GAZA: The Israeli army said it took control on Wednesday of a vital Gaza-Egypt corridor suspected of aiding weapons smuggling as it intensified its offensive against Hamas in the border city of Rafah.
The UN Security Council was set to meet for a second day of emergency talks after a strike at the weekend ignited a fire that Gaza officials said killed 45 people and injured about 250.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the many leaders to voice revulsion at the bloodshed, demanding that “this horror must stop.”
Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said, however, that the war could go on until the year’s end.
“We may have another seven months of fighting to consolidate our success and achieve what we have defined as the destruction of Hamas’s power and military capabilities,” Hanegbi said.
An Israeli military official later told reporters the army had taken “operational control” of the strategic, 14-kilometer (8.5-mile) Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The corridor had served as a buffer between Gaza and Egypt, but since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, there were fears it was being used to channel weapons to armed groups in the Palestinian territory.
Its seizure comes weeks after Israeli forces took the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which alleged Wednesday Israel was using claims of cross-border tunnels as cover for its Rafah offensive.
“Israel is using these allegations to justify continuing the operation on the Palestinian city of Rafah and prolonging the war for political purposes,” a high-level Egyptian source was quoted as saying by state-linked Al-Qahera News.
In besieged Rafah, witnesses reported escalated fighting with helicopters intensifying attacks, supported by artillery and smoke grenades.
Hamas’s military wing said it was firing rockets at Israeli troops.
AFPTV footage showed Palestinians with bloodied midriffs and bandaged limbs after being wounded in strikes near Khan Yunis, close to Rafah, being taken to the European Hospital on makeshift gurneys.
“The rockets fell directly on us. I was hurled three meters (yards)... I don’t know how I managed to get up on my feet,” said one who did not give his name.
Gaza’s civil defense said three bodies were recovered from a Khan Yunis house after it was shelled.
The United States has been among the countries urging Israel to refrain from a full-scale offensive into Rafah, the last Gaza city to see ground fighting, because of the risk to civilians.
However, the White House said Tuesday that so far it had not seen Israel cross President Joe Biden’s “red lines,” with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying: “We have not seen them smash into Rafah.”
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel to quickly devise a post-war strategy for Gaza, stressing: “In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won’t be a day after.”
A steady stream of civilians has been fleeing Rafah, the new hotspot in the gruelling war, many carrying belongings on their shoulders, in cars or on donkey-drawn carts.
Before the Rafah offensive began on May 7, the United Nations had warned that up to 1.4 million people were sheltering there. Since then, one million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday’s strike and ensuing fire a “tragic accident.” The army said it had targeted a Hamas compound and killed two senior members of the group.
Israel’s military said it was investigating the strike, and its spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that “our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size.”
Gaza civil defense agency official Mohammad Al-Mughayyir said 21 more people were killed in a similar strike Tuesday “targeting the tents of displaced people” in western Rafah.
The army denied this, saying it “did not strike in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” an area it had designated for displaced people from Rafah to shelter.
New fighting also hit other areas of the besieged Palestinian territory of 2.4 million people.
In the north, Israeli military vehicles unleashed intense gunfire east of Gaza City, an AFP reporter said, and residents reported strikes on Jabalia.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,171 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Nearly eight months into the deadliest Gaza war, Israel has faced ever louder opposition and cases before two Netherlands-based international courts.
At the UN Security Council, Algeria has presented a draft resolution that “demands an immediate ceasefire respected by all parties” and the release of all hostages.
Algeria’s UN ambassador Amar Bendjama has not specified when he hopes to put the draft to a vote.
Chinese ambassador Fu Cong expressed hope for a vote this week as President Xi Jinping told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Beijing he was “deeply pained” by the situation in Gaza.
French UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said “it’s high time for this council to take action. This is a matter of life and death. This is a matter of emergency.”
US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, when asked about the draft resolution, said: “We’re waiting to see it and then we’ll react to it.”
Brazil, whose ties with Israel have soured over the war, on Wednesday recalled its ambassador, further raising tensions between the two.
Meanwhile, the World Central Kitchen nonprofit organization said it was stopping its operations in Rafah because of “ongoing attacks” in the southern city.
Israel says it seizes key Gaza-Egypt corridor
https://arab.news/2bqw4
Israel says it seizes key Gaza-Egypt corridor
- “Israel is using these allegations to justify continuing the operation on the Palestinian city of Rafah and prolonging the war for political purposes,” Egyptian source said
- Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said, however, that the war could go on until the year’s end
Lebanese, Syrian defense ministers ink deal after border security talks
- Defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria met in Jeddah on Thursday to coordinate and enhance cooperation on security and military issues
- Two sides will form legal and specialized committees in a number of fields, and will activate bilateral coordination mechanisms
RIYADH: Syria and Lebanon signed an agreement emphasizing the strategic importance of demarcating the borders between the two countries, Al Ekhbariya reported early on Friday.
The defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria met in Jeddah on Thursday to coordinate and enhance cooperation on security and military issues.
The Syrian delegation was headed by Murhaf Abu Qasra and the Lebanese delegation was led by Michel Menassa.
The sides will form legal and specialized committees in a number of fields, and will activate bilateral coordination mechanisms to deal with security and military challenges, especially those that may arise on the border area.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who facilitated the talks, said he hoped the agreement marks a new phase in relations between the two neighbors.
The ministers expressed satisfaction with the discussion and agreed to hold a follow-up meeting in Saudi Arabia.
Border tensions flared up earlier in March after the new authorities in Syria accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of kidnapping three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.
The Iran-backed group, which fought alongside the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar Assad, denied involvement.
Cross-border clashes that followed left seven Lebanese dead.
In a statement, Saudi Arabia said it supported Syria and Lebanon resolving their differences through political and diplomatic dialogue while upholding sovereignty, stability, and international law, according to Asharq.
Saudi Arabia affirmed its full support for all that achieves security and stability in Syria and Lebanon and contributes to preserving security and stability in the region, Al Ekhbariya reported.
Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
- The extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear
- The US military’s Central Command, which now has authority from the White House to strike offensively in Yemen without pre-approval, did not immediately acknowledge conducting any strikes.
DUBAI: Suspected US airstrikes pummeled sites across Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels early Friday, including neighborhoods in the capital, Sanaa.
The extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear, though the number of strikes appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the campaign that began March 15.
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation under President Donald Trump appears more more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.
Initial reports from the Houthis described at least seven people being hurt in the attacks Friday in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital that the rebels have held since 2014. Other strikes hit around the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, the rebel’s stronghold of Saada and in Yemen’s Al-Jawf, Amran and Marib governorates.
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge what at those sites had been targeted, other than Sanaa International Airport, which is used for both civilian and military traffic. Neighborhoods in the capital also are home to military and intelligence service sites — as well as crowded with civilians.
An Associated Press video showed one bomb dropping into Sanaa, with a huge plume of smoke rising into the night sky as many people were awake in the final days of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Other areas hit included mountainous terrain north of Sanaa in Amran, where military camps and other installations are believed to be. The Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite news network described communication networks going down after the attacks, which included at least 19 strikes there alone.
The US military’s Central Command, which now has authority from the White House to strike offensively in Yemen without pre-approval, did not immediately acknowledge conducting any strikes. The command, which under Biden offered details on individual strikes, has not provided that information in this campaign.
The new campaign of airstrikes, which the Houthis say have killed at least 57 people, started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The rebels in the past have had a loose definition of what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning other vessels could be targeted as well.
The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors during their campaign targeting ships from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none have been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting any dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decadelong stalemated war that has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
Israel intercepts projectiles launched from Lebanon
- Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel holds Lebanon responsible for missile fire on the Galilee area and will respond strongly to threats to its security
The Israeli military said on Friday it intercepted one of two projectiles launched from Lebanon with the other landing inside Lebanon.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel holds Lebanon responsible for missile fire on the Galilee area and will respond strongly to threats to its security.
“We will ensure the security of the residents of Galilee and will act forcefully against any threat,” he said in a statement.
Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on Saturday after Israel said it intercepted rockets fired from across the border, killing at least eight people and straining a fragile truce that ended a year-long war with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the rocket fired on Saturday, saying it had ‘no link’ to the launches and remained committed to the ceasefire.
Sudan army says it has taken full control of Khartoum
- Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan had on Wednesday declared the capital “free” from the RSF
- While the army holds the north and east, the RSF controls much of the south and nearly all of Darfur
Khartoum: The Sudanese army said it has wrested back full control of the capital Khartoum, capping a weeklong offensive that saw it recapture the presidential palace, the airport, and other key sites in a decisive push against rival paramilitaries.
“Our forces today have successfully and forcibly cleansed the last pockets of the remnants of the Dagalo terrorist militia in Khartoum locality,” army Spokesman Nabil Abdullah said in a statement late Thursday, using the government’s term for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been battling the military since April 2023.
From inside the recaptured presidential palace, Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan had on Wednesday declared the capital “free” from the RSF.
Following a year and a half of defeats at the hands of the RSF, the army began pushing through central Sudan toward Khartoum late last year.
Since the army recaptured the presidential palace on Friday, witnesses and activists have reported RSF fighters in retreat across the capital.
An army source told AFP on Wednesday that RSF fighters were fleeing across the Jebel Awliya bridge, their only route out of greater Khartoum.
The RSF, however, vowed there would be “no retreat and no surrender,” saying its forces had only repositioned.
“We will deliver crushing defeats to the enemy on all fronts,” it said in a statement.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 12 million, according to the UN.
While the army holds the north and east, the RSF controls much of the south and nearly all of Darfur.
Syrians left in the dark as the interim government struggles to restore electricity
- Months after a lightning insurgency ended over half a century of the Assad dynasty’s rule in Syria, the country’s new interim government has been struggling to fix battered infrastructure
JARAMANA: Rana Al-Ahmad opens her fridge after breaking fast at sundown with her husband and four children during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Apart from eggs, potatoes and some bread, it’s empty because state electricity in Syria only comes two hours a day.
“We can’t leave our food in the fridge because it will spoil,” she said.
Her husband, a taxi driver in Damascus, is struggling to make ends meet, so the family can’t afford to install a solar panel in their two-room apartment in Jaramana on the outskirts of the capital.
Months after a lightning insurgency ended over half a century of the Assad dynasty’s rule in Syria, the Islamist interim government has been struggling to fix battered infrastructure after a 14-year conflict decimated much of the country. Severe electricity shortages continue to plague the war-torn country.
The United Nations estimates that 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty and the Syrian government has only been able to provide about two hours of electricity every day. Millions of Syrians, like Al-Ahmad and her family, can’t afford to pay hefty fees for private generator services or install solar panels.
Syria’s new authorities under interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa have tried to ease the country’s electricity crisis, but have been unable to stop the outages with patchwork solutions.
Even with a recent gas deal with Qatar and an agreement with Kurdish-led authorities that will give them access to Syria’s oil fields, the country spends most of its days with virtually no power. Reports of oil shipments coming from Russia, a key military and political ally of Assad, shows the desperation.
Pitch black
At Al-Ahmad’s home, she and her husband were only able to get a small battery that could power some lights.
“The battery we have is small and its charge runs out quickly,” said Al-Ahmad, 37. It’s just enough that her children can huddle in the living room to finish their homework after school.
And the family is not alone. Everywhere in Syria, from Damascus to Daraa in the south, neighborhoods turn pitch black once the sun sets, lit only from street lamps, mosque minarets and car headlights.
The downfall of Assad in December brought rare hope to Syrians. But the new interim authorities have scrambled to establish control across the country and convince Western nations to lift economic sanctions to make its economy viable again.
The United States in January eased some restrictions for six months, authorizing some energy-related transactions. But it doesn’t appear to have made a significant difference on the ground just yet.
Battered and bruised fields
Washington and other Western governments face a delicate balance with Syria’s new authorities, and appear to be keen on lifting restrictions only if the war-torn country’s political transition is democratic and inclusive of Syrian civil society, women and non-Sunni Muslim communities.
Some minority groups have been concerned about the new authorities, especially incidents of revenge attacks targeting the Alawite community during a counter-offensive against an insurgency of Assad loyalists.
Fixing Syria’s damaged power plants and oil fields takes time, so Damascus is racing to get as much fuel as it can to produce more energy.
Damascus is now looking toward the northeastern provinces, where its oil fields under Kurdish-led authorities are to boost its capacity, especially after reaching a landmark ceasefire deal with them.
Political economist Karam Shaar said 85 percent of the country’s oil production is based in those areas, and Syria once exported crude oil in exchange for refined oil to boost local production, though the fields are battered and bruised from years of conflict.
These crucial oil fields fell into the hands of the extremist Daesh group, which carved out a so-called caliphate across large swaths of Syria and Iraq from 2014 to 2017.
“It’s during that period where much of the damage to the (oil) sector happened,” said Shaar, highlighting intense airstrikes and fighting against the group by a US-led international coalition.
After IS fell, the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces took control of key fields, leaving them away from the central government in Damascus. The new authorities hope to resolve this in a landmark deal with the SDF signed earlier this month.
Kamran Omar, who oversees oil production in the Rmeilan oil fields in the northeastern city of Hassakeh, says shortages in equipment and supplies and clashes that persisted with Turkiye and Turkish-backed forces have slowed down production, but told the AP that some of that production will eventually go to households and factories in other parts of Syria.
The fields only produce a fraction of what they once did. The Rmeilan field sends just 15,000 of the approximately 100,000 barrels they produce to other parts of Syria to ease some of the burden on the state.
The authorities in Damascus also hope that a recent deal with Qatar that would supply them with gas through Jordan to a major plant south of the capital will be the first of more agreements.
The cornerstone of recovery
Syria’s authorities have not acknowledged reports of Russia sending oil shipments to the country. Moscow once aided Assad in the conflict against armed Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham that toppled the former president, but this shows that they are willing to stock up on fuel from whoever is offering.
Interim Electricity Minister Omar Shaqrouq admitted in a news conference that bringing back electricity to Syrian homes 24 hours a day is not on the horizon.
“It will soon be four hours, but maybe some more in the coming days.”
Increasing that supply will be critical for the battered country, which hopes to ease the economic woes of millions and bring about calm and stability. Shaar, who has visited and met with Syria’s new authorities, says that the focus on trying to bring fuel in the absence of funding for major infrastructural overhauls is the best Damascus can do given how critical the situation is.
“Electricity is the cornerstone of economic recovery,” said Shaar. “Without electricity you can’t have a productive sector, (or any) meaningful industries.”
