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Arab World

Israel Denies Accepting Gaza Health Ministry War Toll

A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Denies Accepting Gaza Health Ministry War Toll

A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military denied on Friday having accepted the Palestinian health ministry's death toll for the war in Gaza of 71,000 killed since October 2023, as was reported in Israeli media.

"The (Israeli military) clarifies that the details published do not reflect official ... data", military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted on social media.

"Any publication or report on this matter will be released through official and orderly channels."

Israel's left-leaning daily Haaretz had reported Thursday that the military "accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war," sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Haaretz added that the military "said it is currently analyzing the data on the dead to see how many of them are combatants and how many are civilians".

Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after winning elections and violently ousting the Palestinian Authority, which had administered the territory since Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005, after more than 38 years of military occupation.

Its October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally that includes hostages who died or were killed during their captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly questioned the credibility of these figures or sought to discredit them by saying one cannot trust an administration under Hamas authority -- a movement Israel, the United States and the European Union designate as a "terrorist organization."

The ministry's figures are nevertheless considered reliable by the United Nations.

While they do not specify the share of armed Palestinian fighters among the dead, the ministry says more than half of those killed are children and women.

Its statistics only record people killed in Israeli bombardments or fighting. They do not take into account deaths whose bodies have not yet been pulled from the rubble of a territory devastated by Israeli strikes, nor indirect deaths caused by the war.

According to the ministry, 492 people have been killed by Israeli fire or bombardments since October 10 and the entry into force of a truce that the two sides accuse each other of violating daily.

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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.