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Israel Bombards Gaza as World Leaders Call for Pause in Conflict to Let Aid In 

Palestinians look on during a search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians look on during a search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israel Bombards Gaza as World Leaders Call for Pause in Conflict to Let Aid In 

Palestinians look on during a search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians look on during a search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. (Reuters)

Israel's military intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight after one of the deadliest days for Palestinians since the conflict began as world leaders called for a halt to fighting to allow aid into the besieged enclave.

Amid concerns the Israel-Hamas conflict will spread across the Middle East, Israel's military said its jets struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers in response to rockets launched from Iran ally Syria.

The military did not provide further details. It did not accuse Syria's army of firing the two rockets, which set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Citing a military source, Syrian state news agency (SANA) said the Israeli attack killed eight soldiers and wounded seven more in an "aerial aggression" near the southwestern city of Daraa.

The United States and Russia are leading international calls for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow aid into Gaza where Palestinians are living in harrowing conditions.

A total of 704 Palestinians, including 305 children, were killed on Tuesday, the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said, a toll the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said was the highest reported in a single day since the conflict began nearly three weeks ago.

Israel launched the strikes on Gaza after Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7 in a rampage that killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and US President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed on broader diplomacy "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding," the White House said.

Deadly clashes have intensified between the Israeli military and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and resurged between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group along the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Iran backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and has warned Israel to stop its onslaught on Gaza.

Israeli forces on an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank came under fire by a group of Palestinians, whom the military then hit with a drone, the Israeli military said. Palestinian officials said three people were killed.

Since Oct.7, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank clashes with the Israeli military, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Israel's military also said it targeted a cell of Hamas divers attempting to enter Israel by sea near Kibbutz Zikim. There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the incident.

The US has advised Israel to hold off on a planned ground assault as Washington tries to free more of the 200-plus hostages Hamas is still holding captive in Gaza.

However, when asked was if he was urging Israel to delay its ground invasion, Biden told reporters: "The Israelis are making their own decisions."

In a statement released on social media, the Palestinian health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said at least 5,791 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli bombardments on the enclave since Oct. 7, including 2,360 children.

US, Russia offer rival proposals

Late on Tuesday eight trucks with water, food and medicine entered Gaza from Egypt. UN agencies said more than 20 times current deliveries were needed for the narrow coastal strip's 2.3 million people.

At the United Nations, the United States and Russia put forward rival plans on humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians. Washington has called for pauses in the fighting and Russia wants a humanitarian ceasefire. A pause is generally considered less formal and shorter than a ceasefire.

"The whole world is expecting from the Security Council a call for a swift and unconditional ceasefire," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council. Arab states firmly back a call for a humanitarian ceasefire amid widespread destruction in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

"While we remain opposed to a ceasefire, we think humanitarian pauses linked to the delivery of aid that still allow Israel to conduct military operations to defend itself are worth consideration," a senior US official said.

Hospitals running our of fuel

Doctors in Gaza say patients arriving at hospitals are showing signs of disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation after more than 1.4 million people fled their homes in the enclave for temporary shelters.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than one-third of hospitals in Gaza and nearly two-thirds of primary health care clinics had shut due to damage or lack of fuel.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned in a post on messaging platform X that it would halt operations in Gaza on Wednesday night because of the lack of fuel.

However, the Israeli military on Tuesday reaffirmed it would bar the entry of fuel to prevent Hamas from seizing it.

Hamas has so far released four hostages - a mother and daughter with dual US-Israel nationality on Friday and two Israeli civilian women on Monday.

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Arab World

Syrian Troops Uncover Tunnel Network on Lebanon Border

Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area © Bakr ALkasem / AFP
Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area © Bakr ALkasem / AFP
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Syrian Troops Uncover Tunnel Network on Lebanon Border

Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area © Bakr ALkasem / AFP
Syrian soldiers inspect a tunnel on the Lebanon border in the Qusayr area © Bakr ALkasem / AFP

In rugged terrain along the Syrian-Lebanese border, yellow bulldozers raised earthen berms in front of armoured vehicles while soldiers combed through tunnels they said were used by Hezbollah, as Syria reinforces its side of the border.

Syria is seeking to stay out of the regional war, whose flames have reached neighboring Lebanon, where Hezbollah is fighting a fierce conflict with Israel.

In rural Qusayr, Syrian soldiers showed an AFP photographer -- granted permission by the defense ministry to film the deployment for the first time since reinforcements were brought in a month ago -- several cross-border tunnels that the army has discovered in recent weeks.

Mohammad Hammoud, the official in charge of Syrian border posts facing Lebanon, told AFP the army discovered by "combing the border areas... a network of tunnels connecting the two countries that were used to smuggle weapons and drugs".

An AFP photographer saw at least five such tunnels, including one whose entrance was dug in the basement of a house, with concrete steps descending into narrow, dark passageways.

Other tunnels in the mountainous area were equipped with electrical wiring and ventilation systems.

In another house leading to a tunnel entrance, a picture of the late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah hung on the wall, alongside another of the late Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

A Syrian army field commander said Hezbollah used the tunnels.

The rural Qusayr area serves as a crossroads linking Syria's western Homs province to the Lebanese Bekaa Valley.

- Coordinating with Beirut -

It became a bastion of Hezbollah influence after the Lebanese group's intervention in support of former ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2013 during Syria's civil war.

Since Assad's ouster in December 2024 by an alliance of factions led by new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Hezbollah's supply lines from Syria have been cut off and the new authorities in Damascus say they are coordinating with Beirut to combat smuggling and to control crossings.

On March 28, Syrian authorities announced the discovery of a tunnel near a village in Homs province linking Syrian territory to Lebanon, saying that "Lebanese militias" used it for smuggling.

Israel has announced multiple times that it attacked border crossings, saying the aim was to prevent military supplies from reaching Hezbollah.

An AFP correspondent saw sites damaged by Israeli strikes, including destroyed buildings near one tunnel.

Nearby, Syrian soldiers were on foot patrol and one fighter stood watching a Lebanese army position from a distance.

On March 4, the Syrian authorities announced a reinforcement of the army on the border with Lebanon, deploying "armoured vehicles, soldiers, rocket launchers, and reconnaissance battalions to monitor border activities and combat smuggling".

The goal, it said, was "securing and controlling the border amid the escalation of the ongoing regional war".

According to a diplomatic source, "the Damascus government has been pressured to intervene in Lebanon to end (Hezbollah's) threat in the region, but it refused".

- No military action -

Syria dominated Lebanon for decades following a military intervention in the latter's 1975-1990 civil war, withdrawing only in 2005, making any new military involvement a fraught proposition.

But a Syrian military source told AFP on Wednesday that "the Syrian army has no intention of any military action, and its mission is currently limited to border control only".

Although Syria has not yet been dragged into the regional conflict, on March 10 Damascus accused Hezbollah of shelling Syrian army positions near Serghaya, west of Damascus.

On the same day, Sharaa and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in a telephone call, stressed the need to "control the border" and prevent "any security breakdown".

Sharaa reiterated on Tuesday that his country wanted to remain out of the conflict, in a discussion with the Chatham House think tank during a visit to Britain.

"So long as Syria is not directly targeted by any party, it will remain outside this conflict," he said.

"Fourteen years of war in Syria are enough. We have paid a very heavy price, and we are not ready to go through a new experience."

Arab World

Sudan Appoints Yassir al-Atta Armed Forces Chief of Staff

A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
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Sudan Appoints Yassir al-Atta Armed Forces Chief of Staff

A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo
A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo

Sudan has appointed General Yassir al-Atta, a member of the country's Sovereign Council and assistant to the commander-in-chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chief of staff of the country's Armed Forces, a military spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.

The move is the most significant personnel shift since the Sudanese army's war with the Rapid Support Forces three years ago, and could lead to shifts in strategy as a new front opens in the war in the southeastern Blue Nile state.

Al-Atta takes over the role of chief of staff from career soldier Othman al-Hussein, giving him less of a political role but tighter control of the armed forces.

Arab World

A Month into War, Lebanon's Prime Minister Says No End in Sight 

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, December 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, December 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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A Month into War, Lebanon's Prime Minister Says No End in Sight 

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, December 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, December 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday there was no end in sight to a war that had already displaced a million people over the last month, as families fleeing Israeli strikes said they were exhausted by repeated rounds of conflict. Lebanon is entering the second month of conflict between Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah and Israel, which has pledged to occupy swathes of southern Lebanon as part of a "security zone" to protect its own northern residents.

"Lebanon has become a victim of a war - one whose outcomes and end date no one can predict," Salam told reporters on Thursday after a meeting of his cabinet, Reuters reported.
"The positions of Israeli officials, and the practices of their army, reveal far-reaching goals, including a significant expansion in the occupation of Lebanese territories, dangerous talk about establishing buffer zones or security belts, and the displacement of more than one million Lebanese," Salam said.

Israel's assertion that its military will retain control of southern Lebanon has fuelled fears of a long-term occupation, after a two-decade Israeli presence ended in 2000.

Salam said his government would redouble diplomatic and political efforts to end the war. A call by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun for direct talks with Israel has so far received no response.

SALAM SALUTES LEBANESE STILL IN SOUTH

Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanon after a 2024 ceasefire ended its last war with Hezbollah, while keeping troops stationed on five hilltop positions in southern Lebanon.

Israel launched a full-scale air and ground campaign after Hezbollah fired into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran after the US and Israel began their war on Tehran.

Salam, without naming Hezbollah, condemned coordinated attacks carried out with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and about a fifth of Lebanon's population has been displaced. Israel has issued evacuation orders covering around 15% of Lebanese territory.

"I want to direct the biggest salute to our people who are staying in their hometowns and villages in the south, and want to reiterate that we stand by them," Salam said.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have remained in their homes in southern Lebanon, even as Lebanese troops withdraw from the area to avoid confronting Israeli troops. They include around 9,000 Lebanese Christians living in a cluster of border towns, who told Reuters they were determined to stay despite the advancing military operations.

LEBANESE WANT WARS TO STOP

Salam also stressed the need to preserve internal stability as the war strains Lebanon's sectarian political faultlines. Some communities have been reluctant to host displaced families. As the war drags on, Lebanon is examining ways to house those families in the long-run. Mohammad al-Badran, a Syrian who had lived for years in Beirut's southern suburbs, said he and his family were turned away when they sought refuge in a mountainous area outside the capital.

Badran, his wife and their four children - the youngest of whom was born barely two weeks before the war started - are now sleeping in a makeshift tent area in the capital.

His 10-year-old daughter, Nour, can hear the sound of Israeli strikes on the nearby southern suburbs. "The sound is loud, the children are crying, and I feel like the missiles are flying above us," she said.

Ali al-Aziz, who also fled the southern suburbs, told Reuters that Israel should withdraw from Lebanon so that the conflict could end and he could go back home.

"We want the war to end once and for all. Not for a war to happen every year or every ten years," he said.