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Thousands of US Sailors, Marines Reach Middle East after Iran Tensions 

A US Navy sailor from USS Bataan (LHD 5) stands watch as the amphibious assault ship transits the Suez Canal, Egypt, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region, in this photo taken on August 6, 2023. (US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet/Handout via Reuters)
A US Navy sailor from USS Bataan (LHD 5) stands watch as the amphibious assault ship transits the Suez Canal, Egypt, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region, in this photo taken on August 6, 2023. (US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet/Handout via Reuters)
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Thousands of US Sailors, Marines Reach Middle East after Iran Tensions 

A US Navy sailor from USS Bataan (LHD 5) stands watch as the amphibious assault ship transits the Suez Canal, Egypt, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region, in this photo taken on August 6, 2023. (US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet/Handout via Reuters)
A US Navy sailor from USS Bataan (LHD 5) stands watch as the amphibious assault ship transits the Suez Canal, Egypt, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region, in this photo taken on August 6, 2023. (US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet/Handout via Reuters)

More than 3,000 US military personnel have arrived in the Red Sea aboard two warships, as part of increased deployments after tanker seizures by Iran, the US Navy said Monday.

The US sailors and Marines entered the Red Sea on Sunday after transiting through the Suez Canal in a pre-announced deployment, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

They arrived on board the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall warships, providing "greater flexibility and maritime capability" to the Fifth Fleet, the statement added.

The US military says Iran has either seized or attempted to take control of nearly 20 internationally flagged ships in the region over the past two years.

USS Bataan is an amphibious assault ship which can carry fixed-wing and rotary aircraft as well as landing craft. The USS Carter Hall, a dock landing ship, transports Marines, their gear, and lands them ashore.

"These units add significant operational flexibility and capability as we work... to deter destabilizing activity and deescalate regional tensions caused by Iran's harassment and seizures of merchant vessels," Fifth Fleet spokesman Commander Tim Hawkins told AFP.

The deployment comes after Washington said its forces blocked two attempts by Iran to seize commercial tankers in international waters off Oman on July 5.

The maritime services in Iran said one of the two tankers, the Bahamian-flagged Richmond Voyager, had collided with an Iranian vessel, seriously injuring five crew members, according to state news agency IRNA.

In April and early May, Iran seized two oil tankers within a week in regional waters.

Those incidents came after Israel and the United States blamed Iran in November for what they said was a drone strike against a tanker operated by an Israeli-owned firm carrying gas oil off the coast of Oman.

The US announced last month that it would deploy a destroyer, F-35 and F-16 warplanes, along with the Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the Middle East to deter Iran from seizing ships in the Gulf.

Last week, a US official told AFP that Washington is also preparing to deploy Marines and Navy personnel aboard commercial tankers transiting the Gulf as an added layer of defense.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.