JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has joined the international community in hailing the liberation of Raqqa from the grip of Daesh terrorists.
The Kingdom expressed happiness about the opposition forces’ victory over Daesh in Raqqa, according to a statement issued in Riyadh,
An official source at theForeign Ministry said Saudi Arabia “considered the purification of Raqqa as an important step in the fight against terrorism.”
The source expressed the Kingdom’s hope that “this step will entail many serious steps to clear Syria, Iraq and the region of terrorism and extremism.”
The Saudi statement came as French President Emmanuel Macron said the fight against Daesh has entered “a major new phase” after Friday’s announcement by Syrian regime forces backed by the US-led coalition.
He thanked allied countries involved in the battle to take back Raqqa, notably those who died “defending liberty in the face of terrorist horror.”
France’s military has been involved in the coalition’s operations in Iraq since 2014 and in Syria since 2015, when Daesh extremists killed 130 people around Paris. France remains in a state of emergency and a target of Daesh threats.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pledged €15 million by the end of the year in aid for civilians in Raqqa, including food water and sappers.
He said the liberation of Raqqa “deals a decisive blow to IS (Daesh), which made it the epicenter for orchestrating numerous attacks.”
Le Drian added that his “first thoughts go to the victims of this barbarism at the Bataclan, in the streets of Paris and Nice and elsewhere.”
A former defense minister, Le Drian warned that the challenges of post-Raqqa are considerable, “first in fighting pockets” of IS that remain and then “stabilizing liberated territories and finding a lasting political solution” for all components of Syrian society.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier congratulated the Syrian people and the US.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on the liberation of the city of Raqqa from the Daesh group.
In a statement released on Friday, Tillerson says the United States is proud to lead the 73-member global coalition in the fight against IS.
He says the coalition efforts has seen Islamic State’s “so-called caliphate crumble across Iraq and Syria” but cautions that “our work is far from over.”
Tillerson says the “liberation of Raqqa is a critical milestone in the global fight ... to defeat these terrorists.”
He says the fall of the city that was IS’ de facto capital also “marks the beginning of a new phase in the Syrian conflict” in which the United States and its partners will seek to “de-escalate violence across Syria.”
He says: “We are confident that we will prevail and defeat this brutal terrorist organization.”
The US-led coalition said Daesh’s loss of the Mosul and Raqqa are “turning points” for the extremist group, but adds a “tough fight” still lies ahead to eradicate Daesh remnants in Iraq and Syria.
In a statement released on Friday, it congratulated its Syrian partners, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), for conducting “a highly effective, professional operation in a difficult urban area.”
The statement said the liberated city of Raqqa will not return to local governance and leadership.
“Raqqawis now have a chance to control their own future,” it said.
The SDF on Friday declared victory over IS in Raqqa and formally handed over administration of the city to a US-backed council made up of of local officials and tribal leaders.
Iran’s army chief of staff and other senior officers from the Iranian military have visited a front line in the northern province of Aleppo saying that the extremists’ presence in Syria is coming to an end.
Iran has been one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s strongest supporters since the country’s crisis began more than six years ago and has sent thousands of Iranian-backed militiamen to boost his troops against opponents.
Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed groups have scored major victories against Daesh in eastern Syrian recently capturing last week the Daesh stronghold of Mayadeen. Syrian troops and allied fighters are now marching toward the town of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.
World leaders hail liberation of Raqqa
World leaders hail liberation of Raqqa
Displaced Gazan digs shelter against winter weather and war
- The UN’s satellite center (UNOSAT) determined in September 2024 that 66 percent of Gaza’s buildings had been damaged or completely destroyed by the war, in which Israel has made extensive use of air strikes as it fights the militant group Hamas
- At least 46,537 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Faced with plunging temperatures and heavy rain in war-battered central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, displaced Palestinian father Tayseer Obaid resorted to digging for a modicum of domestic comfort.
In the clay soil of the encampment area that his family has been displaced to by the war, Obaid dug a square hole nearly two meters deep and capped it with a tarpaulin stretched over an improvised wooden A-frame to keep out the rain.
“I had an idea to dig into the ground to expand the space as it was very limited,” Obaid said.
“So I dug 90 centimeters, it was okay and I felt the space get a little bigger,” he said from the shelter while his children played in a small swing he attached to the plank that serves as a beam for the tarpaulin.
In time, Obaid managed to dig 180 centimeters deep (about six feet) and then lined the bottom with mattresses, at which point, he said, “it felt comfortable, sort of.”
With old flour sacks that he filled with sand, he paved the entry to the shelter to keep it from getting muddy, while he carved steps into the side of the pit.
The clay soil is both soft enough to be dug without power tools and strong enough to stand on its own.
The pit provides some protection from Israeli air strikes, but Obaid said he feared the clay soil could collapse should a strike land close enough.
“If an explosion happened around us and the soil collapsed, this shelter would become our grave.”
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war that has ravaged the Palestinian territory for over 14 months.
The UN’s satellite center (UNOSAT) determined in September 2024 that 66 percent of Gaza’s buildings had been damaged or completely destroyed by the war, in which Israel has made extensive use of air strikes as it fights the militant group Hamas.
For Palestinian civilians fleeing the fighting, the lack of safe buildings means many have had to gather in makeshift camps, mostly in central and southern Gaza.
Shortages caused by the complete blockade of the coastal territory mean that construction materials are scarce, and the displaced must make do with what is at hand.
On top of the hygiene problems created by the lack of proper water and sanitation for the thousands of people crammed into the camps, winter weather has brought its own set of hardships.
On Thursday, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, warned that eight newborns died of hypothermia and 74 children died “amid the brutal conditions of winter” in 2025.
“We enter this New Year carrying the same horrors as the last — there’s been no progress and no solace. Children are now freezing to death,” UNRWA’s spokeswoman Louise Wateridge said.
At least 46,537 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry. The United Nations has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
The October 7 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.
Obaid’s sunken shelter provides some protection from the cold winter nights, but not enough.
For warmth, he dug a chimney-like structure and fireplace in which he burns discarded paper and cardboard.
Though Obaid improved his lot, his situation remains bleak. “If I had a better option, I wouldn’t be living in a hole that looks like a grave,” he says.
Emirati, Lebanese leaders agree to reopen UAE embassy in Beirut
- Sheikh Mohamed congratulated Aoun on his recent election
ABU DHABI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun agreed on Saturday to reopen the UAE embassy in Beirut, the Emirates News Agency reported.
The two leaders said during a phone call they would take required steps to ensure this would happen.
On Thursday, Sheikh Mohamed congratulated Aoun on his recent election, and reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to supporting all efforts that ensure Lebanon’s security and stability and realise the aspirations of its people.
Sheikh Mohamed shared “his hope to work together for the mutual benefit and prosperity of both nations and their peoples,” a statement added.
In return, Aoun also affirmed his commitment to strengthening bilateral relations.
Israel’s Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar
- Netanyahu’s office announced the decision Saturday
- It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office announced the decision Saturday. It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Qatar’s capital, Doha, site of the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group. His presence means high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved.
Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that occurred in the earliest weeks of fighting. The talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled since then.
Netanyahu has insisted on destroying Hamas’ ability to fight in Gaza. Hamas has insisted on a full Israeli troop withdrawal from the largely devastated territory. On Thursday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
Gaza rescuers say eight dead in Israel strike on school building
- Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed eight people, including two children and two women, were killed by Israeli shelling on the Halwa school
- The Israeli military, in a statement, acknowledged it conducted a strike on the facility
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter on Saturday killed eight people, including two children, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed eight people, including two children and two women, were killed by Israeli shelling on the Halwa school in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia.
Bassal said the strike wounded 30 people, including 19 children, and that the Halwa school housed “thousands of displaced people.”
The Israeli military, in a statement, acknowledged it conducted a strike on the facility.
It said the air force “conducted a precise strike on terrorists in a command-and-control center” that had previously served as the Halwa school in Jabaliya.
It said it targeted the premises because “the school had been used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute attacks.”
The attack was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced people in Gaza, where fighting has raged for more than 14 months.
A strike on the United Nations-run Al-Jawni school in central Gaza on September 11 drew international outcry after the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said six of its staff were among the 18 reported dead.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter — a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.
At least 46,537 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry. The United Nations has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
The October 7 attack that triggered it resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.
Sudan army says entered key RSF-held Al-Jazira state capital
- The armed forces “congratulated” the Sudanese people in a statement on “our forces entering the city of Wad Madani this morning“
- A video the army shared on social media showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani
PORT SUDAN: The Sudanese military and allied armed groups launched an offensive Saturday on key Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, entering the city after more than a year of paramilitary control, the army said.
The armed forces “congratulated” the Sudanese people in a statement on “our forces entering the city of Wad Madani this morning.”
Sudan’s army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries have been at war since April 2023, leading to what the UN calls the world’s worst displacement crisis and declarations of famine in parts of the northeast African country.
A video the army shared on social media showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani, after an army source told AFP they had “stormed the city’s eastern entrance.”
The footage appeared to be shot on the western side of Hantoub Bridge in northern Wad Madani, which has been under RSF control since December 2023.
The office of army-allied government spokesman and Information Minister Khalid Al-Aiser said the army had “liberated” the city.
With a months-long communications blackout in place, AFP was not able to independently verify the situation on the ground.
“The army and allied fighters have spread out around us across the city’s streets,” one eyewitness told AFP from his home in central Wad Madani, requesting anonymity for his safety.
Eyewitnesses in army-controlled cities across Sudan reported dozens taking to the streets celebrating the army offensive.
In the early months of the war between the army and the RSF, more than half a million people had sought shelter in Al-Jazira, before a lightning offensive by paramilitary forces displaced upwards of 300,000 in December 2023, according to the United Nations.
Most have been repeatedly displaced since, as the feared paramilitaries — which the United States this week said have “committed genocide” — moved further and further south.
The war has killed tens of thousands and uprooted more than 12 million overall, more than three million of whom have fled across borders.
