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Senior EU Official Says Gaza Crisis 'Looks Very Much' Like Genocide

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Mourners pray by the body of one of the victims killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on a camp sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, during the funeral at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 5, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Mourners pray by the body of one of the victims killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on a camp sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, during the funeral at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 5, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Senior EU Official Says Gaza Crisis 'Looks Very Much' Like Genocide

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Mourners pray by the body of one of the victims killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on a camp sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, during the funeral at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 5, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Mourners pray by the body of one of the victims killed during overnight Israeli bombardment on a camp sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, during the funeral at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 5, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

A senior member of the European Union's executive said the displacement and killing in Gaza looked very much like genocide, the first commissioner to level that accusation and publicly break with the body's position on the conflict.
"If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning," Teresa Ribera - the European Commission's second-highest ranking official - told Politico in an interview published on Thursday.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in its war in Gaza. Israel's mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ribera is the European Commission's Executive Vice President, second only in seniority to President Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish socialist, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy.
"What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death," Ribera told Politico.
Her statements went further than the European Commission, which has accused Israel of violating human rights in Gaza, but stopped short of accusing it of genocide.
The Commission last week proposed curbing Israeli access to its flagship research funding program after calls from EU countries to increase pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
In that proposal, the Commission said Israel had violated a human rights clause in an agreement that governs its relations with the EU.
"With its intervention in the Gaza Strip and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe, including thousands of civilian deaths and rapidly rising numbers of spreading extreme malnutrition, specifically of children, Israel is violating human rights and humanitarian law," it wrote.
Israel has fended off accusations of genocide, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as "outrageous".
The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, were killed, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.
Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel has repeatedly said its actions in Gaza are justified as self-defense and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, a charge the militant group denies.

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Arab World

Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
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Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)

Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has undergone "successful" treatment at a heart hospital, his office said Saturday, but his specific ailment was not disclosed.

"I assure you that I am fine, by God's grace," said a statement posted on social media overnight.

The treatment was carried out at a facility in the northwestern Libyan city of Misrata on an undisclosed date, said AFP.

Dbeibah said he later travelled abroad for "additional medical checkups for reassurance", though this was not the primary reason for his trip.

Italian media outlets previously reported he had been admitted to a leading cardiac facility in Milan on Thursday for a general check-up.

"The matter is simply that I underwent some additional medical checkups for reassurance while I was abroad due to a prior external commitment," he said.

"The results confirmed the success of the treatment I received in Libya, praise be to God."

The prime minister leads a UN-recognized government based in Tripoli that controls western Libya, while the country's east is run by another administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Libya has remained divided since chaos erupted following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Arab World

Eight Hezbollah Members Killed in Israel’s Friday Strikes on Lebanon

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
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Eight Hezbollah Members Killed in Israel’s Friday Strikes on Lebanon

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)

Attacks carried out by Israel on Friday in eastern Lebanon killed eight members of Hezbollah, an official from the group told AFP on Saturday.

Lebanon's health ministry said Friday that a total of 10 people were killed in strikes that hit the eastern Bekaa region.

The Israeli military said it targeted "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centers in the Baalbek area".

Lebanon's president on Saturday condemned the attacks, the latest despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

In a statement, Joseph Aoun called the attacks "a blatant act of aggression aimed at thwarting diplomatic efforts" by the United States and other nations to establish stability.

A lawmaker from Hezbollah called on Beirut to suspend meetings of a multinational committee tasked with monitoring the truce.

Washington is one of five members on the committee overseeing the ceasefire implemented in November 2024, with the body scheduled to meet again next week.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the ceasefire, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah but occasionally also the group's Palestinian ally Hamas.

The Friday attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 12 people, according to the health ministry, 10 of them in the east of the country.

Israel's military said it struck "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centers in the Baalbek area".

Hezbollah said a commander was killed in the raids. Its lawmaker Rami Abu Hamdan said on Saturday the group "will not accept the authorities acting as mere political analysts, dismissing these as Israeli strikes we have grown accustomed to before every meeting of the committee".

He called on Beirut to "suspend the committee's meetings until the enemy ceases its attacks".

Hezbollah, while weakened following war with Israel, remains a strong political force in Lebanon represented in parliament.

Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming the Iran-backed group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming since the war, has called the Lebanese army's progress on disarming the group insufficient.

Arab World

Ramadan’s First Friday Prayers Are Held at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
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Ramadan’s First Friday Prayers Are Held at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)

Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered under heavy Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including some who were allowed to enter from the occupied West Bank.

The Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa took place for the first time since a shaky ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in October. It was the first opportunity many had to leave the West Bank and pray at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City since Ramadan last year.

Israel restricted the number of Palestinians allowed to enter from the West Bank to 10,000 on Friday, and only allowed men over 55 and women over 50 as well as children up to 12. It has imposed similar restrictions in the past, citing security concerns.

The hilltop, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. Today it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

It has frequently been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli police said more than 3,000 police were deployed across Jerusalem. They said their presence was not meant to show aggression or force but was aimed at providing help in case of an emergency.

Many Palestinians view the heightened Israeli security presence, and increasing visits by religious and nationalist Israeli Jews, as a provocation. They fear that Israel intends to take over or partition the compound. The Israeli government denies having any such plans.

Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian religious authority that administers the compound, said there were 80,000 in attendance. In normal times, Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa can draw up to 200,000.

Ezaldeen Mustafah, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was among those lamenting the restrictions.

“We need more people than this,” he said.

Some Palestinians from the West Bank on Friday said they were turned away from crossing into Jerusalem even though they had permits. Jihad Bisharat said he was told his permit had been canceled and was sent back. Israel's army didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Old City, home to major religious sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Israel annexed east Jerusalem, a move not recognized by most of the international community, and considers the entire city to be its capital.

Ramadan in Gaza

Many Palestinians said the month’s typically festive spirit is eluding them as they struggle with grief and losses following two years of conflict in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel.

“All the mosques have been bombed,” said Ramiz Firwana, a Gaza resident who gathered with other worshippers for a Friday sermon and prayers held in schoolyard.

On Thursday evening, families sat amid the rubble and destruction for iftar, the meal held at the end of the daily dawn-to-dusk fast.

“Despite the displacement, the pain and the destruction, we want to rejoice and live,” said Mohammad Kollab, from Khan Younis. “We are not a people destined only for destruction and killing."

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and caused widespread destruction and displaced most of the territory’s residents. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage in the initial attack.

The Oct. 10 US-brokered ceasefire deal has brought an end to major military operations and the release of the remaining hostages. But Palestinians, including many civilians, are still being killed in near-daily strikes that Israel says are aimed at militants who threaten or attack its forces.