CAIRO/EL-ARISH: Egypt’s army clashed with militants in Sinai on Friday, leaving two children dead as President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi flew home to deal with a wave of militant attacks that killed at least 32 people.
Health officials said a six-month-old baby was hit in the head by a bullet during the clashes and a six-year-old was killed in a rocket blast in the peninsula. Health Ministry officials said two civilians were also among those killed.
Friday’s violence came a day after rebels targeted security forces with rockets and a car bomb in North Sinai province in simultaneous attacks claimed by an affiliate of the IS group.
Most of those killed were soldiers.
Sissi pulled out of a gathering of African leaders in Ethiopia and flew home to oversee the response to the attacks.
“After the terrorist operations in the North Sinai last night, the president decided to cut short his participation in the African Union summit after attending the opening session, and returned to Cairo to monitor the situation,” a statement from Sissi’s office said.
Security officials said the bodies of at least 30 victims had been flown to Cairo. It was the deadliest wave of attacks since October when 30 soldiers were killed and scores wounded in simultaneous assaults on security forces.
The fresh bloodshed came despite new security measures implemented in North Sinai since then.
Militants have regularly targeted security forces in the Sinai Peninsula since President Muhammad Mursi was ousted by then Army Chief Sissi in July 2013.
The militants say the attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown against Mursi supporters in which hundreds have been killed, thousands jailed and dozens sentenced to death.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned Thursday’s attacks and said Washington “remains steadfast in its support of the Egyptian government’s efforts to combat the threat of terrorism.”
Late last year Washington delivered 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt for joint counter-terrorism operations in the Sinai.
The main focus of Thursday’s attacks was El-Arish, the provincial capital, where militants fired rockets at a police headquarters, a military base and a residential complex for security forces, officials said.
This was followed by a suicide car bombing, and militants also attacked a military checkpoint south of El-Arish.
Separately an army officer was killed when a rocket struck a checkpoint in the town of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip.
Officials said at least 62 people were wounded in the attacks.
The Islamic State group’s Egyptian affiliate, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, claimed the assaults in a Twitter account linked to it.
Egypt’s deadliest militant group said it “executed extensive, simultaneous attacks in the cities of El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah.”
In November the organisation pledged its allegiance to IS, which has captured large chunks of territory in Syria and Iraq.
In another incident a police officer was killed by a bomb blast in the canal city of Suez, while a suspected militant mistakenly blew himself up in Port Said while planting a device.
The October attack, also near El-Arish, prompted the authorities to build a buffer zone along the Gaza border to prevent militants infiltrating from the Palestinian enclave.
The authorities have also imposed a state of emergency and night-time curfew in parts of North Sinai since October.
Egypt’s military said Thursday’s attack was the result of “successful operations” against militants by the security forces, and “the failure of Muslim Brotherhood... in spreading chaos on the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 25 revolution” which was marked on Sunday. On Jan. 25, 2011, millions of Egyptians protested against then leader Hosni Mubarak, forcing him to step down.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) has claimed most of the attacks, including the deadly October assault.
An Egyptian militant group affiliated with the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks in involved locations in three Sinai towns and required a previously unseen level of coordination.
Sinai under militant attack
Sinai under militant attack
Lebanon’s worst drought on record drains largest reservoir
The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic meters
Last year, the figure stood at 230 million
QARAOUN, Lebanon: Water levels at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country’s worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies.
The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic meters, a fraction of the 350 million cubic meters annual average.
Last year, the figure stood at 230 million. The water currently available in Lake Qaraoun — around 61 million cubic meters — was unusable due to severe pollution, the authority said.
“There were dry years in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but this year is the driest,” said Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority. “We are facing a water scarcity problem across all Lebanese territories and water basins.”
Drone footage of Lake Qaraoun shows a dramatically receded shoreline, exposing cracked earth and dead vegetation.
Lebanon’s hydroelectric plants tied to the Litani basin have been shut down, Alawieh said, causing financial losses and intensifying electricity rationing by Electricite du Liban.
“We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater,” he said.
A study by the authority found climate warming and shifting weather patterns have contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs.
The state utility has slashed supply in some areas from 20 hours a day to as little as 10.
In the fertile area around Qaraoun village, in the Bekaa Valley, farmers were already feeling the impact.
“I have never seen such drought or scarcity of rain as this year,” said Safa Issa. “We used to get snow up to a meter high. Now, it’s been 10 years since we’ve seen any.”
The strain has been compounded by erratic supply of electricity needed to run irrigation systems.
“You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three,” said Fayez Omais, another local farmer.
Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, said a nationwide awareness campaign to reduce consumption would be launched within 10 days.
“The most important thing is to manage demand,” she said.
Jordanian anti-narcotics authorities thwart smuggling attempt on border with Syria
- Jordanian troops forced the smugglers to retreat into Syrian territory after they deployed rapid response patrols and applied rules of engagement
- Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic reached an agreement to establish a joint security committee aimed at securing their border in January
LONDON: The Jordanian Armed Forces thwarted a drug smuggling attempt on their northeastern border with Syria on Tuesday morning as they intensified efforts to protect national security.
The Eastern Command, which includes units from Ar-Ramtha and Mafraq near the Iraqi and Syrian borders, thwarted an infiltration and smuggling attempt involving a large quantity of narcotics, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department.
Jordanian troops forced the smugglers to retreat into Syrian territory after they deployed rapid response patrols and applied rules of engagement, according to the Petra news agency. A search of the area resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of narcotics by authorities.
Last week, Jordanian anti-narcotics authorities prevented an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone across the country’s western border.
In January, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic reached an agreement to establish a joint security committee aimed at securing their border, combating arms and drug smuggling, and preventing the resurgence of the Daesh terror group.
Divided EU weighs action against Israel over Gaza war
- Bloc’s foreign policy chief put forward 10 potential steps after Israel was found to have breached cooperation deal between two sides on human rights grounds
BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers on Tuesday discussed options for action against Israel over the war in Gaza — but looked unlikely to agree on any.
The bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has put forward 10 potential steps after Israel was found to have breached a cooperation deal between the two sides on human rights grounds.
The measures range from suspending the entire accord or curbing trade ties to sanctioning Israeli ministers, imposing an arms embargo and halting visa-free travel.
Despite growing anger over the devastation in Gaza, EU states remain divided over how to tackle Israel and diplomats say there appears to be no critical mass for any move.
“I can’t predict how the discussion will go,” Kallas said, ahead of the foreign ministers’ talks in Brussels.
She said the main focus would likely be on how the EU could leverage improvements to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
That comes after Kallas on Thursday announced a deal with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, to open more entry points and allow in more food.
Gaza’s two million residents face dire humanitarian conditions as Israel has severely limited aid during its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“We see some positive signs when it comes to border crossings open, we see some positive signs of them reconstructing the electricity lines, providing water, also more trucks of humanitarian aid coming in,” Kallas said Monday.
But she said the situation in Gaza remained “catastrophic.”
“Of course, we need to see more in order to see real improvement for the people on the ground,” she said.
Saar, speaking at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, was confident Israel would avoid further EU action.
“I’m sure not any of them will be adopted by the EU member states,” said the foreign minister. “There’s no justification whatsoever.”
While the EU appears unable to take further moves against Israel, just getting to this stage has been a considerable step.
The bloc only agreed to review the cooperation deal after Israel relaunched military operations in Gaza following the collapse of a ceasefire in March.
Until then deep divisions between countries backing Israel and those more favorable to the Palestinians had hamstrung any move.
In a sign of that, Hungary looked likely to maintain a block on more sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank despite French minister Jean-Noel Barrot making a fresh plea for action.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of 251 people taken hostage by Hamas, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry says that at least 58,386 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory campaign. The UN considers those figures reliable.
Attacks against Palestinians intensify in occupied West Bank, says UN rights office
- About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its ‘Iron Wall’ operation
- In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank
GENEVA: There has been an increase in killings of and attacks against Palestinians by settlers and security forces in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
“Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
About 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the north of the occupied West Bank since the Israeli military launched its “Iron Wall” operation.
It is contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law, the OHCHR said.
In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly count of Palestinians injured in over two decades in the West Bank.
Since January there have been 757 settler attacks on Palestinians or their properties, which is a 13 percent increase on the same period last year, OHCHR said.
At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fifty-three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and in Israel in reported attacks by Palestinians or in armed clashes, the office added.
One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished, says UN Palestinian refugee agency
- One in ten children screened in UNRWA clinics are malnourished
GENEVA: One in ten children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza is malnourished, UNRWA said on Tuesday.
"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.
