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Morocco Opens Investigation into Western Sahara Attacks

Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Morocco Opens Investigation into Western Sahara Attacks

Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Morocco's Public Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Laayoune said that investigations were opened into a series of explosions that killed one person and injured three others on Saturday in the city of Smara in Western Sahara.

The Public Prosecutor said in a statement that the investigations were entrusted to a team with technical and ballistic expertise to identify the origin and nature of the projectiles.

The projectiles killed one man, injured three others, and also damaged two houses. Two people suffering from severe injuries were transferred to a hospital in Laayoune, west of Smara.

Moroccan al-Yaoum 24 website said the explosions in Smara were caused by the Polisario attacks launched from the Tifariti region, in a dangerous precedent that targeted residential neighborhoods.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Moroccan sources said that the Polisario Front is "playing with fire" by targeting civilians, describing its actions as a "cowardly act of terrorism."

Meanwhile, the Sahara Press Service, affiliated with the Polisario Front, said its units targeted Moroccan forces in the al-Mahbas sector, causing heavy losses.

The Ministry of National Defense issued a military communique stating that advanced units of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army targeted Moroccan soldiers in Akrara el-Fersik and el-Shadimia.

Morrocan forces were also targeted in the Mahbes sector.

The source stated that the Front's militias focused their attacks earlier, targeting Moroccan forces' positions in the Smara and Mahbas.

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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by the Hamas group before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be "hell to pay", if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
"There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet," he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel's military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
"We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.