the building and causing extensive damage to surrounding properties. Photo: Abdul Kader Al Bay/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
15 August 2026, Lebanon, Nabatieh District: People are searching the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in a tourist area of Ansar, southern Lebanon, before dawn, completely destroying the building and causing extensive damage to surrounding properties. Photo: Abdul Kader Al Bay/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Lebanon: Israeli Airstrikes, Artillery Fire Hit Ali al-Taher, Explosions Reported in South

15 August 2026, Lebanon, Nabatieh District: People are searching the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in a tourist area of Ansar, southern Lebanon, before dawn, completely destroying the building and causing extensive damage to surrounding properties. Photo: Abdul Kader Al Bay/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
15 August 2026, Lebanon, Nabatieh District: People are searching the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on a house in a tourist area of Ansar, southern Lebanon, before dawn, completely destroying the building and causing extensive damage to surrounding properties. Photo: Abdul Kader Al Bay/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli warplanes carried out a series of overnight airstrikes and artillery shelling on Ali al-Taher hill and the outskirts of al-Dabsha, while explosions were reported in Majdal Zoun and Mansouri in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

“Israeli warplanes carried out a series of overnight strikes on Ali al-Taher hill and the area around al-Dabsha, on the northern outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kefr Rumman”, said NNA. They were subject to intermittent artillery fire until dawn, added the agency.

In the southern city of Tyre, the Israeli forces carried out explosions, overnight and at dawn, in Majdal Zoun and Mansouri, alongside artillery shelling of the two towns.

Israel launched a war against Lebanon on March 2 after Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel. Israeli forces occupied several towns in southern Lebanon.

A ceasefire was announced on June 20, after which the frequency of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon declined.