US Told Other Countries Palestinian Recognition Will Create More Problemshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5182901-us-told-other-countries-palestinian-recognition-will-create-more-problems
US Told Other Countries Palestinian Recognition Will Create More Problems
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (AFP)
The United States has told other counties that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
“We told all these countries, we told them all, we said if you guys do this recognition stuff it's all fake, it's not even real, if you do it you're going to create problems,” Rubio said from Quito, where he met with President Daniel Noboa and his Ecuadorean counterpart, according to Reuters.
“There's going to be a response, it's going to make it harder to get a ceasefire and it may even trigger theses sorts of actions that you've seen, or at least these attempts at these actions,” Rubio said, adding he would not opine on Israeli discussion of annexation of the West Bank but that it was not final.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The countries say these moves are intended to put pressure on Israel to end its assault on Gaza, curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and recommit to a peace process with Palestinians.
French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to endorse recognition, has said the move would be accompanied by a commitment by the Palestinian Authority to enact reforms, which would improve Palestinian governance and make the PA a more credible partner for the post-war administration of Gaza.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
Without a full seat at the United Nations or control of its own borders, the Palestinian Authority has only limited ability to conduct bilateral relations. There are no missions with the status of embassies in Palestinian territory, and countries cannot freely send diplomats there.
A Year into Ceasefire, Israel Wages a Scaled-Down War in Gazahttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327888-year-ceasefire-israel-wages-scaled-down-war-gaza
A Year into Ceasefire, Israel Wages a Scaled-Down War in Gaza
A Palestinian woman weeps during the funeral of an eight-year-old boy killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Friday. (EPA)
October 10, 2026, marks one year since the announcement of an end to the war in Gaza, even as Israel continues to wage it on a smaller scale, killing more Palestinians and destroying their homes on the grounds that Hamas refuses to disarm.
On the eve of the fragile ceasefire’s first anniversary, Gaza endured a night of intense attacks that reminded thousands of residents of the war’s harshest days.
The Israeli military ordered residential blocks evacuated at night before bombing and destroying homes and apartment buildings in Gaza City and Khan Younis. A child and a woman were killed while trying to evacuate homes where families had sought refuge.
Shortly before midnight on Thursday, Israeli warplanes twice bombed homes in a residential block in the Katiba area, north of the al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The strikes destroyed or severely damaged several homes, displacing hundreds of Palestinians who lost their only shelter.
Israeli warplanes also destroyed two residential buildings in Gaza City. One housed displaced people in apartments in the Sabra neighborhood in the city’s south.
The Israeli military ordered the entire surrounding residential block evacuated, but some families did not have enough time to leave.
A child and a woman from the Abu Asr family, displaced from the Shujaiya neighborhood, were killed. At least seven people were wounded, including a journalist who put down his camera to help residents evacuate their homes.
The second building was destroyed in Gaza City’s Old City, west of Shujaiya and north of Zeitoun, after orders to evacuate it and the entire surrounding area.
Palestinians observed that Israeli warplanes fired several missiles at the targeted buildings, particularly in Gaza City, that failed to explode, prompting repeated attacks.
The strikes displaced hundreds of Palestinians living in those residential blocks. Unable to find alternative shelter, they had to spend the night in hospital courtyards, at shelters or with relatives.
The Israeli military said the strikes aimed to destroy four weapons storage facilities belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It has offered the same explanation in statements about similar strikes in the past.
Palestinian factions have repeatedly denied those claims, accusing Israel of deliberately destroying the homes and buildings still standing in Gaza.
Targeted killings and ground operations
The nighttime strikes came hours after six Palestinians were killed in a series of airstrikes in two separate incidents. Those killed included a woman and two members of the Al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, whose vehicle was attacked by an Israeli drone in the industrial area south of Gaza City.
A third member was killed in a targeted strike on a tent in the Tawam area northwest of the city.
On Friday morning, a Palestinian was killed and five others, including two women and a child, were wounded by gunfire from Israeli military vehicles that advanced into al-Masdar and the Maghazi refugee camp in the eastern part of central Gaza.
Two Palestinians were also wounded in a strike on al-Mawasi in Khan Younis.
For the third time in less than a week, Israeli military vehicles advanced from the Abu Hamam military position east of Deir al-Balah toward areas north of al-Masdar village, firing as engineering vehicles bulldozed land.
Israel is digging a wide trench and erecting an earth embankment in that area near the Yellow Line, as part of a broader plan being implemented along Gaza’s borders.
Figures covering the fragile ceasefire’s first year show that more than 1,478 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,000 wounded since it took effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and government media office.
The government media office said Israel had committed 5,223 violations on the ground since the agreement began, including bombing, gunfire, the demolition of homes and buildings, and incursions. More than 200 Palestinians have also been detained.
Israel controls more than 63% of Gaza’s territory after expanding the area within the so-called Yellow Line over the past year of the ceasefire. The agreement announced at the time designated it as an initial withdrawal line.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 196 Palestinians, including 18 women and 43 children, were killed near that line between the start of the ceasefire and early April 2026.
OCHA said areas subject to access restrictions accounted for about 64.9% of Gaza’s territory. It said those areas were under tighter and more direct Israeli control, with Palestinians barred from entering most of them and humanitarian organizations required to coordinate access in advance.
Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operativehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327863-lebanon-says-6-wounded-attack-israel-says-targeted-pro-iran-syrian-operative
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Says 6 Wounded in Attack That Israel Says Targeted Pro-Iran Syrian Operative
An Israeli army vehicle operates in East Zawtar, as seen from West Zawtar, southern Lebanon, October 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Lebanon said an Israeli attack on Friday wounded six people as Israel said it targeted a "Syrian terrorist" who planned anti-Israel attacks under Iranian instructions.
"The Israeli attack near the town of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in the Hermel district led to six wounded, including five Syrian nationals, two of them women, and one Lebanese," Lebanon's health ministry said.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that "an enemy military drone targeted a car" in the town, located close to the Syrian border, an area largely been spared such attacks since an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was agreed in June.
Israel's military said that it "struck a Syrian terrorist", identified as Yusuf Ali al-Hassoun, who it said "operated under the direction of the Iranian regime and advanced terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers operating in southern Syria".
It did not say whether the suspect was operating as part of a particular militant group.
Hassoun allegedly "planned and advanced attacks" against soldiers "that were thwarted, including the launching of explosive drones and rockets toward Israeli soldiers in southern Syria".
The Israeli military "will continue to operate to eliminate immediate threats on all fronts", it said.
Since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan since 1974.
It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory, sometimes seizing residents, and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it had killed an assailant at an army outpost in the area it occupies in southern Syria.
Syria's former ruler Assad was an ally of Iran and Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war this year by attacking Israel.
Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacementhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5327808-houthi-escalation-strains-health-services-deepens-displacement
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Houthi Escalation Strains Health Services, Deepens Displacement
A displaced Yemeni family enters a makeshift shelter at the Al-Kod Al-Othmani displacement camp in Sheikh Othman district, Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is worsening as the Houthi escalation spreads, leaving more than 5,000 people dead or wounded since August, displacing about 200,000 and fueling a rise in suspected cholera and measles cases.
The United Nations is warning of gaps in care and the risk of outbreaks as health services struggle to reach the wounded and deliver emergency treatment, especially in conflict zones and displacement camps.
UN Health Cluster data show 5,166 casualties since Aug. 6, including 959 deaths. In six days alone, 685 new casualties were recorded, a daily average of 114, up from about 101 in the preceding period, signaling a continued rise in the conflict’s human toll.
Children pose for a photo in a makeshift camp for people displaced by clashes near Aden, Yemen October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Taiz governorate in southwestern Yemen has become one of the deadliest fronts, with average daily casualties jumping from eight to 109 in a week as fighting moved into Taiz city. Preliminary reports also indicated casualties in Hadramout and Al-Jawf, while violence and casualties remain high in Lahj and Marib.
Displacement is adding to the strain on host communities, while shortages of trauma stabilization points and medical supplies hamper efforts to reach the wounded and meet mounting health needs.
For medical teams near the front lines, reaching the injured quickly is a critical challenge. Too few trauma stabilization points near the fighting mean precious time is lost during the “golden hour,” when urgent medical intervention can improve a wounded person’s chances of survival.
Difficulties in providing medical services on the front lines with the Houthis (local media)
First-level trauma stabilization points remain a major gap in the health response. Six of the 20 planned points still lack partner support, limiting the health system’s ability to stabilize patients and get them to operating rooms within an hour of injury.
Communications outages and security risks are also hampering efforts to track humanitarian conditions. Aid workers believe the available figures understate the actual toll, while continued fighting makes reports of attacks on health facilities difficult to verify.
Displacement camps in Yemen lack basic necessities (local media)
Displacement and outbreaks
The fallout from the Houthi escalation extends beyond the dead and wounded. About 200,000 people have been displaced, including 29,519 families across 10 governorates, with displacement rising 8% in just five days.
Lahj accounted for about two-thirds of the latest increase, underscoring the pressure on residents and host communities as fighting drives up demand for shelter, basic services and health care.
Displacement has spread further into eastern governorates, including Hadramout, Al-Mahra and Shabwa. The consolidated report lists 454 displaced families in those governorates, up from 201 on Sept. 23.
In Hadramout, the Mukalla center reported another 429 families in Al-Abr, in Wadi Hadramout, who have yet to be included in the consolidated report, suggesting the actual displacement figures are higher.
Civilians pay the price for Houthi escalation in several governorates (local media)
More than 3,600 people have also crossed into Djibouti, according to the data, extending the conflict’s humanitarian repercussions beyond Yemen.
Growing displacement and deteriorating living and health conditions are heightening fears of outbreaks as cholera and measles cases rise, immunization gaps widen and displaced children show alarming levels of acute malnutrition.
Surveillance data show suspected cholera cases nearly tripled in three weeks, reaching 647 in week 39, up from 217 in week 36.
Measles is spreading alongside cholera as displacement and overcrowding in areas hosting affected families widen immunity gaps, increasing health risks for children, especially those suffering from malnutrition.
People fleeing Houthi escalation in Taiz governorate (local media)
Malnutrition
Screenings by International Medical Corps mobile medical teams have found high levels of acute malnutrition among displaced children, offering another measure of deteriorating health and living conditions.
Of 54 displaced children under five screened, nine had severe acute malnutrition and 29 had moderate acute malnutrition, highlighting urgent nutritional and treatment needs among the most vulnerable.
At least five health facilities have run out of ready-to-use therapeutic food, and three have exhausted their stocks of supplementary food, threatening their ability to treat children most at risk of complications.
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